Your Consumer Rights When Installation Work Is Faulty

When installation work is faulty, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 sets the standard the work had to meet and the remedies available when it does not. The Act sets out the standards consumers can expect when a trader supplies goods and services, including building works, and the statutory remedies if those rights are breached¹. For services, the two remedies are the right to require repeat performance and the right to a price reduction².

The Act also gives consumers a clear right to the repair or replacement of faulty digital content, and a 30-day short term right to reject faulty goods and obtain a full refund³. Those goods remedies matter on an installation because plant, controls and components are supplied alongside labour.

Where the problem is not workmanship but how the contract was sold, a different regime applies. The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 give rights of redress where a supplier misled a consumer or used an aggressive commercial practice: the right to unwind the contract, the right to a discount and the right to damages⁴. Those Regulations continue to apply to consumer contracts made before 6 April 2025, and their redress provisions are to be replaced by similar ones in the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, which is not yet in force⁵.

What the law says when installation work is faulty

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 is the starting point. It sets out the standards that consumers can expect when a trader supplies goods and services, including building works, and the statutory remedies if those rights are breached¹. The Act protects against faulty goods, poor service and problems with contracts⁷. The law protects consumer rights when goods, services or digital content are bought remotely or in person⁴.

For services, section 54 provides that if the service does not conform to the contract, the consumer has the right to require repeat performance and the right to a price reduction². That is the core of a faulty installation claim: the work must conform to the contract, and if it does not, the householder has two statutory routes rather than a general complaint.

Installation work also sits inside a regulatory layer that exists for safety rather than contract. Building regulations for electrics were introduced to help reduce the number of deaths, injuries and fires caused by faulty installations, and certain works are notifiable, including the installation of a new consumer unit or fuse box⁸. In Wales, landlords have duties under the Fitness for Human Habitation Regulations covering the inspection and testing of the electrical installation⁹. These duties do not create a householder's remedy against an installer, but they establish that some installation defects are matters of law and not only of workmanship.

Where disputed building works were bought on credit using a credit card, a consumer might be able to enforce consumer rights against the credit provider instead of the builder¹⁰. That route is covered in more detail in Section 75, chargeback and paying for installation work safely.

The Consumer Rights Act: repeat performance, price reduction and refunds

The remedies differ by what was supplied. For services, the statutory remedies are the right to require repeat performance and the right to a price reduction¹¹. For digital content, the consumer can call upon repair or replacement, or a price reduction¹¹. For goods, there is a 30-day short term right to reject faulty goods and obtain a full refund³.

Two practical points follow. First, on goods, a consumer does not have to give the trader more than one opportunity to replace the goods if they are faulty⁷. Second, the tiered structure means the remedy changes with time and with the nature of the defect, so the date of the installation and the date the fault appeared both matter.

The refund rule for digital content is precise: the right to a refund covers all money paid, except the part attributable to unaffected digital content where only some content is affected³. That principle, that a refund can be apportioned to the part that failed, is a useful way to think about a part-failed installation where some of the work is sound.

Misleading or aggressive selling: the 2008 Regulations

Not every faulty installation is a workmanship failure. Some are sold badly, and the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 address that. They apply to business-to-consumer practices across the UK¹¹. Regulation 6 is headed misleading omissions¹², and Regulation 15 deals with offences committed by bodies of persons¹³.

Where the supplier misled the consumer or used an aggressive commercial practice, the rights of redress are the right to unwind the contract, the right to a discount and the right to damages⁴. Those three remedies are distinct from the Consumer Rights Act remedies and can arise from the same transaction.

The Regulations were amended with effect from 6 April 2025 by the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, and by S.I. 2025/272¹³. They continue to apply to consumer contracts made before 6 April 2025¹⁰. For a householder, the date of the contract therefore decides which regime governs the selling complaint.

The law against unfair trading bans 31 activities, which include making false claims about endorsement or authorisation, for example falsely claiming to belong to a trade association; visiting a home and refusing to leave until a contract is signed; and telling a consumer that if they do not buy, the trader's job or livelihood will be in jeopardy¹⁴. Those examples map closely onto the doorstep selling problems reported in home energy work, which is covered further in Mis-selling, doorstep sales and pressure selling of energy products.

