ePerformance News from the Home Inspector Forum

DEA and surveyor miss double glazing

Insurers payout

A homebuyer who claims to have relied on reports produced by a DEA and surveyor to inform their decision to purchase, has successfully won a payout to replace single-glazed windows with (incorrectly identified) double-glazed units.

NHER, the DEA’s accreditor, wrote in its latest technical bulletin: “Our insurers reached a settlement in respect of the claim and monies were paid to the home buyer.”

"The DEA had to pay an excess of £250, so this was an expensive mistake for both the DEA and the insurers."

According to the bulletin, the property had “‘replacement windows’ with uPVC frames”, including patio doors, which the DEA correctly noted as double-glazed. However, the DEA wrongly assumed that the rest of the property was double-glazed too.

It goes on to warn:

"It is important not to assume that windows are double glazed because they have uPVC frames. If you are unsure about how to do this, please revisit the RDSAP Manual Module 5."

Disipline

NHER could not comment on the resulting fate of the DEA concerned for reasons of confidentiality, but did say: “Any members that are found to be in breach of our defined performance criteria are subject to our disciplinary processes."

"We can assure the energy assessor community that we take breaches seriously. Breaches can result in actions ranging from informal written warnings to a full disciplinary panel hearing, depending on the severity of the issue."

If you’re not with NHER you can read the full article here.

EPC will be pushed to end of property sale, Tories pledge

New housing policies published

Tory shadow housing minister, Grant Shapps, this week published a new Green Paper called, Strong Foundations: Building Homes and Communities, which outline Tory housing policies for its manifesto.

Amongst the measures proposed, which include another affirmation to abolish HIPs, the Conservatives are pledging to remove the requirement for an EPC before marketing a house, instead placing the obligation towards "the end of the sales process".

'Energy Performance Certificates are currently part of Home Information Packs (HIPs). We do not believe that they should get in the way of being able to market a property and so Energy Performance Certificates should be required only by the end of the sale process, rather than being a legal requirement as the house is placed on the market.'

Simon Thomas, IPPA Chairman, has written to Mr Shapps, asking: "How will EPCs have a significant impact on buying and renting decisions if they are not available until the end of the sale process, by which time those decisions will already have been made?"

Mike Ockenden of AHIPP agrees: “By moving the EPC to the end of the house buying transaction makes no sense at all. Prospective buyers need to know about the energy efficiency and potential running costs of a property as early in the process as possible, as it may have an impact on their decision to buy."

Greater competition

But one policy prosposal in particular reveals how the Tories seem intent on reshaping the EPC market further:

'We also want to introduce greater competition in the market for the provision of EPCs to help drive down their cost.'

Mr Thomas picks up on this in his communiqué to Mr Shapps, pointing him to official figures released in November 2008 which showed there were 9144 qualified and accredited DEAs – three times the requirement.

“The competition this oversupply has brought means that average fees are roughly 30% of the figure used by the Government when evaluating the value of the role, and that the majority of accredited DEAs are unable to generate a full time income from the position.”

Mr Thomas concludes by asking Mr Shapps to "explain how you intend to further drive down the cost of an EPC, in light of this information?”

We await his reply.

Below is the full document, ready-scrolled to the relevant page (just scroll a further half-page).

Read the full text of IPPA’s correspondence and add your thoughts on the HIF.

BBC Watchdog investigate 1stForHIPs

1stForHIPs, a now defunct company based in Paisley, Scotland, has attracted many posts on the HIF from members concerned about its business practices and lack of payment.

Well, thanks to information provided to BBC researchers by forum members over a number of weeks, Watchdog, the consumer programme, ran a piece on Monday 6th April exposing the company.

It featured interviews with:

• a home-seller who ordered a HIP via the company’s website but, despite a prompt next-day inspection by a DEA, never received a HIP;
• an estate agent who paid for five HIPs, but received only two; and
• a DEA, David Down, who paid 1stForHIPs £2,500 to secure a franchise area in return for camera equipment and EPC instructions. The DEA performed around 50 inspections but was only paid for 24.

Jason Gamble, the man behind 1stForHIPs, told Watchdog in a written response that his company ran into difficulties as a result of the economic downturn.

