A new campaign by the heating and plumbing sector is urging the Government to reduce the amount of administration required for the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS).
Whilst the heating industry continues to get behind the renewables revolution, according to the Microgeneration Certification Scheme statistics, there are fewer than 2,500 MCS accredited installers. A drop in the ocean compared to 120,000 registered gas engineers, the campaign is calling for a reduction in the amount of paperwork required for the scheme.
With the bulk of the new renewable’ installers projected to come from the existing group of heating and plumbing contractors, the discrepency has prompted various quarters of the plumbing and heating sector to call for changes to the scheme. A campaign – instigated by Mick Williams of Williams and Co, an independent plumbing and heating merchant – to make MCS more appealing and accessible to installers is emphasising the need to cut back on the volume of administration required for small businesses.
“Over-regulation is the biggest barrier to renewable take-up. Small businesses are put off becoming accredited, both by the total costs and the weight of paperwork required,” said Mr Williams.
“The burden is simply too much to gear for a small company, which is likely to undertake a handful of installations per year,” he added.
The campaign has received support from a number of major manufacturers, including the Worcester, Bosch Group, Vaillant, Biasi and the Baxi group.
For more information about the campaign, visit www.tradeonly.blogspot.com/
