MCS has appointed Bhagya Fonseka as its new Product Scheme Manager and is putting further investment into its Scheme team, the certification body announced on 13 August 2026. Ms Fonseka joined on 8 June and leads the operational delivery of the Product Scheme, which MCS describes as setting standards for and certifying the design, testing and manufacturing of low-carbon products that MCS certified installers must use1.
The Product Scheme covers more than 120,000 MCS certified products from nearly 600 manufacturers, according to MCS, with a 40% increase in newly-certified products in 2026 compared with the same period last year1. Ms Fonseka spent ten years at Control Union UK, a global certification body, where she led delivery of its sustainable certification scheme across Europe, the Americas and Asia, and worked as a Lead Auditor for schemes including Rainforest Alliance, FSC, PEFC and Farm Sustainability Assessments1.
MCS said a key part of the role will be ensuring strong alignment between the Product and Installer Scheme requirements, so that certified installers have a wide range of products designed, tested and manufactured to industry-recognised standards1. The announcement follows the redeveloped installer Scheme going live and now rolling out across MCS's installer base1.
"Bhagya's appointment, alongside further investment into the Scheme team to build operational capacity, will further strengthen these relationships"
MCS describes itself as Product Scheme Owner and says it is committed to building and maintaining close relationships with its Product Certification Bodies, as well as with manufacturers, distributors and merchants1. The MCS explained guide sets out how the scheme fits together with installer certification, and the standards bodies guide covers the wider certification landscape.
Why it matters for households
The Product Scheme is the route by which a heat pump, solar panel or battery is checked against recognised standards before an MCS certified installer fits it. For a household, that certification is the paper trail behind a claim that a product has been designed, tested and manufactured to a published standard, and it is the same certification that eligibility for some government support schemes has rested on. A larger certified product catalogue, drawn from more manufacturers, widens what an installer can offer without stepping outside the scheme. MCS links product certification and installer certification together, so the practical effect of the appointment is on how closely the two lists stay aligned: a product on the directory and an installer on the register are meant to be a matched pair. The figures given are counts of certified products and manufacturers, not of installed systems, and no independent verification of them is reported.
What happens next
MCS says the redeveloped installer Scheme is now live and rolling out across its installer base, and that the further investment in the Scheme team is intended to build operational capacity1. No timetable for that investment, and no further detail on the alignment work between the Product and Installer Schemes, has been reported1.
Sources1 cited
- MCS strengthens Product Scheme with new appointment - MCS, mcscertified.com