Renovation
189 sources in the library on renovation. Each one says what the document covers and what it is good for. Name a source to see which document it is and where to read it. One at a time. Page 5 of 5.
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BSI Knowledge
BSI's catalogue record for PAS 2035:2023, 'Retrofitting dwellings for improved energy efficiency. Specification and guidance', published 30 September 2023. This is the current edition of the retrofit standard that TrustMark registered businesses must work to for government-funded domestic energy efficiency work. BSI's catalogue records the previous edition, PAS 2035:2019+C2:2021, as published 1 June 2019 and withdrawn on 28 January 2022; that earlier edition's published scope covers assessment of dwellings for retrofit, identification and evaluation of energy efficiency measures, design and specification of individual measures or packages, and monitoring and evaluation of retrofit projects, including fabric insulation and thermal bridging, air-tightness, safe dynamic moisture equilibrium, resistance to water penetration, ventilation and internal air quality, VOC and overheating risks, efficient heating, water heating and lighting with responsive controls, low and zero carbon technologies and on-site energy storage. Cite the designation and edition date from here rather than assuming which version a scheme requires.
- strong RN-3O2M53
Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers
The design guide a heating engineer sizes a domestic system from, and the right citation for any note about radiator or cylinder sizing. Publisher CIBSE, status Active, 415 pages, publication date January 2026, ISBN 9781918034196, priced GBP 45 plus VAT for the book and GBP 60 plus VAT for the PDF at standard rate, so the text itself is paywalled and only the catalogue page is public. The catalogue page confirms what the 2026 edition changed: heat loss assessment now follows the BS EN 12831-1:2017 method, domestic hot water cylinder sizing follows BS EN 12831-3:2017 including sizing for storage below 60 degrees C and a thermal disinfection procedure, U-value tables have been updated for modern construction methods, and the latest CIBSE weather data is used with 28 zones and four outdoor design temperatures. It also introduces a System Criteria Document recording design decisions and client and designer sign-off, explicitly in line with the Building Safety Act, plus a new controls section and expanded hydraulic and system configurations. Note the versioning trap: version 2026-02 published in July 2026 supersedes version 2026-01, and CIBSE advises reading the accompanying corrigendum alongside the guide.
- strong RN-XBJL7W
Electrical Safety Roundtable / competent person scheme operators
The single Registered Competent Person Electrical search covering electricians registered to work in households and electrical inspectors registered to carry out electrical safety reports in homes in England and Wales, with both Find and Check functions. States that every electrician listed and permitted to display the mark is registered with an electrical Competent Person Scheme Operator and has been authorised by Government to self-certify that their work complies with Building Regulations, having met strict entry requirements and being regularly assessed for ongoing competence. The single mark and register went live on 30 June 2014 and was officially launched in Parliament on 2 July 2014. Confirms that since 2005 all electrical work in dwellings in England and Wales, whether carried out professionally or as DIY, must meet Building Regulations requirements.
- strong RN-0O7PFU
FENSA Limited
FENSA is a government-authorised scheme that monitors Building Regulations compliance for replacement windows and doors, assessing its approved installers regularly. The legal duty to register a replacement window or door installation with the local council sits with the homeowner; using a FENSA Approved Installer transfers that registration to FENSA, which handles the paperwork and issues the certificate. The FENSA certificate is the document proving the installation meets Building Regulations and has been registered with the council, and it is backed by guarantee insurance. Only FENSA Approved Installers can issue one. This is the source behind the standing advice that a reader should get the certificate at the time of the work rather than hunt for it at sale.
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Financial Conduct Authority
The register to check before accepting finance arranged by a builder, showroom or installer. Confirms that in the UK almost all financial firms must be authorised or registered by the FCA, and that the tool shows both whether a firm is authorised and whether it has permission to provide the specific services being offered. Sets out the tool's limits candidly: it cannot confirm whether Financial Services Compensation Scheme or Financial Ombudsman Service protection will apply, it omits products and services offered only to other firms, published crypto restrictions, historic fines, the right to approve financial promotions and the ability to handle client money, all of which sit on the fuller Financial Services Register along with information on individuals. Notes that certain financial products are not regulated at all and so do not appear, that updates take on average 24 hours, and that some information is supplied by firms so accuracy is not guaranteed.
