Following the NAO report into the failings of many solid wall insulation installations as part of the ECO scheme, The IAA has issued a statement suggesting the rate of failures is much lower than the 98% outlined by the government.
It said: “As a leading certification body and technical authority in the energy efficiency industry, The IAA takes its responsibilities extremely seriously. As such, The IAA was the only certification body to be found fully compliant with its inspections and surveillance responsibilities under the regulation of the ECO Scheme when the failures to External Wall Insulation first came to our attention some 18 months after first being identified by TrustMark and subsequently reported to the government.
“Whilst the NAO report highlights concerning systemic issues in the delivery of solid wall insulation under the Energy Company Obligation scheme and the Great British Insulation scheme, The IAA has reported a 12% failure rate, and although there is room for improvement, it is in direct contrast with the 98% failure rate being reported by the government. The IAA has been working closely with the Government and was the first certification body to implement an action plan to thoroughly investigate the issues raised and address any problems experienced by homeowners with an IAA guarantee.
“In October 2022, The IAA wrote to the Government, TrustMark, and UKAS to highlight concerns regarding a lack of oversight and data sharing and raised the point that certification bodies were largely unsighted to the actual activity levels of some installing companies, compounded by an ability to hold multiple certification and Insurance Backed Guarantees providing consumer protection only in cases of last resort. The IAA highlighted that some installers had been gaming the system to avoid effective oversight and policing, and continued to raise these concerns. It is disappointing that, due to inadequate oversight.”
The statement points out that a “a number of rogue installers are delivering poor installations in the retrofit sector and that these installers have carried out work to such an unacceptable standard, causing detriment to home occupiers and their properties, particularly at a time when those in fuel poverty are in desperate need of the warmth, comfort, and reduced energy costs that effective insulation of the building fabric should deliver.”
The IAA’s CEO Nigel Donohue had this to say in a post on LinkedIn: “Whilst we are supportive of the NAOs findings and the direction of travel communicated by Minister McCluskey we are concerned that the picture painted does not reflect our own real time surveillance data and firmly believe the true failure rate to be much lower than that which has been evidenced by the separately commissioned audits based on circa 384 EWI inspections and extrapolated to indicate the 98% failure rate.
“We support changes to the compliance and consumer protection landscape and notified DESNZ , Trustmark and UKAS of the lack of data sharing, abuse of multiple certification, some installers avoiding surveillance and weak consumer protections in October 2022 and continued to raise these concerns . It is therefore dissapointing that despite being provided ample opportunity to address this our concerns were ignored and this scale of consumer detriment allowed to occur . We will continue to push for a full root and branch review and permanent positive change.”