Rights of redress: unwinding the contract, a discount or damages

The right to unwind is the strongest of the three redress remedies, and it is conditional. A consumer has the right to unwind in respect of a business to consumer contract if the consumer indicates to the trader that the consumer rejects the product, within the relevant period and at a time when the product is capable of being rejected¹⁵.

There is an important exclusion. A consumer does not have the right to unwind in respect of a business to consumer contract if the consumer has exercised the right to a discount in respect of that contract and the same prohibited practice¹⁵. In other words, accepting a discount can close off unwinding for the same conduct, so the choice between remedies is not free of consequence.

Where goods are returned, the value of the goods may be diminished by handling beyond what is necessary to establish their nature, characteristics and functioning. In that case the amount may be deducted from the amount to be reimbursed, and the trader may recover that amount from the consumer, up to the contract price¹⁶. This is the rule that stops a full refund where equipment has been used or altered beyond inspection.

For a householder weighing up a faulty installation, the practical sequence is: establish whether the failure is a breach of the service standard, a misleading or aggressive practice, or both; then match the remedy to the regime. The two sets of remedies are not interchangeable, and the evidence needed differs.

What changed under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act

The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 is the incoming framework. Schedule 20 of the Act lists 32 banned practices, including fake reviews, misuse of trust marks and pressure selling¹⁰. Northern Ireland guidance describes the same list as 32 commercial practices that are unfair in all circumstances¹⁸. Northern Ireland guidance elsewhere states that the law against unfair trading bans 31 activities¹⁴. The two figures differ between documents, and the discrepancy is not resolved in the material available.

The Act also reaches into energy paperwork. False or misleading information in an Energy Performance Certificate may constitute an offence under the Act¹⁹. That matters for installations where an EPC underpins a grant claim or a lettings duty.

The Act is not yet fully in force for redress. The 2008 Regulations' provisions on rights of redress will be replaced by similar ones in the Act, which is not yet in force⁵. Until commencement, the 2008 regime governs contracts made before 6 April 2025, and the amended 2008 Regulations govern later ones.

Reporting a trader: the Citizens Advice route to Trading Standards

Reporting is separate from claiming. The Citizens Advice consumer service can be reached on 0808 223 1133 for England and Wales⁶. The service covers faulty goods, poor service, contracts, building work, rogue traders, credit and store cards, counterfeit goods and fraud⁴. It will refer a complaint to local Trading Standards officers who may then investigate on the householder's behalf, and it shares complaint information nationally with enforcement authorities including Trading Standards, the Competition and Markets Authority and regulators, so that action can be taken⁴.

In Northern Ireland the route is Consumerline, which will refer the matter to the Trading Standards Service if it is possible that the law has been broken¹⁴. Trading Standards inspectors there can investigate complaints about traders and businesses which trade unfairly in Northern Ireland¹⁴.

For funded work, there is a parallel route. Families affected by faulty ECO4 and Great British Insulation Scheme installations should first contact the installer who carried out the installation, and where the installer is no longer trading or unable to remedy damages, they can contact their guarantee provider to initiate a claim²⁰. The National Energy Foundation handles cases where the installer that fitted the faulty installation is no longer trading and the guarantee is missing, fraudulent or cancelled²⁰.

What Trading Standards can and cannot do for you

Trading Standards is an enforcement body, not a claims service. Local authority Trading Standards may apply to the court for an enforcement order or interim enforcement order where there is a relevant infringement of consumer law¹⁰. That is a public enforcement power, exercised in the public interest.

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 gave public enforcers greater flexibility to respond to breaches of consumer law, such as seeking redress for consumers who have suffered harm¹. That is a meaningful widening of what enforcers can pursue, but it remains a discretionary power rather than an individual entitlement.

What Trading Standards cannot do is order a named trader to pay a named householder. The remedies that put money back in a householder's hands are the statutory remedies in the contract, the redress remedies under the unfair trading regime, and a court judgment in the householder's own claim.

