The Renewable Energy Consumer Code (RECC): Protections and Complaints

The Renewable Energy Consumer Code, usually shortened to RECC, is a consumer code of practice for firms selling, leasing or installing small-scale renewable and low carbon heat and power generators in domestic homes. It was formed in 2006 and is administered by Renewable Energy Assurance Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Renewable Energy Association, which sponsors the Code¹. It covers the commercial side of an installation: marketing, pre-contractual information, quotations, deposits, contracts, guarantees and after-sales service³.

For a household, the practical points are short. A member must give a written performance estimate specific to the property, plus the financial benefits linked to it, before the contract is signed⁴. RECC advises never paying more than 25% of the contract price up front, and members must protect money paid in advance, including the deposit, in case they go out of business⁵. There is a cancellation period of 14 days, and a member must not install during it without express written permission⁶. Members must protect the workmanship guarantee against their own failure, described as an insurance backed workmanship warranty valid for at least two years⁴.

RECC is not an insurance company: it is the administrator of the Code, and neither the Code sponsor nor the administrator is a party to any contract covered by the Code⁷. Its leverage over a member is disciplinary, through monitoring, consent orders, a Non-Compliance Panel and termination of membership, alongside mediation and an independent arbitration service that members must cooperate with⁸.

Who runs the Code and what backs it

The Renewable Energy Association developed the Code with its subsidiary Renewable Energy Assurance Ltd, which operates and administers it¹¹. The REA acts as scheme sponsor; REAL acts as Code Administrator¹¹. Contact is by telephone on +44 (0)207 981 0850 or email at info@recc.org.uk⁴.

The Code is backed by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute as part of a self-regulation initiative, the Consumer Codes Approval Scheme, with the Code Administrator assessed against core criteria established by CTSI¹². That approval matters because it is the hook on which other schemes hang: MCS members must be registered with a CTSI-approved consumer code, of which RECC is one¹³. RECC describes itself as the largest code of its kind in the renewable energy sector¹⁴.

The Code is not static. It was reviewed with the supervisory panel and the Office of Fair Trading in 2012 and amended in February 2013, with changes covering the Provision of Services Regulations 2009, MCS sub-contracting rules, deposits and advance payments, delivery and completion dates, and conciliation and arbitration application procedures¹⁵. Version 8 was published on 5 July 2023¹⁶. The current published Code carries a publication date of 1 July 2026, and RECC notes a recent set of amendments listed in a separate table¹⁰. Under the Code the Administrator commits to monitoring it and updating it regularly to reflect appropriate business practice, and to publishing monitoring results in an annual report made available to members, CTSI and the public⁶.

What the Code covers: technologies and stages of the sale

The Code applies to businesses selling, leasing or installing small-scale heat and power generators to domestic consumers, whether from renewable or other low carbon sources, including fuel cells³. Technologies named include solar power for electricity and hot water, wind and hydro power for electricity, biomass such as wood for heat, heat pumps from all sources, and combined heat and power from biomass, gas or oil⁵. In 2017 the Code was extended to battery storage systems and other related products typically sold alongside solar panels¹⁷, and the Code now includes guidance on selling and installing battery storage linked to a solar PV system⁶.

Coverage runs across the whole transaction rather than a single moment. RECC lists pre-sales activity, contracts, completing the order, and after-sales activities including guarantees, maintenance and service agreements⁵. Set out in more detail, the Code's covered areas are:

• clear information on the systems planned and their performance
• acceptable sales and marketing techniques
• arrangements for installing and connecting the system
• the selection and quality of goods supplied
• details of the conditions of business that apply
• the standard of any installation and other on-site work
• guarantees, and any maintenance and after-sales services needed
• what action will be taken to deal with any problems
• arrangements for monitoring and continuously improving the Code¹

The Code also sits on named legislation, including the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, the Consumer Rights Act 2015, the Alternative Dispute Resolution for Consumer Disputes Regulations 2015 and the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024⁶. Model documents published alongside the Code include a Model Contract, Model Cancellation Notices and a Model Workmanship Guarantee⁶. For technical standards on the installation itself, see the MCS installation standards.

What members must do: sales conduct, estimates and deposits

RECC monitors members against ten key compliance areas: awareness of consumer protection and of RECC including staff training; the Microgeneration Certification Scheme; marketing and selling; estimates and quotes, particularly performance estimates and financial incentives; finance agreements; contracts and cancellation rights; taking and protection of deposits and advance payments; completing the installation; after-sales, covering guarantees, workmanship warranties and warranty protection and customer service; and complaints numbers, handling and procedures¹⁸.

On selling, sales staff must not use techniques designed to pressurise a householder into an immediate decision⁴. Prohibited high-pressure techniques include staying in the home for an unreasonably long time, quoting a high initial price followed by a discount, offering a discount for signing on the day, withholding price information until the end of the visit, and claiming limited availability of a product⁵. Pressure selling can be reported to RECC on 020 7981 0850¹⁹.