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Financial Conduct Authority
The regulator's 2026 multi-firm review of the product most often sold as a home improvement loan, published 12 March 2026 and updated 13 March 2026. Establishes the market facts a finance note should cite: second charge mortgages let a homeowner borrow against equity without changing their main mortgage, they are typically less than 4 per cent of regulated mortgage sales, they tend to carry higher interest rates than first charge mortgages, and consumers mostly use them to consolidate debt rather than to fund works. Warns that these customers often carry a high level of debt so a significant proportion may have characteristics of vulnerability including low financial resilience. The FCA reviewed quality of advice, robustness of affordability assessments, the role of intermediaries, record keeping and intermediary fees, sampling firms covering over 40 per cent of second charge advice firms and around 50 per cent of second charge lenders, and found evidence of poor practices creating a risk of poor customer outcomes. Frames expectations against the Consumer Duty and the Mortgage Conduct of Business rules, and follows a 2018 Dear CEO letter to second charge lenders and a 2025 Portfolio Letter to mortgage intermediaries.
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HETAS Limited
HETAS describes itself as a not for profit organisation operating a competent person scheme for installers of biomass and solid fuel heating, together with registration for retailers and chimney sweeps and approval of appliances and fuels. Its site carries searchable registers of registered businesses by postcode or business ID covering retailers, installers, chimney sweeps, servicing engineers and biomass maintenance, plus a separate Removed Business Register for firms no longer registered, and an approved stoves and fuels search. It publishes consumer guidance on choosing a stove, maintenance, and when to have appliances serviced and chimneys swept, and runs Chimney Fire Safety Week, held 7 to 13 September in 2026. HETAS is one of the MHCLG-authorised competent person schemes, so a HETAS registration can be checked rather than taken on trust.
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MCS (Microgeneration Certification Scheme)
How the standards behind MCS certification are set and changed, which matters because MCS certification is a precondition of the main heat pump and solar grants. MCS Standards are owned by the MCS Foundation and governed by the MCS Approval Committee, chaired by the Independent Chair of Standards, David Heath, whose role is to oversee the Technical Working Groups and protect the integrity and impartiality of the Standards. The Approval Committee ensures changes adhere to governance processes and, depending on the type of change, incorporate industry and technical expert feedback through public consultation. Technical Working Groups develop the Standards and many members sit on European committees, keeping MCS aligned with current EN Standards. Two published change processes govern updates: the Technical Document Control Process, reference 455010, for MCS Technical Standards, and the Scheme Document Control Process, reference 184199, for MCS Scheme documents.
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OFTEC, Oil Firing Technical Association
OFTEC's consumer section for buildings not connected to the mains gas network, which it puts at around 20% of UK homes and 65% of Irish homes, with electric heating, LPG, solid fuel or oil heating as the alternatives and oil the most popular off-grid option. Provides a search for OFTEC registered technicians, a certificate ordering service, an explanation of why to choose an OFTEC registered competent person, off-grid heating option guides, a complaints route through OFTEC's compliance services, guidance on insurance for a fuel tank leak, troubleshooting tips, guidance on avoiding heating fuel theft, and funding scheme information. OFTEC is one of the MHCLG-authorised competent person schemes for oil-firing work.
