The installation of energy efficient measures is a market that is growing fast. Gaining PAS 2030 enables you to tap into the vast opportunities that are existing now and the future.
This page details some top tips and frequently asked questions around certification for the standard.
Gaining certification for the standard will open up many doors for your business. There is a huge drive to get existing homes more energy efficient to meet the targets of the UK being carbon neutral. To get these homes up to standard, millions of pounds of funding is around in the form of public and private sector contracts and through funding schemes such as the Energy Company Obligation (ECO), Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS) and Social Housing Decarbonisation Funding (SHDF). However to benefit from these opportunities you need to be PAS 2030 Certified and Trust Mark Registered.
PAS 2030 isn’t as complex as you may think and you probably just need a little more clarity around what it entails:
The first step is to make sure you have a Quality Management System (QMS) in place that meets the standard. As a UKAS accredited certification body we can’t advise, help or provide guidance to you. However we have a network of approved partners if you need help with this.
A Quality Management System (QMS) in simple terms is ‘paperwork’. This paperwork is in the form of company policies, working procedures and forms. You need to complete this paperwork to demonstrate that you are meeting the standard of PAS 2030.
You will need to demonstrate that the PAS 2030 installations that you are installing are being overseen by a Retrofit Coordinator (RC). The RC should be impartial and not employed by your business.
Depending on the supply chain you are working under this may be straight froward, however if you are operating under Warm Homes or GBIS, it is likely you are generating the work yourself direct with the homeowner, therefore you need to engage with an external RC to support and protect impartiality.
Next you need to ensure competence of all of your installers and operatives. This means they need to have the relative qualifications and certifications to carry out the measures which you are installing.
The standard details what these are, again we can’t advise what they are as this is seen as guidance.
To make sure you are compliant you will need the relevant documentation to prove that you are insured correctly.
If you are gaining TrustMark registration on top of your PAS 2030, you will also need an FCA regulated Insurance Backed Guarantee provider in place. If you don’t have one in place, contact a provider soon so you don’t encounter any delays.
You will need to complete an online application through our customer portal Simply Hub.
You will receive an invite to this from our team.
The purpose of Simply Hub is so that you can apply for certification and get a quote for the measures you wish.
There is a little leg work required to make sure you have all the right foundations in place, however most of the elements required, you probably already have! It’s just a case of formalising this all to get your business to a place where it is fully compliant. Gaining PAS 2030 Certification and TrustMark Registration provides you with so many more benefits, opportunities and will help your business enter and become successful in a growing market.
PAS 2030 will help demonstrate high quality service to all your potential customers
It will ensure that you qualify to install under various schemes such as Warm Homes and SHDF as well as pre-qualifying for tenders
Additional visibility due to being included on the TrustMark website so new customers can find you
Having a robust management system in place will benefit your business in terms of improvement, effectiveness and efficiencies
Gaining a competitive edge within your industry, opening up new opportunities
Reducing risk to our business due to higher degrees of competency
What is a QMS?
A QMS (Quality Management System) is a set of documents (processes, policies, procedures, forms) that supports the operations of your business. Your QMS for PAS 2030, needs to demonstrate your business is in line with the standard. It should include: Insurance documents, training/qualifications of your employees/subcontractors, your installation process, customer charter, documentation relating to your installations and more. We can provide you with a full checklist, email hello@simplycertification.co.uk for a copy.
What is the difference between PAS 2030 and PAS 2035?
The PAS 2030 standard is all around the installation of EEM (Energy Efficiency Measures) on existing dwellings.
PAS 2035 is the overarching standard that PAS 2030 operates under – in simple terms, its the assessment, design and signing off of the Retrofit project. There is no certification scheme for PAS 2035, it is purely a standard.
However a Level 5 in Retrofit Coordination and Risk Management is recognised by PAS 2035 as the qualification that deems a Retrofit Coordinator competent to sign off PAS 2030 work.
Simply Certification do not supply the PAS 2035 Certification for installers.
What are the stages of assessment?
Step #1 If you haven’t already, you need to complete a PAS 2030 Application form in our system ‘Simply Hub’. From here you can manage your quote, invoice, contracts and checklist.
Step #2 When you feel you are ready to proceed, you will need to pay your invoice. You will receive a detailed self declaration checklist that you will need to submit to our team as self evidence that you have all the elements in place in your QMS, before we will firm up a booking. This is to protect you from a high number of non conformances, therefore costing you in time and money.
Step #3 Once you have completed the contracts and checklist within Simply Hub, your head office assessment will then be scheduled. This will be conducted via Teams or on site. Depending on the size of your business the assessment will last typically one day.
Step #4 The next stage is an on-site Technical Inspection for the measures which you are applying for. An assessor will carry out a technical assessment for each measure usually, pre, mid and post.
Step #5 The assessment report will be passed to our verification and decision making team. There maybe issues found within these – these are quality checking stages – so please bear this in mind that there maybe some further questions to be answered.
Step #6 Once all non conformances that have been found have all been closed out and verified, decision making will be completed and certification will be issued along with access to your live Installation Pre Notification area.
Step #7 To keep your certification valid you must notify us of every new installation coming up. This will allow us to check your installs regularly as part of your surveillance programme. We are required to check 1-10% of your installs.
How long will it take to get my certificate?
There are many factors that impact the certification timeline, these are largely on our customer side as we have set timeframes that we work within that ensures we provide the excellent customer service and to manage your expectations.
The time frames are detailed below:
The above time frames will be longer for the following reasons:
We always work to ensure a smooth assessment process as possible. The key to keeping the timeline as short as possible is to be ready!