On information, any proposal must give a clear description of the system offered and how it will work, and members must give a written estimate of how the heat or power generating system will perform in an accepted format⁵. RECC's own consumer guidance is that before signing a contract or paying a deposit, the household should have in writing a quote including a standard performance estimate specific to the property, a full all-inclusive breakdown of what will be supplied, and the standard terms and conditions that will form the contract²⁰. RECC also advises obtaining at least three quotes, and checking that any testimonials relied on are genuine and were not paid for, by contacting the people concerned directly²⁰. More on how these estimates are constructed is set out under performance estimates and savings claims.

On money, the ceiling is clear. RECC advises never paying more than 25% of the final contract price as a deposit, and checking that it will be protected²⁰. Members are obliged to protect money paid in advance of an installation, including the deposit, in case they go out of business⁵. Comparable rules under the other approved code are covered in RECC and HIES compared, and the mechanics of staged payments in deposits and staged payments.

Cancellation: 14 days, and what changes if work starts

The cancellation period is 14 days in every case, but it starts from different points depending on how the contract was made.

The underlying statutory right is the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, which give 14 days for most distance and off-premises contracts; the right to cancel does not apply to on-premises contracts²¹. The Code also records that under those Regulations and the E-Commerce Regulations 2002, consumers have an unconditional right to cancel an order fourteen working days after receipt of the last item of goods for telephone, mail order, fax, digital TV and internet purchases⁶.

Express written consent is the exception. RECC states that if the household wants installation to start during the 14-day cancellation period it must give express written consent, and that if the contract is later cancelled the household will have to pay for any work completed²⁰. RECC also advises not signing away the cancellation right by waiver, and, where the company makes significant changes to the contract, agreeing them in writing as a variation, with a right to cancel within 14 days without penalty if the changes are unacceptable²⁰. The interaction between these rights and the contract itself is set out in installation contracts and your cancellation rights.

Protection if the installer goes out of business

Two separate pots of money are at risk when an installer fails: the deposit or advance payment, and the future value of the workmanship guarantee. The Code addresses both. Members are obliged to protect money paid in advance, including the deposit, in case they go out of business, and must also protect the workmanship guarantee in case they should go out of business⁵. RECC describes the guarantee product as an insurance backed workmanship warranty valid for at least two years⁴.

In practice that protection is delivered through an insurance backed guarantee. Such a guarantee provides protection should the installer cease to trade, and in the event that an installer ceases to trade a consumer can claim against the insurance to complete or rectify the installation²². MCS describes its approved financial protection products as giving protection even if the installer goes bankrupt, is retired, refuses to carry out work to remedy an installation issue, or there is a failure in design, and as covering an installer going out of business or refusing to carry out work promptly²³.

The Code defines what counts as failure in some detail. Triggers include a petition, notice, resolution or order in connection with winding up; an application, order, notice of intention or appointment of an administrator; entitlement to appoint or appointment of an administrative receiver by the holder of a qualifying floating charge; entitlement to appoint or appointment of a receiver over assets; a creditor attaching or taking possession of assets where the process is not discharged within 10 days; commencement of negotiations with creditors to reschedule debts or a compromise or arrangement with creditors; suspension or cessation, or a threat of either, of all or a substantial part of the business; inability to pay debts within the meaning of section 123 of the Insolvency Act 1986, or section 268 for individuals; and, for an individual member, bankruptcy, death or incapacity⁶.

The limit to note is that RECC itself does not underwrite any of this: it is the administrator of the Code and not an insurance company⁷. The claim runs against the insurer named in the policy handed over at completion, not against RECC. The practical steps after a failure are set out in when your installer goes bust and in insurance-backed guarantees.

Complaints, the Non-Compliance Panel and arbitration

The route begins with the installer. Official Boiler Upgrade Scheme guidance for property owners says a complaint about installation quality, workmanship or installer behaviour should be raised with the installer in the first instance, then with the installer's consumer code, HIES or RECC, or with MCS for installation quality²⁵. Ofgem guidance refers to giving the installer at least 10 working days to resolve it before contacting the consumer code²⁶.

RECC then offers a mediation service and an independent arbitration service, which members must cooperate with⁴. The arbitration route is the CEDR Solve independent arbitration scheme, where RECC states that it will pay the balance of the fee⁸.

Separately from individual redress, RECC runs a disciplinary track. It describes itself as continually monitoring Code Members to ensure they comply with the Code and its Bye-Laws²⁷. The steps available to it are:

1. Taking steps to promote consumer protection
2. Communicating with the Code Member
3. Auditing the Code Member, which may be at the Code Member's cost
4. Consent Orders
5. Convening a Hearing of the Non-Compliance Panel
6. Termination of Code Membership following a Non-Compliance Panel determination
7. Termination of Code Membership by RECC without reference to the Non-Compliance Panel²⁷