- strong RN-RBTGMH
Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
The mandatory standard a UK valuer works to, and the right citation whenever a note distinguishes a survey from a valuation. The Red Book UK national supplement sets specific requirements for applying the RICS Valuation Global Standards to valuations undertaken subject to UK jurisdiction; it was published on 19 October 2023 and came into effect on 1 May 2024, applying to all valuations with a valuation date on or after that. Its references were updated following the updated RICS Valuation Global Standards effective 31 January 2025. RICS defines subject to UK jurisdiction as where performance of the valuation contract is subject to UK statutes, rules and regulations, also considering the jurisdiction in which a claim about the valuation could be brought; the Isle of Man, Jersey, Guernsey and the Republic of Ireland are not part of the UK. The update was made to implement valuation governance amendments from the Valuation Review plus technical updates to public sector, financial reporting and residential content, including a new rotation policy for some regulated purpose valuations. One correction a note should carry: RICS states there is NO new residential mortgage specification. Residential mortgage valuation advice previously sat in VPGA 11 (effective 2019) and before that Appendix 10 of the 2014 edition updated April 2015; the newly updated VPGA 11 sets only high level principles for residential valuation and does not go into significant detail on residential mortgages, and RICS is separately developing a new UK professional standard for the valuation of residential property for owner occupation.
- strong RN-2N0ZXN
Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
The landing page for the Red Book, the publication that details MANDATORY practices for RICS members undertaking valuation services and serves as a reference for valuation users. The page confirms the current edition, RICS Valuation Global Standards, became effective on 31 January 2025, and that the Red Book sits on top of the International Valuation Standards (IVS), which are the key global guidance for valuation professionals, with the Red Book UK national supplement applying the Global Standards to UK jurisdiction valuations. Use it to make the point that a Red Book valuation is a regulated, mandatory-standard product distinct from an RICS Home Survey, which is governed instead by the Home Survey Standard, even though a Home Survey Level 2 can be bought in a survey and valuation version.
- strong RN-QSTLXG
TrustMark
TrustMark's homeowner hub, with a searchable directory of registered tradespeople by trade and location plus a guided search. Sets out the hiring process it recommends: step 1, have a clear idea of the work and research the probable cost and timescales, accepting that good tradespeople are in demand and you may have to wait; step 2, obtain 3 quotes before starting any work so you have a range of prices to compare; step 3, ask friends and family for personal recommendations and take references. The site also carries the complaints process, a route to report unsafe electrical work, logo misuse reporting, consumer protection and protected payments, a published suspensions list, retrofit guidance and the energy efficiency scheme routes. TrustMark is the government-endorsed quality scheme, so registration is a checkable credential rather than a paid directory listing.
- strong RN-S96LKB
United Kingdom Accreditation Service
UKAS explains what each sanction means in practice. A suspension is normally temporary, with the body expected to regain accreditation within three months and up to nine in exceptional circumstances. While suspended an organisation cannot provide accredited services, cannot issue new accredited certificates, and must tell existing and prospective customers of its status. Certificates issued before the suspension remain valid unless they were issued incorrectly, though annual surveillance or renewal visits falling inside the suspension period may not be supportable.
- good RN-OFDBVS
AECB (Association for Environment Conscious Building)
The AECB retrofit standard page, and a useful source of real certified-project performance figures rather than manufacturer claims. The standard requires all-round insulation, minimised summer overheating, moisture risk addressed at junctions, and a low carbon heating system, with certifiers trained specifically in moisture and other risks and junctions assessed for moisture. The page lists certified projects with their measured or designed outcomes: Ward Grove, a 1983 to 1992 private house completed 2023, external insulation, triple glazed, MVHR heat recovery ventilation, space heating 37 kWh/m2 per year; Foxlow, a 1900 to 1918 private house completed 2023, wood fibre internal wall insulation, triple glazed, MVHR, space heating 32 kWh/m2 per year and airtightness 1.9 m3/m2.hr; and a Wrexham retrofit of a 1960s house, external insulation, triple glazed, MVHR, space heating 30 kWh/m2 per year. These are the numbers to quote when a note needs a realistic UK deep-retrofit space heating figure. The page also confirms the step-by-step route exists for households retrofitting in phases.
