The Green Deal is being touted as the largest home improvement programme in Britain since World War II.
As well as being said to be hugely beneficial to homeowners and landlords, the initiative also presents an opportunity for builders and installers to boost their profits in a slow market.
Introduced as part of the 2011 Energy Act, the deal came into effect in January this year with the aim of making millions of homes and businesses more energy efficient.
Up to £10,000 is available for the work, with that money being repaid over a 25-year period. The money is not paid directly to the lender but repayments will be added to the property’s energy bills. The government says that even with the monthly repayments being added to bills, householders will pay less per month than their current energy bills, prior to improvements being made.
If, as a builder or installer, you are to make the most of this opportunity, you need to get your business authorised to provide services to Green Deal customers.
Here is how the process works:
· Once a property has had an assessment by a Green Deal assessor and the finance for measures has been approved, installation of the measures is the next step.
· Only an authorised Green Deal Installer can install energy efficiency improvements under the Green Deal finance mechanism.
· Additionally, only authorised installers will be able to identify themselves as ‘Green Deal Installers’ and use the Green Deal Quality Mark.
While the idea of another registration process might seem daunting, if your company is already accredited by a Certification Body as meeting the Publicly Available Specification (PAS) 2030 for the measures you wish to install, it can be straightforward.
If you’re not already registered with an appropriate certification body, use the Certification Body Register to find a suitable one. Your certification body will register you for the Green Deal with the Oversight and Registration Body and license you to use the Green Deal Quality Mark.
Training consultant and Green Deal expert Neil Whitfield of NW Training explained: “The amount of business being generated by the Green Deal is tremendous.
“Homeowners are now getting assessments so the next step will be installation and what people tend to go for first are improvements to the fabric of the building – external wall insulation, window roof loft and cavity wall insulation.
“Builders need to be qualified and accredited to do that work. If you don’t get accredited you are going to remove yourself from a vast pot of money.
“There might be builders and installers who are very good at what they do and very experienced but may not have the qualifications and accreditation needed – why not get the recognition? Why lose out on work for the sake of a piece of paper?
“They don’t need to go to college – assessment is done on site, it might only take a couple of visits and, once qualified, they can then get the Green Deal accreditation.”
To be registered, you must also comply by the conditions as detailed in the Green Deal Code of Practice on the DECC and GD ORB websites. You then need to keep clear records of work done and allow monitoring of installation work when requested.
Installers are certified for the different Green Deal measures they wish to install. You can also be certified for as many different measures as you wish to install providing that you meet the required standard as set out in PAS 2030.
Interested? Find out more at: www.gov.uk/green-deal-energy-saving-measures.
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