By Anthony Jones, chairman of the National Federation of Glaziers
Our soundings from throughout the industry suggest that most glazing businesses are very busy indeed with supply chains creaking. If this is the case, is it worth getting involved in this complicated Green Homes Grant?
The goalposts have been moved since it was announced, but the final situation is that a participating business must be Trustmark approved and also, PAS 2030 certified.
Originally, the requirement was for PAS 2030; 2019 version. The concern was that few companies (even the largest who can afford the cost of this certification) would be compliant in time. The requirement was then charged to the 2017 version.
What does all this involve? To obtain a Trustmark certification is really quite straightforward: A few references basically. However, PAS 2030 is different.
For PAS 2030, a company needs a Quality Management System. This will be written by a specialist and usually costs around £500 plus VAT. The company carrying out the certification scheme will inspect the business ‘head office’ procedures and carry out on-site verification of installers. The indicative costs are around £1,500 plus VAT.
The 2019 requires all installers to be qualified to NVQ level 2 (MTC cards are not sufficient) and the company will need a ‘retrofit co-ordinator and a retrofit assessor’ whose job is to assess the whole property and report what work is necessary to bring energy efficiency up to a higher level. As mentioned, the 2019 version is not a requirement but it must be shown that the company is working towards the 2019 version.
The ‘retrofit co-ordinator and assessor’ will probably, with larger companies, be employed; smaller businesses would need to use a suitably qualified person on an ad hoc basis. The cost would initially need to be borne by the business.
This all favours the largest businesses; it also renders MTC of little value. The scheme itself is complicated and should cause some concern for a business:
- It requires that a primary measure is completed first before energy efficient windows can be installed.
- The value of secondary measures cannot exceed the value of the primary measure.
- With the £10,000 version for those receiving social support, a company is not permitted to take a deposit (for a bespoke item?).
- The onus is on the householder to send the voucher with the necessary documents so that the installers can be paid.
Our information is that this scheme may be extended or amended; no doubt with the PAS 2030; 2019.
The question remains – is it worth the effort?
