The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) decided not to take forward its proposal to make the English Boiler Plus standard a specific requirement throughout Great Britain under the fourth Energy Company Obligation (ECO4), according to Ofgem's decision on the ECO4 scoring methodology published on 12 April 20221. The government response to the consultation was published on 1 April 20221. Ofgem, which administers the scheme, set out its final position on scoring in the same document1.
"BEIS have decided not to take forward their proposal to make the English Boiler Plus standard a specific ECO requirement throughout Great Britain."
The ECO4 scheme is a government scheme that requires obligated energy companies to deliver energy efficiency measures to domestic premises in Great Britain, administered by Ofgem, with policy and legislation set by BEIS1. ECO3 ran from 3 December 2018 to 31 March 2022, and ECO4 is intended to run from 2022 to 20261. An interim delivery period allows suppliers to continue delivering measures to ECO3 rules from 1 April 2022 to 30 June 2022, with some exceptions1.
Ofgem confirmed several other decisions in the same document. Full project scores will be based on starting and finishing intermediate SAP bands, and scores will be segregated into four floor area segments1. Ofgem said it would retain its proposed approach and remove the wall type distinction for heating measures, and that its decision was to split the standard heating control measure1. It also decided to remove the pre-main heat source for insulation measures1. Pre-calculated, deemed partial project scores based on floor area and intermediate SAP band will be implemented, with a final set of partial project scores including a correction factor of 10%1. Scheme rules will require that the partial project score for a measure represents its average annual energy bill savings, based on the difference in average annual bill expenditure between the starting and finishing SAP ratings of the property1. Ofgem said its understanding is that ECO4 legislation will instruct it to calculate scores with reference to SAP 2012, while thresholds will continue to be expressed to one decimal place1. A complete edition of SAP 10 (SAP 10.2) was published in February 2022 and is expected to be adopted for Building Regulations purposes in England from June 20221. Ofgem also said it intends to introduce partial project scores for new district heating system connections in ECO4, and that it had decided to postpone one decision until further information on guidance is available1.
Why it matters for households
The decision means the efficiency standard a heating system must meet under ECO4 is set by the Building Regulations for Heating Systems in each nation rather than by a single Great Britain-wide Boiler Plus requirement. For households in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, the practical controls and standards applied to a replacement or new heating system therefore depend on where the home is, not on a uniform ECO4 rule. The scoring changes affect how much a given measure counts towards a supplier's obligation, which shapes which measures suppliers are willing to fund. Because partial project scores are tied to average annual bill savings between starting and finishing SAP ratings, the assessed energy performance of a property before and after work is central to what a measure is worth under the scheme. The interim delivery period to 30 June 2022 means some installations in that window follow ECO3 rules.
What happens next
ECO4 is intended to run from 2022 to 20261. SAP 10.2 is expected to be adopted for Building Regulations purposes in England from June 20221. Ofgem said one decision had been postponed until further information on the guidance is available, but the document does not state a date for that1.