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AECB (Association for Environment Conscious Building)
The AECB CarbonLite family, the main UK alternative to Passivhaus for a homeowner who wants a measurable low-energy target rather than minimum Building Regulations compliance. The page names four standards and three supporting guidance documents: CarbonLite New Build for new domestic and non-domestic projects; CarbonLite Retrofit for individual or multifamily homes and non-domestic buildings; CarbonLite Retrofit Step-by-Step, designed principally for retrofitting individual or multifamily homes in stages rather than in one go; and the Water Standard for water efficiency in domestic and non-domestic projects, plus Daylighting design guidance (with an AECB CarbonLite software tool) and Airtightness guidance. Each standard has its own detailed guidance PDF. Two facts worth citing: AECB set up the Passivhaus Trust in 2010, so the two bodies are related rather than rivals, and AECB CarbonLite certified homes qualify for Ecology Building Society C-Change mortgage discounts of up to 1.50 percent off the standard variable rate, applied for the lifetime of the mortgage on completion of the project, which is a rare concrete financial consequence of a voluntary standard.
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CFA
The Contract Flooring Association describes itself as the leading independent trade association and professional voice of the UK contract flooring industry, with members including some of the UK's largest flooring contractors, manufacturers and distributors. It runs a Find a Member directory and advises specifying a CFA member to minimise costly flooring failures. It publishes downloads and free guides for members, architects, specifiers and end-user clients, a member area of documents and templates, and the Floorscape online news platform, alongside training work through the Future Fitters programme and a Flooring Apprentice of the Year competition. Reports that 82% of CFA members surveyed said membership represents good value for money. Use this to identify the trade body behind flooring installation guidance and to point readers at an accredited installer.
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CIRIA (Construction Industry Research and Information Association)
The reference for what happens when an excavation goes below the water table, which is the hidden cost driver in basement digs and deep foundations on wet ground. CIRIA C750, Groundwater control: design and practice, second edition, published April 2016, 205 pages, ISBN 978-0-86017-755-5, authors Preene, Roberts and Powrie. Paywalled at GBP 110 excluding VAT (GBP 55 for members) with a minimum order of five copies, so only the catalogue page and a PDF excerpt are public. The page states the core proposition plainly: whenever an excavation is made below the water table there is a risk that it will become unstable or flood unless measures are taken to control groundwater in the surrounding soil. Scope covers the potential effect of groundwater on construction works, groundwater control and dewatering techniques as temporary works, safety management and contractual matters, legal and environmental issues, site investigation requirements, and design methods for groundwater control schemes.
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CIRIA (Construction Industry Research and Information Association)
The UK code of practice for making an existing home resistant to and recoverable from flooding, and free to download after sign-in, which makes it unusually accessible for a CIRIA title. The C790 project produced four outputs a note can name separately: C790A, the Code of practice for property flood resilience, Edition 2, which sets six standards specifying what should be achieved; C790B, Guidance on the code of practice, explaining how each of the six standards should be met across the stages of a property flood resilience delivery process; C790C, Making your property more flood resilient, written for households and businesses; and C790D, Guidance for local authority planners. The code draws the distinction a renovation note should use: resistance measures reduce the amount of water entering a building, and recoverability measures limit the damage caused once water is inside, with the aim of reducing damage and speeding up recovery and reoccupation.
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Considerate Constructors Scheme
A route most UK renovation articles never mention: what a neighbour affected by building work can actually do. The Scheme records all concerns, comments, compliments or complaints about a registered activity regardless of source. Once a concern is reviewed and found to relate to the Code of Considerate Practice, the Scheme informs the activity designated contact, usually the site manager or company contact, and may highlight the relevant parts of the Code. If the person raising it gives permission, their name and contact details are shared so the contact can work with them directly, particularly where compensation may be involved or where they have already been in contact with the site; if permission is not given, the Public Support team liaises on their behalf and the matter is handled confidentially. Crucially, if the construction activity is NOT registered with the Scheme, the Scheme will still contact the relevant organisation and attempt to mediate between the parties, but cannot progress the concern if that organisation does not respond. Contact is by freephone 0333 049 4600 in the UK, 1800 939 109 in the Republic of Ireland, or publicsupport@considerateconstructors.com.
