New Green Homes Grant to give up to £5,000 in vouchers for insulation and double-glazing

marley369

Absolute shambles! I’ve spent two days, compiling a list of companies covering my area to carry out, external wall, flat roof and pitched roof - I have a list of 8 companies, that can do all or 1 or 2 of the work.
2 companies never picked up and hung up.
1 I’ve had to enquire through WhatsApp 
1 isn’t taking on anymore enquiries
2 I’ve left a message for a callback
2 I’ve filled in an online form
there just doesn’t seem to be enough companies registered

pedrb

Only five installers in Newcastle. I've managed to speak to three of them and they are all still waiting for information from the government. Another Conservative omnishambles.

mar_coo

Found installers but Trustmark is not enough, they also need to have various sub qualifications like iso and specific qualifications in each area undertaken. The 10 I have spoken to are unable to meet all of the benchmarks required. This feels like a farce as Trustmark registered roofers cant install under this scheme 

binnsey_1984

Hi there, 
I have had a look at your website and the government website and it’s all a little confusing. For example  It says investment amount. Does that mean I have to pay that money up front ? I currently have two gas wall heaters to heat my home. I was wondering if I would be eligible for help to install some sort of central heating. 

Amoux

I was interested in getting external wall insulation, but there are barely any registered trustmark companies nearby. There are none in the city I live in and only about two others 30 miles away - neither of them have very favourable reviews. 

johan46

To all, let me repeat. IT IS NOT ENOUGH for an installer to be registered with TrustMark.

In order to take part in the scheme, an installer or tradesman needs to do all 3 of the following:

1. To be registered with Trustmark
2. To acquire the relevant PAS2030 or PAS2035 certifications for their specific work (e.g. cavity insulation)
   
3. To get registered as an approved installer with the government website directly.
   

If any installer is only registered with Trustmark, then this is NOT enough to do work in the scheme.
If a glazier is registered with FENSA and with Trustmark, then this is again NOT enough to do work in the scheme.

The important part is that they need to also be PAS2030 certified for the specific works they want to do. This is an energy-efficiency certification and has several categories (different certification for solid wall insulation, different for cavity, different for underfloor insulation, different for double glazing etc). This certification is supposed to show that the tradesman knows what they are doing, knows how to calculate U-values for example and can judge which products to use depending on the energy needs of a house and how to install them properly.

Extremely few tradesmen have any PAS2030 certifications right now. Most normal tradesmen are not on Trustmark at all, and of those that are on Trustmark, 99% are NOT certified with the relevant certifications and cannot do works in the scheme.

The only installers that can work within the scheme are those that can be found on this page only - nowhere else: https://www.simpleenergyadvice.org.uk/installer-search 

The government is now running a parallel scheme to give funding to training providers in order to create PAS2030 specific trainings to get more people certified to PAS2030 in order to have more people available to do works in the scheme.

funkygal

@johan46 please can you clarify point 2? Should a company have this certification listed on their website? I found my installer using the website you linked but the installer's website doesn't mention anything to do with PAS2030, I did contact them and they confirmed that they meet the standards, but how can I be sure?

empeters

Hi there. I applied for this yesterday morning as soon as the scheme opened. When I got my confirmation on screen it said an email had been sent to confirm the application, but I didn't actually get an email. Did anyone else experience this? Thanks in advance. 

johan46

funkygal said:

@johan46 please can you clarify point 2? Should a company have this certification listed on their website? I found my installer using the website you linked but the installer's website doesn't mention anything to do with PAS2030, I did contact them and they confirmed that they meet the standards, but how can I be sure?

Some companies advertise the PAS certifications on their website and some dont. If you can find them via https://www.simpleenergyadvice.org.uk/installer-search  then they can take on work and they have required certifications.

Another way to search is via trustmark directly: https://www.trustmark.org.uk/find-a-tradesman However be careful: In the "Select Trade or Work Area" dropdown box, ONLY select the categories that have something like [B3 - 2017] or similar at the end - this means that you are selecting the PAS2030-certified tradesmen only.

The https://www.simpleenergyadvice.org.uk/installer-search is essentially the same website but only shows the categories that are PAS2030 certified (instead of all the trustmark categories) and is simpler to use.

KerryJB72

I've seen several posts about people struggling to get in touch with companies, so was dreading trying to call, especially as there was only one within reasonable distance. But, got through, they've taken details to check with DWP, said that will be back in 4 working days, then will call to arrange appointment to quote on Wednesday. They said they'd been crazy busy with requests, but were set up ready to go. So definitely seems to be quite different across the UK!