Simple Header

Procurement for energy efficiency upgrades

Procurement Page Description
Find out about procurement routes and what to consider when commissioning energy efficiency upgrades
The procurement process

We have information about the procurement process, from selecting the right upgrades for your building to agreeing contracts. Find out about identifying and consulting suppliers, agreeing quotes and contracts and the important points to consider and questions to ask at each stage.

The procurement process

Once you have identified the best energy efficiency improvements to make to your building using the energy modelling tool, we recommend you have a building inspection by a trained surveyor or energy assessor to identify if these improvements are indeed practical and appropriate for the building. They will also be able to provide you with further technical and expert information related to the scope of these upgrades to assess their viability.

Smaller upgrades may be installed by a product supplier or a specialist installer; larger upgrades may require a general builder or project management company. Some upgrades may require expert advice from other building professionals such as an architect, building surveyors, engineers (e.g. structural or heating), planning experts and quantity surveyors. In some situations, your choice about who does this work could be directed by your funding.

Smaller upgrades may be installed by a product supplier or a specialist installer; larger upgrades may require a general builder or project management company. Some upgrades may require expert advice from other building professionals such as an architect, building surveyors, engineers (e.g. structural or heating), planning experts and quantity surveyors. In some situations, your choice about who does this work could be directed by your funding.

Once you have identified exactly who you need to do the works, you will need quotes before you are able to decide on the works, and then you will need to carefully assess these before you agree to any quotes or contracts for the work.

Questions to ask at each stage

Questions to ask at each stage

Asset Publisher
Insurance backed warranties and guarantees

Insurance backed warranties and guarantees

An insurance backed guarantee provides protection for the customer an increases customer confidence that the installer is reliable and trustworthy. The purpose of an insurance backed guarantee is to honour the terms of the installer’s guarantee.

Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) certified contractors have access to insurance backed guarantees through the Independent Warrantee Association (IWA). These guarantees extend to these renewable technology installations:

  • Solar PV

  • Air Source Heat Pumps

  • Ground Source Heat Pumps

  • Battery Storage

  • Biomass

These guarantees can be purchased for both domestic and commercial MCS certified installations.

IWA’s Insurance Backed Guarantees provide;

  • Cover for up to 10 years

  • A guarantee which can be transferred to any new homeowners

  • Covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

Publicly Available Specification 2030, 2035, 2038

The Publicly Available Specification (PAS) standards are codes of practice for work on the installation of the energy efficient measures. They are aimed to reduce variations on installations and improve the quality of installations.

Ensuring you use certified installers who have adopted these standards should reduce problems associated with retrofit such as defects, poor design and performance.

PAS 2030:2019

Specification for the installation of energy efficiency measures in existing dwellings and insulation in residential park homes.

PAS 2030 is the standard that is required for installers of energy efficiency measures in existing domestic buildings. To undertake any Green Deal and ECO installations the installers must comply with PAS 2030. PAS 2030 specifies the requirements for the retrofit of dwellings including the installation, commissioning, and handover of work. To comply with PAS2030, all work must be overseen by a competent retrofit assessor/coordinator. This standard was redesigned recently to be used in conjunction with PAS 2035.

PAS 2035

Retrofitting dwellings for improved energy efficiency. PAS 2035 is applicable to all those involved in the management and design of energy efficient installations. PAS 2035 sets out a requirement to properly assess dwellings, design and then implement retrofit work and is designed to be used in conjunction with PAS 2030. PAS 2030 covers risk assessment and whole dwelling assessment which encompasses aspects such as;

  1. Building construction

  2. Architectural character

  3. Patterns of use

Due to the potential impact of retrofit on each of these aspects, PAS 2035 encourages taking into consideration the protection of occupant health, wellbeing and comfort while upgrading the energy efficiency of the property. PAS 2035 suggests taking a “fabric first” approach to retrofit.

A ‘Fabric first’ approach focused on maximising the insulation and air-tightness of the building before, or in combination with, other energy efficiency measures. This is particularly important when installing low energy heating systems such as heat pumps but also applies to renewable energy sources such as PV and solar thermal hot water. This can help reduce capital and operational costs, improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions. A fabric first method can also reduce the need for maintenance during the building’s life.

PAS 2038

Retrofitting non-domestic buildings for improved energy efficiency. PAS 2038 has not been published at this time. The scope of PAS 2038 focusses on retrofitting non-domestic buildings for improved energy efficiency.