We will send you a checklist prior to head office assessment, so if you have all of the relevant foundations in place, all of the relevant documentation in place within your QMS and installers all have the relevant competency, this will ensure the quickest route to certification.
How long does gaining PAS 2030 certification take?
In short it can be anything between 4 weeks to 40 weeks.
We have to complete an end to end assessment before certification can be released and we will always aim to get you through the process as quickly as possible.
In essence the time it takes lies in your hands and how ready you are as an organisation.
The key areas that will slow you down gaining certification is your organisation not being compliant/ready for assessment and having a high number of non-conformances.
Also not having any technical inspections available to inspect will also slow down gaining certification.
Can I get certified without any technical inspections?
Yes.
However it’s important to note that you will not be able to lodge on TrustMark if a technical inspection has not been carried out.
It is a TrustMark requirement, that us (as your scheme provider), has carried out a technical inspection before you can lodge any installations on TrustMark.
We offer “Capability and Competency” assessment (if you do not have a live installation to inspect). In order to gain certification using this pathway you will need to sign a contract to state that you will inform us of your next installation(s) so we can attend which will then enable you to lodge your installation on TrustMark.
Who can I get help to get PAS 2030 ready?
As we are a UKAS accredited certification body, which means that we are not allowed to provide consultancy support to get you ready to be assessed. We have to remain impartial to meet our own requirements as certification body. This means we can’t advise, help or provide guidance at all. All we can do is guide you through the steps of certification.
However we have a list of experienced consultants that we can put you in touch with if you do need more support.
Where can I access the PAS 2030 standard?
One of the requirements to gain certification is to have access to the standard. You can access this via BSI
What is a non conformance?
When we carry out an assessment or technical inspection, we sometimes find non-conformances.
These are areas identified that don’t meet the standard. They can be either minor or major.
How do I close out a non conformance?
All non-conformances are allocated to your nominated representative via our reporting system ‘Audit Comply’.
Your representative will receive an email from Audit Comply letting them know a non-conformance needs to be actioned.
You will then open the non-conformance via the link provided and provide the additional evidence requested including noting your corrective action, preventative action and root cause.
Once you are happy with the information you have provided please click ‘submit’.
If you do not click submit we will not get a notification that you have actioned your non-conformance.
Once we receive notification you have actioned your non-conformance, your assessor/inspector will review your evidence and either accept it which will close the non-conformance, or decline it requiring you to submit further evidence.
Can I submit a non conformance via email?
No. All non conformances must be submitted via Audit Comply in order to ensure we have a robust audit trail.
How long do I have to action a Non Conformance?
You have 8 weeks to close the non-conformance.
Should 8 weeks pass you will be required to ask us for an extension.
Will I get my certificate if I get a non-conformance?
No. We will not issue certification until all your non conformances are closed out and your assessment has been through a decision making and verification process.
Will getting a non conformance slow down my certification process?
It is very likely this will be the case, which is why it is important that your organisation is ready for assessment prior to moving forward to certification.
We will always work with you to try and keep the process as quick as possible, however the more non-conformances you have it is likely that this will impact the time to certification.
How much does PAS 2030 cost?
Initial Certification
Initial certification starts from £2.5K, this is to gain certification in the first instance.
Surveillance
You then will pay £275 +VAT per inspection for your surveillance or if you have high volumes we will charge a daily rate of £1100 + per day and inspect 8 within the day.
This will depend on the volumes that you are installing. We will start the surveillance programme as soon as you ignite a volume of installs that provide a meaningful sample to inspect.
We inspect 1-10% of your installs on a rolling annual programe, so the amount you pay is relative to the size of your business.
Can I use multiple CBs?
You can only use one Certification Body per measure.
New rules came into play in 2025 meaning this would stop installers attempting to spread risk or avoid surveillance under their PAS 2030.
Can I transfer certification from another CB?
Absolutely.
However, there are rules around this. If you have open surveillance numbers, have open non conformances, open remediation/customer complaints or have been suspended, then no.
We will only take on new installers, once any backlog has been cleared, to ensure there is no ‘cert hopping’.
What is a CPS and why do I need it for PAS 2030?
PAS 2030 states that whereby any modifications that are made to a property, there should be a mechanism to notify of the changes as per Building Regulations requirement.
Depending on the supply chain you are operating under, building regulations approval maybe taken care of by your primary contractor. However this is your responsibility to check this and you will need to evidence that this is the case.
If you are working direct with homeowners, you can join a ‘competent person scheme’ to self-certify certain types of building work. This is instead of getting building regulations approval.
Why do I need an ‘IBG’ (Insurance Backed Guarenteed)?
This is a TrustMark requirement, not a PAS 2030 requirement.
If you are looking to gain TrustMark to operate under a funding scheme such as ECO, SHDF or GBIS, you will need to demonstrate you have a provider in place and during technical inspections (post inspections) that you have an IBG issued for the homeowner.
You will need to contact an IBG Provider to start this process.
Competency is the main point of difference from previous versions of PAS 2030. The reason being, is that it is vital that consumers are protected and the installations deliver what they should – to make the property energy efficient.
As a CB we can’t support you on this or advise. However we have a list of approved partners that can advise and support you.
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Not only do we offer PAS 2030, we also provide a range of other services. To find out more complete the form below:
Simply Certification Limited
Quay Corner Training Centre
Church Bank,
Jarrow NE32 3HH
hello@simplycertification.co.uk
0191 323 3960