However, ePerformance News has seen an email notifying franchisees of the company’s imminent collapse in which Mr Gamble blames former employees for siphoning orders to another company setup by a staff member whilst he was away on holiday.

If you’re quick, you can still watch the programme using BBC’s iPlayer (begins around 11:00 mins).

PS… do you think the home-seller was referring to the HIF? ;)

Consultation: Heat and Energy Saving Strategy (HES)

Your country needs you!

As we thought (in last month's newsletter), the Government did publish its Heat and Energy Saving Strategy (HES) consultation last month, and it does indeed introduce the world to two new roles:

Home Energy Adviser (HEA); and Community Energy Adviser (CEA).

And you may also remember from the last issue, that Asset Skills consulted on those two roles for its draft NOS last month (now closed), although we weren't allowed to know, when it first opened, how the roles would operate in the wider context... now you do.

The Government hopes the proposals will mean:

• all home lofts lagged and cavity walls filled by 2015;
• seven million homes to receive "substantial improvements" by 2020; and
• all homes to benefit from "all cost-effective measures possible", plus renewable heat and electricity measures as appropriate by 2030.

It's a wide-ranging strategy, covers many areas, and takes 144 pages to describe. But for brevity, we would advise to begin your reading from page 33, where it introduces the concept of a "Home Energy Advice service":

'We therefore plan to roll out a Home Energy Advice service providing tailored in-home advice, and train Domestic Energy Assessors to provide this advice.'

Putting DEAs to work

Recognising the oversupply of DEAs, it says: ‘There is, therefore, already a large cadre of qualified energy assessors who could take on this work.'

'The Government is keen to expand the role of DEAs in this way so that they can provide Home Energy Advice and detailed behavioural advice both to occupiers and the wider community. We are currently developing a new National Occupational Standard which will set out the skills and competences required for this new role.'

Free training

'Where this training is provided as a Level 3 National Vocational Qualification, it will be funded through the Learning and Skills Council’s Train to Gain scheme in England, and will be free to those studying for it. We are also exploring the scope for this training to be delivered as part of the continuing professional development of DEAs.'

In the CERT consultation, we are proposing that the DEA qualification should form the basis for the provision of advice under CERT.

Question 4 of the consultation asks:

"How can home energy audits be made most useful, and do you agree that the Government should use Domestic Energy Assessors, who have been suitably trained, to deliver them as widely as possible?"

There is more, and we urge you to both read (see below) and respond to the consultation.

Read the HES consultation, ready-scrolled to page 33. Hit the top-right icon to enlarge.

You can respond to the consultation using DECC’s new website.

The takeover begins

Wyatt Group Plc acquires and becomes Green C02 Plc

Directors of Wyatt Group Plc, an AIM-listed company providing ‘a range of integrated human resources and employee benefits consulting services’, has reached agreement with Green C0₂ Plc to acquire its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Innovative HIP Ltd (T/A The Bespoke HIP Company) and Commercial Energy Performance Pack Ltd, in a proposed reverse takeover merger announced on 16th March 2009.

Subject to shareholder approval at an EGM on 8th April 2009 (approved since writing - Ed), and the successful placing of 41,400,000 shares at 1.25p to raise £517,500, Wyatt will acquire the entire shareholding of both target companies for a consideration of £720,000.

In anticipation of approval, Wyatt have negotiated unsecured loan agreements totalling £655,000 and new banking facilities with Barclays Bank totalling £900,000 if the deal goes ahead.

Both target companies only commenced CEPC and DEC provision in October last year,but  sales have not met ‘budget’, the Offer documents reveal. Wyatt Group blames ‘the slower than expected implementation of the legislation.’

But ‘activity is increasing’, it says, and the ‘sales pipeline is encouraging'. Adding, ‘further opportunities in the energy services market continue to become available, particularly with the inception of the new air conditioning regulations.’

Wyatt will change its name to Green C0₂ Plc if approved.

Cirencester-based, Innovative HIP, was founded in 2007 by David Collett. In Feb 2008, Green C02 acquired the company through a share-for-share exchange. Green CO2’s trading activity then switched entirely to the provision of HIPs through Innovative HIP.

In April 2008, Innovative HIP secured £232,000 after impressing business angels judging a ‘Dragon’s Den’ event organised by the South West Angel and Investor Network (SWAIN).

