Choosing the right insulation installer
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When choosing the rightinsulation installer, there are some key issues you need to think about. In this article, we’ll take you through them step by step.
- Find out whether you can get a grant to pay for the work
- Ask about PAS 2030 approval
- Check whether they’re a member of a competent person scheme
- Get a detailed quote from each tradesperson you’re considering
- Never pay in full upfront!
- Don’t assume a generalist will always be cheaper
Let’s look at each of these in a bit more depth.
Find out whether you can get a grant to pay for the work
Before you ask any tradespeople to quote on your insulation job, find out if you’re eligible to get a grant to pay for the work.
TheEnergy Company Obligation(ECO) is a government energy efficiency scheme to help reduce carbon emissions and tackle fuel poverty. Under ECO, Several energy providers offer free or reduced cost insulation on suitable homes - regardless of your income. Others require you to be receiving certain benefits.
The good news is, you don’t need to be a customer of a particular firm to get a grant from it. It’s estimated thatcavity wall insulationandloft insulation总的费用平均约为800英镑——所以看看你是否符合条件是很值得的。
The details of each energy provider’s eligibility criteria can be found onthis page of MoneySavingExpert website. Alternatively, you can call the Energy Saving Trust to ask what help you might be able to get: 0300 123 1234 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, or 0808 808 22 82 in Scotland.
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Ask about PAS 2030 approval
If you are eligible to receive an insulation grant via the ECO scheme, you will need to use aninsulation specialistwho has PAS 2030 approval. This is a standard, set by the government, that all ECO installers must be compliant with.
MyBuilder member Chris Maple ofGreen Efficiencies Ltd是政府批准的PAS 2030，适合一系列国内绝缘。He explains how the accreditation process works, and how his work is quality checked:
“There’s a certification and compliance body called Stroma. There are a few, but that’s the one we use. They check around 10% of our jobs, make sure they’re fine and sign them off.
The manufacturers of the materials we use also come out and check on us periodically while we’re doing jobs.
In the case of cavity wall insulation, our work is guaranteed by the Cavity Insulation Guarantee Agency - they also audit us on a certain number of jobs.
And once we’ve claimed funding for a job, it’s also checked by Ofgem inspectors. They do reports on every property we’ve worked at. All these steps are part of being PAS 2030 approved.
If your job doesn’t involve a grant, you don’t have to use an installer who is approved in this way. However, Chris argues, using an approved installer does indicate their work will be to a high standard:
即使房主自己为一个项目买单，而且没有拨款，我们也会遵循同样的指导方针和标准。
So for example, when we do loft insulation the guidelines are that any existing pipes need to be insulated, any tanks need to be brought up to standard. These standards apply to every job I do, not just the ones that involves government grants.
Check whether they’re a member of a competent person scheme
Certain types of insulation - including external wall insulation - need to be given building regulations approval. It’s therefore worth asking each tradesperson you’re considering whether they are a member of a competent person scheme related to insulation, like the CIGA orStromaschemes.
If they are, they will be able to self-certify their work, rather than needing to get someone from the local building regulations team to look at it.
Here's thefull list of competent person schemes relating to building work.
Get a detailed quote from each tradesperson you’re considering
所有绝缘专家都应向您提供清晰、详细的书面报价。这应该列出所有可能涉及的成本，从劳动力和材料，到拨款占总成本的百分比(如果有的话)，以及是否包括增值税。
Make sure you get the same information from all the tradespeople you’re considering - so you can compare them like with like.
Never pay in full upfront!
Never pay the full amount for a job upfront; instead, wait until the project is complete and you’ve inspected the work thoroughly.
Don’t assume a generalist will always be cheaper
你可能会认为雇佣一个普通的勤杂工或建筑工人来安装你的绝缘材料会比选择一个专家更便宜。However, as Chris explains, this can be a misconception:
Hiring aninsulation specialist, rather than a more general builder, could actually save you money. For one thing, specialists buy in bulk, so we often get cheaper rates on materials.
人们对自己的劳动收费的方式也各不相同。例如:如果一个标准的建筑商要做一个40平方米的阁楼隔热工程，他们可能会买大约10卷，每卷20英镑。Then they’d charge a full day rate of about £150 to do the job, although it would actually only take them around half a day to do it.
I charge per square metre, instead. When I go and see a property, I work out the square meterage cost and only charge the homeowner that specific amount (minus whatever grant might apply). So it’s definitely worth a homeowner asking every tradesperson they’re considering: ‘What’s your charging structure?’ Get them to break it down.
Finally, I recommend homeowners ask about the rate of VAT each tradesperson pays. Because we’re an energy company, rather than a general builder, we’re able to claim 5% VAT on energy products, as opposed to 20%. And we can then pass that saving on to the homeowner.
