Affected products scheduled to return to the MCS Product Directory

MCS has allowed a six-month grace period for a group of solar mounting products whose certificates were withdrawn when Issue 3.0 of the Solar Mounting Product Standard (MCS 012) came into effect on 10 May¹. The affected products were scheduled to be re-added to the MCS Product Directory on 16 May, marked as being in a grace period¹.

The withdrawal affected solar mounting kit products previously listed on the directory, all certified under MCS 012 by BRE¹. MCS said the change had gone through consultation and was preceded by communications with certification bodies, manufacturers and the wider industry, and that the withdrawal of certificates on 10 May resulted in those products being removed from the MCS Installations Database (MID) and therefore from the directory¹.

The affected manufacturers and product ranges are¹:

On the directory, the grace period will be shown with "(GRACE PERIOD)" after the certification number, and the certification date will read "10/05/2025 to 10/11/2025"¹.

"MCS has allowed for a six-month grace period to enable installers to install and commission installations using these products."

MCS said installations using these products with a certificate issued on or before 10 November 2025 will be deemed compliant with MCS, provided all other scheme requirements have been met¹. From 10 November 2025 onwards, the grace period products will not appear in the MID or on the MCS Product Directory, and installers will no longer be able to add them to installation certificates¹. MCS also addressed the case of a product installed while still certified before 10 May where a certificate has not yet been raised within the 14-day commissioning window: the installer should not use the new grace period product when raising the certificate, and should contact the MCS Helpdesk instead¹.

Why it matters for households

Solar mounting systems hold panels to a roof, so their certification sits underneath the paperwork that shows a home's solar installation meets the scheme's requirements. For a household, the practical effect of the grace period is that installations completed with these products can still receive an MCS certificate, which is the document relied on for grid connection applications, some warranty terms and access to export payments. The window is fixed: a certificate issued on or before 10 November 2025 is treated as compliant, and after that date the products drop out of the MID and the directory¹. Households with an installation already completed, or with mounting kit already purchased, are the group MCS said it acted for, noting concerns from certified installers who had completed installations with these products since 10 May or had already bought them¹. The certification status of a mounting system does not change how a roof generates electricity, but it does change what can be evidenced about the installation afterwards. MCS has not reported how many installations are affected, or whether any of the named manufacturers will recertify their products under Issue 3.0.

What happens next

The affected products were scheduled to be live on the MCS Product Directory on 16 May, labelled as in a grace period¹. The grace period runs to 10 November 2025, after which the products will not appear in the MID or the directory and cannot be added to installation certificates¹. MCS said it will continue to work with product certification bodies and manufacturers to minimise disruption to the sector¹. Questions are directed to the MCS Helpdesk on 0333 103 8130 or hello@mcscertified.com¹.

Sources1 cited

1. Grace period announced for affected Solar Mounting products - MCS, mcscertified.com