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Considerate Constructors Scheme
The code a registered contractor commits to, and the standard a homeowner or neighbour can measure a builder against. Registering an organisation, contractor or supplier with the Scheme is a commitment to observe and implement the Code, and the Code applies equally to all registered activities regardless of size, type or location. It has three sections. Respect the community: courteous and respectful language and appropriate behaviour in and around the activity; providing a safer environment, preventing unnecessary disturbance and reducing nuisance for the community; and proactively maintaining effective community engagement. Care for the environment: prioritising environmental issues to protect the natural environment and minimise negative impacts; optimising the use of resources including minimising carbon throughout the value chain; and engaging with the community to improve the local environment. Value the workforce: creating a supportive, inclusive and healthy workplace. Registration also means agreeing to be visited and scored by a Scheme Monitor, with conformance recognised through Certificates of Performance, Records of Performance and the Leading Lights Awards, and optional paid advisory visits available.
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Passivhaus Trust
The UK body page for the Passivhaus standard, and the right citation for a note explaining low-energy standards above Building Regulations. It confirms EnerPHit is the separate, slightly relaxed Passive House Institute standard for RETROFIT projects, used where existing architecture and conservation constraints make full Passivhaus infeasible, which is the distinction most renovation articles blur. The Trust defines eight Passivhaus principles: the five building principles of insulation, airtightness, ventilation, minimised thermal bridging and high-performance windows, plus three principles of approach, namely detailed performance and comfort criteria, accurate design modelling using the Passive House Planning Package (PHPP), and rigorous quality assurance. It states the UK performance gap between designed and in-use energy conservatively results in a 60% increase in space heating demand in residential buildings, and often considerably more in non-residential, whereas Passivhaus buildings on average perform as designed. On claims: a building may reasonably be called a self-declared Passivhaus provided it satisfies all requirements of the standard, but certification must be by a registered Passivhaus Certifier independent of the design team. Caution when citing numbers: the headline criteria table on this page is published as an image and linked PDF rather than as text, so the numeric targets must be taken from the Passive House Institute criteria document itself.
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Property Care Association
The Property Care Association's homeowner hub and searchable directory of PCA member specialists. Lists the service categories the PCA covers and vets against: damp control, invasive weed control, residential ventilation, structural repair, structural waterproofing, timber preservation, ground gas protection, flood protection and recovery, sump and pump maintenance, and sprayed foam evaluation. Specialists can be searched by type as a surveying and contracting company, an independent or freelance surveyor, a spray foam assessor or a ground gas verifier. The PCA describes itself as the trade body for the industry, whose members have the skills to diagnose, report on and repair buildings affected by various sources of dampness, and offers homeowner guidance pages on damp control, timber rot and woodworm, structural repairs and structural waterproofing. Use this to establish which body accredits damp and timber specialists rather than relying on a contractor's own claims.
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Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB)
SPAB's summary of its research programme on the thermal performance of traditional buildings, undertaken to complement work by Historic Scotland on sandstone construction and English Heritage on brick, and covering vernacular walling types such as wattle and daub panelling, cob, limestone, slate and granite. The key finding: results from the first stage suggest that standard U-value calculations used across the construction industry underestimate the thermal performance of traditional walls, and that in some instances heat loss through vernacular materials can be up to three times lower than expected. The report, written by Dr Caroline Rye, compared measured in-situ U-values of various traditional vernacular walls with theoretical U-values calculated using BuildDesk U 3.4 software. SPAB warns that calculated theoretical U-values suggesting poorer performance may lead owners and professionals to adopt disproportionate energy saving interventions that are unnecessary, invasive and potentially harmful to historic fabric. Cite this before repeating a standard solid wall U-value figure for a period house.
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British Gas
British Gas's householder page on cavity wall insulation: homes built after the 1920s usually have cavity walls, and about a third of heat in an uninsulated home is lost through the walls.
