Citizens Advice response to the Building Safety Regulator's review of the Conditions of Authorisation for Self-Certification Schemes

Citizens Advice response: Conditions of authorisation review 150 KB

It is vital to strengthen consistency across the consumer protection landscape for green home upgrades, so that standards are upheld across installers and consumers have clear routes to pursue redress if things go wrong. But a system in which schemes are funded by and compete for installer membership risks enabling poor practice. There should be uniformly high standards across different certification and self-certification functions, so that consumers receive consistently high-quality installations regardless of how their installer is certified.

DESNZ should explore whether self-certification functions, including Competent Persons Schemes, can be brought into a single framework alongside certification bodies. At minimum, there must be clear standards across self-certification schemes - including requirements around redress processes, sanctions for rule-breaking, and robust data management. Scheme operators must themselves be held accountable for providing these standards, with appropriate consequences where operators consistently fall short.