Commercial Energy Performance Pack Ltd was acquired for a consideration of £1 in June 2008. Trading has been ‘limited’ but the plan is to use the company for the provision of CEPCs and DECs.

Wyatt chairman, Bob Holt, it is disclosed, has served as a director at Green C02 within the last 12 months, and Reg Pomphrett is a director of both Wyatt and Green CO2.

Christopher Rodgers (Home & Energy) Ltd now CR Energy Ltd

Following the decision by management to place Christopher Rodgers Ltd (CRL) into administration on 13th February 2009, sister company, Christopher Rodgers (Home & Energy) Ltd, became CR Energy Ltd.

Chris Rodgers said the closure of CRL “will in no way affect the future of CR Energy (formerly known as Christopher Rodgers (Home & Energy) Ltd) however, which is an entirely separate company employing over 100 members of staff. This business has huge profit potential and the directors, most of which are unconnected with CRL, will be focussed on the growth of the Energy Performance market.”

On 10th December 2008, CR Energy received development capital of £2.75m from Mosiac Private Equity.

The company is headed by Christopher Rodgers (Chief Exec), Mark Glynn (MD), Neil Laycock (Sales & Marketing Dir) and Sharon Gordon (Financial Dir).

Last month it won a position as nominated supplier of EPCs for Procurement for Housing (PfH), a national procurement consortium for more than 650 social housing providers.

How do they do it?

Requirements for experts issuing Energy Performance Certificates in EU Member States

The BRE recently published an interesting report for the EPBD Buildings Platform, a European Commission initiative in the framework of the Intelligent Energy - Europe (2003-2006) programme, which helps and informs experts and national policy-makers across Member States implement the EPBD (wouldn't like to explain that in a job interview - Ed), comparing the different ways energy assessments are conducted in Slovenia, Bulgaria and England & Wales.

The EPBD does not define the specific qualifications or skills required, only that certification and inspections are conducted via qualified and / or accredited "experts". And as you'll see from this small sample, the barriers to entry are radically different.

Accreditation

Many Member States only award accreditation to individuals, as we do in England and Wales, whilst others, such as Sweden, accredit only organisations which must have at least one certified "expert" in-house.

Bulgaria

Bulgarian energy assessors must be registered under Commercial Law and have no interest or connection with the design, construction of exploitation of the building being certified – and that includes internal staff.

Training

They must have either a higher technical education and not less than three years of practice in their speciality, or a graduated high technical education and not less than 6 years of practice. In addition, they must complete a training course on building auditing and certification.

Slovenia

In Slovenia, assessors can not issue energy certificates in cases where they are involved or connected with the project investors, according to the Income Tax Act.

To practice, energy assessors must apply to the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning for a licence to conduct energy certification.

Energy certificates are public documents in Slovenia, so whilst independent licensed assessors are used to prepare them, they can only be issued by authorised companies.

Training

Slovenian rules require assessors to have an engineering degree in technical studies and architecture (5 years study and/or 3 years professional study and professional degree diploma in a technical subject - engineering or architecture), with a requirement for a minimum 5 years of working experience in their own professional area.

In addition, as a precondition to obtaining a state licence for assessors, there is an obligatory training course and examination which must be renewed every 5 years.

Full report

Struggling with debts?

For thousands of DEAs and HIs, the current “global financial crisis” is merely an extension to a cash-crisis beginning long before even the collapse of Northern Rock, back in Sept 2007.

So it’s perhaps little comfort at this stage but we thought some beleaguered members might be interested to learn of a recent agreement made between the Government and Credit Services Association (CSA), a debt industry association representing over 300 agencies, which should mean that debt collectors will not chase debtors for 30 days after being told the case has been referred to an accredited debt adviser.

The 30-day reprieve can also be extended for an extra 30 days.

Accredited debt advisers include:

• Citizens' Advice Bureaux
• Advice UK
• The Consumer Credit Counselling Service

The agreement, however, amounts only to an amendment of the CSA’s Code of Conduct. So our advice is to ensure your debt adviser is aware of the Code so they may challenge aggressive collection agencies, or use it in mitigation should a court appearance become necessary.

It’s a double-edged sword, though; if you’re one of the increasing numbers of DEAs reporting difficulties in collecting payment, this could work against you.