There is mounting concern in the heating industry that the demise of Home Information Packs is leading to a marked reduction in the number of completion certificates being issued for controlled service installations.
Completion certificates are issued by Competent Persons schemes or Building Control to the homeowner once an installation under the scope has been completed, such as a hot water cylinder. However, since the demise of HIPs, which required homeowners to provide certificates as part of their selling pack, reports within the industry are that the numbers of completion certificates or notifications has dropped markedly .

'The issue is that many installers know that buyer solicitors no longer have to request completion certificates from a seller as part of a Home Information Pack,' said Martyn Bridges, director of marketing and technical support at Worcester, Bosch Group. 'With no enforcement there is reportedly a marked drop in notifications which is a concern.'

The new coalition government dropped the controversial HIPs scheme in one of its first acts in power, with the energy performance certificate the only element being retained. However, completion certificates, while no longer part of the HIP, remain a key element of the Building Control Regulations. The certification procedure usually involves installers arranging or a review of the work from a building control inspector or self-certification if they are members of a competent persons scheme.

'The fear is that, with nobody demanding certificates, the number of unregistered and black market installations will increase, with unscrupulous and untrained installers able to get away with poor quality of work,' says Bridges.

'There is a growing belief in the industry that government needs to introduce other measures that will enforce the need for completion certificates in order to maintain standards.'