NAPUT, the certification body, announced on 13 January 2023 that it had launched a Retrofit Installers Working Group alongside TrustMark and other certification bodies. The group's stated focus is quality assurance checks and the mechanisms in place to protect consumers from noncompliant work1.
The announcement came in a week that NAPIT described as one for focusing on consumer protection. Its chief operating officer, David Cowburn, said he had met Ian Rippin, chief executive of MCS Certified, to discuss consumer protection and confidence in low carbon technologies, and had held conversations with the Competition and Markets Authority as it continues to look at consumer protection in the UK green heating and insulation sector1. The week ended with the publication of Mission Zero, the outcome of Chris Skidmore MP's Independent Review of Net Zero1.
"Working with TrustMark and other Certification Bodies, we launched the Retrofit Installers Working Group with a significant focus of the group being on quality assurance checks and the mechanisms in place to protect consumers from noncompliant work"
NAPUT cited enforcement as central to consumer confidence. It described a case in which a contractor received a 30-month custodial sentence after a Trading Standards investigation into repeated attempts to unlawfully gain certification and incorrect advertising of certification status. Cowburn said he gave evidence in court twice in that case1. NAPIT also said consumer protection is under scrutiny in the green heating and insulation sectors because of an increase in reported bad practice, which it attributed in part to recent growth and the relative immaturity of the supply chain1.
On installer numbers, NAPIT reported a significant increase in installers seeking to train and become MCS Certified for solar PV panels, electrical energy storage systems, electric vehicle charge points and heat pumps. It said certified solar PV installer numbers and notifications had grown at a rate not seen since the height of the Feed-in Tariff1. NAPIT put the retrofit task at around 26 million homes by 2050 to meet government net zero targets1.
The Mission Zero report, as NAPIT describes it, recommended that government accelerate the development of training and installation standards, set a policy framework and supportive investment environment for reskilling and heat pump training, and work with local authorities, industry and certification bodies to explore how listings of certified installers could be made publicly available1.
Why it matters for households
Retrofit work such as insulation, heat pumps and solar PV is carried out inside people's homes and on their roofs, and the quality of that work determines whether a household gets the energy savings it paid for. A working group built around quality assurance checks and consumer protection addresses the point at which a household's energy independence is most exposed: the competence and honesty of the firm doing the work. The enforcement case NAPIT cites shows that certification status can be misrepresented, which is why checking a firm's registration against the relevant scheme matters. The Installer Schemes and Consumer Codes page sets out how TrustMark, RECC, HIES and others differ, and MCS Certified Installers explains what MCS certification covers and how to check a firm. For households weighing up work, the installers-retailers hub covers who operates where, including National Home Energy Installers, while TrustMark covers the government-endorsed quality scheme. The Installation Assurance Authority page explains the guarantees attached to that route. Wider context on who writes the standards sits under standards bodies.
What happens next
NAPUT said it would continue working with scheme owners, government departments and certification bodies to enhance consumer protection and promote the use of registered, qualified and competent installers1. It also referred to the National Consumers Federation's upcoming Net Zero position paper and its 2023 congress focus on the area1. No further dates for the working group's outputs have been reported.
Sources1 cited
- napit-consumer-net-zero, napit.org.uk