The Non-Compliance Panel considers disciplinary matters concerning Code Members, including concerns that a member has breached the Code, the Bye-Laws or a Consent Order²⁸. It is appointed in line with the Bye-Laws and must comprise at least three Panel Members; panel members may not be representatives of Renewable Energy Assurance Ltd or other Code Members, and the majority, including the Chair, should be independent of the domestic small-scale renewable or low carbon heat or power generator sector²⁸. The Panel is chaired by Keith Richards, with other members Amanda McIntyre, Sally Oakley, Michelle Peters, Elizabeth Stallibrass, Helen White and Alan Wilson²⁸. Members can represent themselves without legal representation, although legal representation is permitted²⁸. The Panel decides whether a breach has been committed and what sanction, if any, should be placed on the member²⁸. Under clause 10 of the Bye-Laws, RECC and the Code Member may each apply for costs in respect of any hearing, and RECC's investigation costs are charged at £65 an hour²⁸. A member has a right of appeal against a determination in accordance with clause 11 of the Bye-Laws, and RECC may appoint an Appeals Panel as and when required²⁷. A step-by-step version is given in how to complain to the Renewable Energy Consumer Code.

On scale of redress: in 2020 RECC reported helping recover £28,060 for consumers, equal to an average of £351 for each complaint it handled that year⁹. In 2013, an average of 130 new complaints a month were registered with RECC¹⁵. RECC also surveys consumer satisfaction and compliance and publishes results on its website and in its annual report²⁹.

How the Code dovetails with MCS, grants and other schemes

RECC and MCS are complementary rather than alternatives. CTSI states that the Code dovetails with MCS, and RECC says the Code links closely to the Microgeneration Certification Scheme installer and product certification scheme³. Any member of the Code, including all those working on their behalf, is expected also to comply with those schemes¹². MCS installers must meet standards including signing up to a code of conduct such as RECC³⁰.

Grant and incentive schemes lean on the same structure. Boiler Upgrade Scheme guidance states that property owner rights are protected by the consumer codes HIES and RECC, certified by CTSI, and that membership of HIES or RECC is a condition of MCS certification³¹. Installer guidance for the scheme adds that installers who have not transitioned to the MCS Redeveloped Installer Scheme must still hold consumer code membership with one of the other two approved codes of practice, HIES and RECC³². Under the Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive, an investor had to be a member of RECC or HIES, both CTSI approved consumer protection codes, before registering an Assignment of Rights³³. RECC also worked with Ofgem to provide a model agreement for the Metering and Monitoring Service Package. Consumers wishing to benefit from Government financial incentives must contract with an MCS certified installer¹⁵.

For batteries and solar, independent consumer guidance points to the same two checks: that the installer is signed up to RECC, which now covers storage, and certified by MCS, or alternatively certified by Flexi-Orb³⁴. RECC's own advice is to approach only companies certified by MCS for the relevant technology²⁰. Related pages cover MCS certified installers, the HIES consumer code and Flexi-Orb.

Where the Code stops

The boundaries are worth stating as plainly as the protections. Neither the Code sponsor nor the Code Administrator is a party to any contract covered by the Code⁶. RECC is not an insurance company⁷. Its sanctions act on membership, not on a household's contract: the Panel can terminate a member's Code membership, but termination does not by itself complete an unfinished installation or return a deposit. That is the function of the deposit protection and the insurance backed guarantee, which is why the Code requires both.

The Code also depends on membership being current. Because it is a voluntary self-regulation initiative approved by CTSI rather than a licensing regime, a firm outside the scheme is outside its reach. CTSI has been calling for a mandatory licensing system for installers of domestic energy-efficiency measures³⁵.

What the Code means for household energy independence

RECC exists to promote small-scale renewables in the domestic consumer sector⁸, and the Code sets the standards applicable to selling or leasing small-scale heat and power generators to domestic consumers³. The independence argument the Code supports is an informational one: RECC states it is important that consumers have full information about the upfront costs, the running costs and the expected performance before they agree to buy or lease a small-scale heat or power generating unit, in an easy-to-understand format¹². A system that does not produce what was promised does not deliver the reduction in grid or fuel dependence it was bought for, and a written, property-specific performance estimate is the document against which that can later be tested.

The consumer-confidence evidence points the same way. CTSI polling of 1,077 UK homeowners aged 18 and over, conducted in May 2024 by Censuswide, found 43% actively considering installing energy-efficiency measures, 41% unaware of funding schemes and incentives and how to apply, and 18% deterred because they were unfamiliar with the technology or did not know where to find a reliable installer. Among those not considering upgrading, 56% said energy-efficiency technology is currently too expensive. On the other side, 71% said they would be more likely to install measures if the trader were independently approved and certified, and 50% would be more likely to choose an installer vetted and approved by a Trading Standards-backed scheme³⁵.

What remains dependent is worth naming. A household that installs generation under a RECC member's contract still relies on the grid or a fuel supply for the balance of its demand, on the manufacturer for product warranty, on an insurer for the workmanship guarantee if the installer fails, and on the installer's continued trading for routine aftercare. Where a scheme in one nation adds its own requirements, those sit on top: the Northern Ireland Sustainable Energy Programme, for instance, states that all installations will include a workmanship warranty and product warranties³⁶. Further reading on the wider picture is in installers, retailers and household energy independence and on the installers and retailers pillar page.