NIA Supports New Government Quality Drive

As part of the Governments Each Home Counts recommendations, British Standards Institution (BSI) has been appointed by the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to review and revise the existing PAS2030:2017 (specification for the installation of energy efficiency measures in existing buildings) and develop a new PAS2035 specification for energy efficient retrofit of domestic buildings which will clearly set out the standards for the installation of each energy efficiency measures.  

BSI hosted a stakeholder engagement workshop on 10^th January 2018 to brief key organisations on the work involved and seeking their support – I attended the event on behalf of the National Insulation Association (NIA).

This work is extremely important as it will clearly set out the specifications and standards that will apply to the installation of insulation measures.  The existing PAS2030 is a little complicated and there are some aspects that are open to interpretation, however, this project provides the opportunity to simplify matters and remove any ambiguity ensuring that all installers will install to a common, uniform standard.

The NIA will be represented on the PAS2030 and PAS2035 Steering Groups and the Measures Experts Groups and the intention is for these new specifications to be introduced in October 2018 alongside the new Energy Company Obligation (ECO) and Each Home Counts Quality Mark.

At the NIA we are very supportive of Each Home Counts as it provides a vehicle to ensure quality installations are delivered on a consistent basis and instil confidence in policymakers, specifiers and householders.  In addition to contributing to the development of the new specifications, we will be ensuring that our members are kept up to date and provide advice and guidance to help them comply with the new standards.    

Furthermore, we are also working with the British Electrical Allied Manufacturers Association (BEAMA) in developing new industry guidance which will clearly set out minimum ventilation requirements when installing insulation. We are also advising the Scottish Government on the new quality framework they are currently developing for Government funded schemes.

For more information about all the work above and membership of the NIA please email neil.marshall@nia-uk.org

New Quality Standards for Insulation Companies - NIA can help you to comply

From 1st April strict new national  quality standards will be introduced for cavity wall, external wall, loft insulation and room in roof insulation, as part of PAS2030, which installers will be required to work to.

The National Insulation Association (NIA) is involved in setting these new standards and we are helping our members to ensure they can comply with them by 1st April.

If your company would like our help please contact us about membership today.
Bev Hodson Bev.hodson@nia-uk.org 01525 383313

Important Announcement for Specifiers of Insulation Works and Companies

PAS2030 which governs the national standards that installers must work to in the installation of energy efficiency measures is currently being revised and a new version will be published at the end of January 2017.

The new PAS2030 will be far more comprehensive and robust than the current one and include the following additional items:

·                The initial assessment of properties for suitability to receive the measures.

·                The system design and design detailing.

·                Specific industry standards and specifications setting out the standards all installers must work to such as the new NIA Specification for installing EWI with fuel burning appliances, Room in Roof Insulation survey form and best practice guide and loft insulation specification.

·                Stricter competency ratios (number of trained operatives) per site.

·                All sub-contractors will need to be PAS2030 accredited as well as the main contractor.

Whilst the improvements to PAS2030 are welcomed, they will only be as effective as the strength of the monitoring and enforcement by the PAS2030 Certification Bodies.

Therefore at the NIA will be adding the requirement for our members to adhere strictly to PAS2030 to our rules of membership.  If we then receive reports/complaints from specifiers of insulation works that an NIA installer member is not complying with PAS2030 we will investigate this and take strong disciplinary action including suspension or expulsion if a breech is discovered.

We would therefore urge specifiers of insulation works including Local Authorities, Housing Associations, Energy Companies, Builders and Architects to choose NIA members to carry out work and incorporate a requirement for NIA membership in their future tenders for insulation projects as this will provide an additional level of assurance and enforcement.

To help specifiers in this regard we have introduced a new ‘Expressions of Interest and Tender Request’ Service whereby if specifiers provide us with details of projects and specifications we will circulate these to our members saving them time and money.

Specifiers interested in the service should contact Bev Hodson bev.hodson@nia-uk.org 01525 383313

Specifiers can also find details of local NIA installers on our website click HERE

INSULATON QUALITY STANDARDS – IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Background

The National Insulation Association is the leading trade association for insulation measures and companies in the UK and our members include the manufacturers, system designers and installers of cavity wall, external wall, internal wall, loft, roof and floor insulation and draught proofing.

Our members are required to meet our robust membership criteria and work to all appropriate industry standards and abide by our strict code of professional practice.  This means that by choosing an NIA member to carry out the work there is added reassurance and recourse compared to using non NIA members.

 

As a result an increasing number of specifiers and advice agencies including energy companies, Government Schemes, Local Authorities, Housing Associations and the Energy Saving Trust are choosing and recommending the use of our members.

Important Developments in Quality Standards and Regulations

There are some very significant developments currently taking place in the insulation industry which will impact on quality and standards of workmanship and customer redress which we wanted to bring to your attention.

The independent review of quality and standards in the energy efficiency industry being carried out by Peter Bonfield is due to report shortly however, there is already work being carried out linked to it which will impact on industry standards.

PAS2030 which governs the standards that insulation installers must operate to is currently being revised and a new specification will be published in early 2017.  This will include robust standards and requirements for installers including the assessment of properties to receive insulation measures, the system design, physical installation and handover to the property owner.

We are directly involved in this work and we are developing new industry standards for external wall insulation, cavity wall insulation, room in roof insulation and loft insulation which will be referenced in PAS2030.   We will require all our members to adhere to these new standards and if any of them fail to do so we have the powers to take appropriate disciplinary action.

Find Out More 

Our new standards include industry leading specifications and best practice guides which will provide greater reassurance and recourse to specifiers and householders in the use of NIA members.

We would therefore strongly recommend that specifies and householders use NIA members.  Details of our members can be found on our website www.nia-uk.org

Free Service for Specifiers of Insulation Works

We have introduced a new FREE service to help specifiers find NIA members to work on their projects.

The new’ expressions of interest service allows specifers to provide us with details of their  forthcoming  projects and specifications and we will then issue requests for information and tender requests to our members on their behalf saving time and money.  For more details of the service email bev.hodson@nia-uk.org