The House of Commons select committee for energy security and net zero (ESNZ) published a report this week, Retrofitting Homes for Net Zero, critiquing government efforts to promote improved insulation and other energy efficiency measures in the nation’s housing stock.
One of its key findings was that homeowners don’t spend the necessary thousands on home improvements because they don’t know who to trust to carry out the work.
The solution that the committee recommends is a national registration scheme for local builders, an idea that has been vigorously promoted by some industry lobbyists.
The MPs recommend not just licenses for companies wanting to install insulation or double glazing but also an accreditation scheme for anyone working on such projects.
The government is already looking into setting up a licensing scheme for contractors that put up tall buildings, as per the recommendations of the official inquiry into the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire. It is now being pushed to go much, much further.
The ESNZ committee report says: “The consumer protections and workforce accreditation landscapes are excessively complicated, which makes it challenging for consumers to know who to trust. Many consumers are simply unaware of which schemes they can rely upon and what avenues for redress they have if things go wrong. Recent home insulation scandals, including measures installed under government-funded schemes, have further undermined consumer trust.
“We are especially concerned about the lack of consumer protections and mandatory standards for retrofit work not covered by government grants. This is allowing rogue traders to operate unimpeded. We believe that those who fail certification to carry out government-funded retrofit work should not be allowed to operate in the sector elsewhere.
“We recommend that the government introduces a national workforce accreditation scheme and a national contractor licensing scheme as a prerequisite for carrying out any retrofit work. These should be granted powers to revoke licenses or impose financial penalties for poor quality work and provide consumers with clear avenues for redress. A small registration fee would help fund a national warm homes advice service, which would signpost consumers to certified workers. The national workforce accreditation scheme could replicate the successful model adopted by the Gas Safe Register.”
Bill Esterson MP, chair of the ESNZ select committee said: “Licensing building companies is a fantastic idea. It’s consistent with the recommendations of the energy security and net zero select committee…for a national accreditation scheme to ensure energy efficiency retrofit work is high quality. Getting to the point where we have a scheme where the consumer can buy with confidence to see quality delivered is really important in energy efficiency and wider home improvement and building work. It protects the good traders, which is the vast majority of those in the building trade and has the benefit of also protecting the consumer. I look forward to working with industry and the government in ensuring this can become a reality.”
The Federation of Master Builders (FMB), has long been calling for the introduction of a mandatory licensing scheme for builders who work in the B2C (business to consumer) sector. FMB chief executive Brian Berry said: “It is fantastic news that the influential House of Commons energy security and net zero select committee is calling for a national accreditation and licensing scheme to ensure retrofit work is accountable. This underpins the FMB’s call for a mandatory licensing scheme for all domestic building companies to help drive up standards in the building industry. Whilst the committee rightly focuses on licensing installers carrying out retrofit work, to make this more effective all domestic building companies will need to be licensed.”
Berry continued: “In the UK today, anyone can call themselves a builder, regardless of training, skill, or experience. A lack of basic regulation is holding our industry back. It puts lives at risk, damages trust and undermines the reputation of every honest professional delivering high quality work. Mandatory licensing will drive out rogue traders, protect consumers from poor workmanship, elevate the image of construction as a skilled, respected profession, and build a safer, higher-quality built environment for everyone. Delivering real change will require major political will, and today’s ESNZ committee report is vital step, which I hope the government will now support.”
The government is already considering a national contractor licensing scheme for building contractors that erect tall buildings. This was one of the recommendations of Sir Martin Moore-Bick’s official inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire. If only Rydon had had a government-issued licence, it is argued, then it would never have chosen the materials it did and would have known to look beyond the product certification badges.
Housing secretary and deputy prime minister Angela Rayner said in February that the government accepted the licensing scheme recommendation from the Grenfell inquiry and “will work with the sector to consider how a licensing scheme for principal contractors on higher-risk buildings can work and the timescales for its introduction”.
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has recommended a licensing regime for all tier one building contractors.
Whether Rayner’s enthusiasm for more state control, bureaucracy, red tape and regulation will extend to a fully-fledge builders’ licensing scheme for both contracting companies and their employees remains to be seen. She has already seen how the bureaucracy created by the Building Safety Regulator has stymied the government’s number one mission of ‘build baby build’.
The licensing scheme recommended by the Grenfell report would be controlled and administered by a new all-powerful construction regulator that would also be in charge of the testing and certification of construction products and also take in the office of the Building Safety Regulator.
One can only imagine the disruption and delays that would cause.
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