There is also a market surveillance dimension. Under Regulation (EU) 2016/426, appliances or fittings which do not comply may be shown at trade fairs, exhibitions, demonstrations or similar events provided a visible sign clearly indicates that they do not comply and are not for sale until brought into conformity, with adequate safety measures during demonstrations²¹. That provision concerns product compliance rather than installation quality, but it illustrates the boundary: enforcement addresses the market, and the householder's remedy addresses the contract.

Enforcement orders and compensation through the courts

The court route has two tracks. The first is public enforcement: an enforcement order or interim enforcement order sought by Trading Standards¹⁰. The second is the householder's own claim for the money.

Government policy is moving towards stronger contractual enforcement in home upgrade schemes. The consultation on reforming consumer protection for home upgrade schemes proposes using strong binding agreements across the system to enforce delivery obligations and improve accountability for service quality, consumer experience and outcomes²². It also proposes a consumer protection service with powers to enforce better service through contracts that hold installers and delivery partners to account, including bans from working on Government schemes if they do not meet high standards²⁰.

In the regulated energy market, the guaranteed standards regime already carries payment consequences. Ofgem consulted on requiring additional payments to be made for failure to compensate consumers promptly²³. The Gas and Electricity (Consumer Complaints Handling Standards) Regulations 2008 prescribe standards for handling of consumer complaints by energy suppliers and network companies, and they have applied to complaints made by domestic customers and micro business consumers²⁴.

In Scotland, the stated principle is that consumers will have access to simple and effective redress if things go wrong²⁵. That is a policy commitment rather than an individual remedy, but it frames how Scottish schemes are expected to be designed.

The case for mandatory installer licensing

There is no single mandatory licence to install home energy equipment across the UK. Instead, licensing is delivered through scheme membership, and the schemes are the condition of access to public money and to permitted development rights.

For wind turbines and air source heat pumps under permitted development rights, one of the limits is that equipment must be installed by an installer who has been certificated through the Microgeneration Certification Scheme using a certificated product²⁶. That is a form of compulsory certification attached to a planning permission rather than to a licence to trade.

The gap is in the general market. The Chartered Trading Standards Institute found that 43% of homeowners were actively considering installing energy-efficiency measures, 41% were unaware of funding schemes and incentives and how to apply, and 18% were deterred because they were unfamiliar with the technology involved or did not know where to find a reliable installer²⁷. Among those not considering upgrading, 56% said energy-efficiency technology is currently too expensive²⁷. Those figures describe a market where consumer confidence, not technical availability, is the constraint.

The Government's own consumer guide to buying green heating and insulation products sets out a summary of key consumer rights as reflected in consumer protection law, plus product-specific considerations²⁸. That guide exists because the general law is not self-evident to buyers in this market.

Consumer protection under the MCS and BUS installer schemes

The Boiler Upgrade Scheme is the clearest example of scheme-based protection. To participate in BUS, installers working with consumers must be MCS-certified and members of a consumer code approved by the Secretary of State²⁹. Installers must also be members of an approved code of practice for consumer protection³⁰. Installers must be MCS certified to participate in the BUS scheme, and the low-carbon heating products supported under the scheme must be Microgeneration Certification Scheme certified³¹. Installers must also be a member of an approved consumer code²⁸.

The complaint route is layered. If a complaint relates to installation quality, workmanship, or the behaviour of an installer, it should be raised with the installer in the first instance, then with the installer's consumer code, HIES or RECC, or through MCS installation quality complaints²⁹.

The direction of travel is towards consolidating protection inside certification. MCS reported on 10 September 2026 that its redeveloped installer Scheme was rolling out across the MCS installer base and described its new consumer protection arrangements. DESNZ recognised the consumer protections offered by redeveloped MCS on 18 June 2026. The practical effect for a householder is that the protection attached to a grant-funded installation now depends on which version of the scheme the installer is certified under, and that is worth confirming in writing before work starts. The certification itself is covered in MCS certified installers, and the codes in The Renewable Energy Consumer Code and The HIES Consumer Code.