Retrofit Services

Retrofit is the process of upgrading our existing homes to make them more energy efficient. This usually involves improving the fabric of the home through the installation of insulation, upgrading the building services and introducing renewable energy and heat sources such as solar panels, solar water heating and heat pumps where appropriate.

In 2019, taking its lead from the findings of Each Home Counts review, PAS 2035:2019 was introduced to provide a much-needed over-arching framework and specification for the energy retrofit of domestic buildings, and details best practice guidance for domestic retrofit projects. This PAS (Publicly Available Specification) embraces quality retrofit work eliminating problems associated with defects, shallow retrofit, accountability, poor design and performance gap. PAS 2035 delivers a whole building approach to the retrofit process, considering the home, environment, occupancy, and the householders' improvement objectives when determining the most suitable measures to install. This eliminates the issue of retrofit work being considered in isolation which can unintentionally damage the overall building performance.

At RCS we have a fully qualified, accredited and insured team of in-house Retrofit Coordinators, who can manage retrofit projects from inception to completion, liaising with building owners, Retrofit Assessors, Retrofit Designers and Retrofit Installers in order to ensure effective end-to-end project management.

The activities that Retrofit Coordinators will undertake as part of the PAS 2035 process include:

The completion of a retrofit risk assessment for each dwelling or dwelling type within the retrofit project

The development of a retrofit project plan

The development of a medium-term improvement (subject to assessed Risk Path) for implementation over a period of thirty years

The documentation of the project progress, including any information that is supplied by building owners, and other retrofit stakeholders involved in the delivery of the project

Lodgement of the relevant project information into the Trustmark data Warehouse

In line with the requirements of Section A.4 of PAS 2035, RCS can provide a complete Retrofit Design service for projects assessed as Risk Path A, B or C. As members of the Chartered Institute of Building Conservation Certification Scheme, we can provide compliant Retrofit Designs for both conventional and traditionally constructed properties. We are fully insured by one of the UK’s leading brokers to undertake the role of Retrofit Designer, with appropriate levels of Public Liability and Professional Indemnity cover.

TrustMark has been established as the new quality mark within the retrofit standards framework. TrustMark is supported by an Industry Code of Conduct, a Consumer Charter, and a framework of technical standards for retrofit. Users of the TrustMark Government endorsed quality scheme will be required to comply with PAS 2035 when undertaking any domestic retrofit work. Those who hold the TrustMark can demonstrate to consumers that they have the skills and knowledge to deliver the best practice standards and trading practices in the sector.

Much like PAS 2035 for domestic buildings, PAS 2038 provides a similar framework and specification for the energy retrofit of non-domestic buildings in England and Wales including offices, shops, factories, workshops, warehouses, storage areas and even multi-residential buildings which have communal areas (hotels, guest houses etc.). Using the ‘whole building approach’, the aim of PAS 2038 is to reduce energy demand, improve the energy efficiency of our existing building stock and decarbonise building services in supporting the UK’s commitment to reducing carbon emissions. The PAS can be applied to non-domestic retrofit activities that are initiated, procured, funded and delivered by national or local government schemes.

Retrofit Assessors record details of the building condition, dimensions, occupancy levels and existing building services arrangements, to produce a detailed Retrofit Assessment Report.

Commercial retrofit projects compliant with PAS 2038 will be led by a Retrofit Lead Professional, who will identify objectives, possible outcomes, and oversee the project from inception to completion - similar to that of the Retrofit Coordinator in PAS 2035. With our team of qualified in-house Retrofit Coordinators (who are also Members of the Chartered Institute of Building (MCIOB), trained and accredited Non-Domestic Energy Assessors (NDEA) and Display Energy Certificate (DEC) assessors) RCS can fulfil the role of Retrofit Lead Professional.