Do you have a certificate in energy efficiency for domestic heating

Legally, every new boiler installed in a domestic property must be a high-efficiency condensing boiler unless there are exceptional reasons why one can’t be fitted.

A condensing boiler is a water heater which recycles the waste heat that is usually lost in the flue gases of a traditional boiler to pre-heat the cold water entering the boiler. This makes them very economical to run and efficient to run.

The move towards more efficient heating production is one to be welcomed but it does place extra responsibility on the heating engineer who is called to install it.

By law, all new and replacement boiler installations are required to be notified to local authority building control.

There are currently two ways a heating engineer can do this; by self-certification as part of the Competent Persons Scheme or by having local Building Control inspect the installation.

As a professional engineer, it could be inconvenient not to mention time-consuming to arrange Building Control inspection following every single boiler installation.

The alternative – joining a self-certification scheme – gives you greater control and responsibility over your own work and avoids the need to secure third party approval.

To be able to notify Building Control under a Competent Persons Scheme, the heating engineer must hold necessary qualifications to prove that the installation complies with Building Regulations. This involves training for a Certificate in Energy Efficiency for Domestic Heating on top of the current qualifications they hold to work with domestic gas heating appliances.

The training

Gas Training and Assessment, based in Basildon, is currently offering qualified heating engineers with the training necessary to self-certificate their installations.

This short one-day course will provide installers with an awareness and understanding of the need to adopt measures to increase energy efficiency, provide a framework to enable them to promote possible options to increase energy efficiency to customers and practical advice on how to improve this performance.

The course covers the requirements expected under Part L Building Regulation and is only open for experienced heating installers with professional qualifications in domestic gas.

Students will be provided with guidance on the installation of highly-efficient boilers, current building regulations and updates in legislation, best practice in heating systems and energy usage and the environment.

A written assessment will follow training and some home study is required prior to attending the session.

There are many benefits to the certification but primarily it gives consumers greater confidence that the person installing their new boiler is qualified and capable of fitting their new condensing boiler and that it fully satisfies current Building Regulations.

If you would like more information on the Certificate in Energy Efficiency for Domestic Heating call Gas Training and Assessment on 01268 727797.