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Financial Ombudsman Service
The ombudsman's own account of what it sees and how it decides, last updated 24 July 2023, which is a stronger citation than an insurer's marketing page. Confirms that buildings insurance typically responds to accidental damage, weather such as storms, flooding, ground movement such as subsidence, and underground pipes made from pitch fibre. Lists the recurring complaint types: repairs done but the problem not fixed; the insurer insisting on repair where the consumer wants replacement; the insurer deciding the sum insured on buildings or contents is not enough to cover the claim, which it names as underinsurance; the insurer saying the customer carelessly or deliberately failed to give the true rebuild cost of the home or replacement cost of contents and cancelling the policy on that basis; a replacement offered that is not the same as what was lost; and a cash settlement too small to have the repairs done. Links its separate approaches to accidental damage, building warranties, damage to underground pipes, flood damage, gradual damage, home emergency insurance and multiple-occupancy buildings insurance.
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Financial Ombudsman Service
Sets out what happens when an insurer says a homeowner gave wrong information, which is the mechanism behind most declined renovation-related claims, last updated 10 July 2026. Defines misrepresentation as information given carelessly, deliberately or recklessly that was incomplete or misleading, and non-disclosure as leaving out relevant information that was asked about. Lists the insurer's possible remedies: charge more for the policy, retrospectively apply a restriction so an ongoing or future claim is declined, settle a claim proportionately, or avoid the policy so the claim is declined outright. States the legal test the ombudsman applies is the insurer's obligations under the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012, asking whether the questions were clear and specific, whether the consumer took reasonable care to answer correctly, whether the answer was incorrect or incomplete, and whether the insurer would have acted differently with the correct information. Confirms the complaint route: complain to the firm first, and if it does not send a final response letter within eight weeks, or the response is unsatisfactory, bring the complaint to the ombudsman, whose service is free.
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Financial Ombudsman Service
Explains the average clause, the mechanism that reduces a payout when a home is insured for less than its rebuild cost, last updated 10 July 2026. States that where a policy contains an average clause the insurer may use it so that the policyholder bears a proportion of any loss or damage if the item was insured for less than its replacement value, and that the insurer applies its own formula. Identifies the two grounds on which the ombudsman upholds such complaints: the insurer tried to apply an average clause that is not actually in the policy, and the insurer applied the average clause without ever having asked the consumer to estimate the full value of the buildings or contents. Also covers complaints where the insurer failed to ask the right question, giving the example of an application asking how much cover do you need when what the insurer wanted was the total value of everything in the home, and where the insurer did not make clear that pre-filled parts of an online form had to be checked for accuracy. Confirms the complaint route requires a formal complaint to the firm first, with the ombudsman available if no final response arrives within eight weeks.
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NHS
The clinical authority for what carbon monoxide does and how many alarms a home needs. Lists symptoms as headache, dizziness, nausea or vomiting, weakness, tiredness and confusion, chest and muscle pain, shortness of breath, flushing and loss of vision, and notes the tell-tale pattern that symptoms worsen in an affected room and improve on leaving the building. Names the appliances that can produce carbon monoxide when badly installed, faulty or poorly maintained: gas boilers, gas cookers and clay ovens, gas or paraffin heaters, wood, gas and coal fires and portable generators, plus barbecues or camping stoves used indoors and engines run in a garage. The prevention advice is specific: get a carbon monoxide alarm for each room of the home containing an appliance that burns gas, oil, coal or wood, have appliances properly installed and serviced regularly by a qualified and registered engineer, and keep chimneys and flues clear. Directs readers to call NHS 111 for suspected poisoning and 999 for breathing difficulty, sudden confusion or loss of consciousness.
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Scottish Water
SCOTLAND. Scottish Water is a single public corporation covering all of Scotland, so there is no regional water and sewerage company to approach as in England, and no Thames Water or Severn Trent style build-over agreement process. The page sets out the Single House Connections route for anyone constructing a new domestic property, renovating an existing property, needing a temporary connection or a building water supply, or converting from a private water supply to the public water or sewer network, and stresses planning utility connections at the earliest stage. The process runs in four published stages, Preparing, Applying, Constructing and Completing, supported by a downloadable Single House Connections Guidance document that also covers converting from a private to a public water supply. Contact is 0800 0778 778, 24 hours a day.