Checking a solar installer: MCS, RECC, HIES, TrustMark and Companies House
Five checks, none of which take longer than a few minutes, and one of which almost nobody does. The certifications tell you different things — and the one that tells you most about whether the company will still exist in three years is the free one at Companies House.
Five checks, and they answer different questions.
MCS — is the installation technically certified, and can I get export payments? RECC or HIES — is there a consumer code behind the sales and contract side, and a dispute route if it goes wrong? TrustMark — is the business registered under the government endorsed scheme? Companies House — will this company still exist when the warranty matters? And: which company am I actually contracting with?
The last two are free, take five minutes, and are the ones most often skipped.
What each one actually certifies
| What it covers | What it does not | |
|---|---|---|
| MCS | The technical installation and the products, against published standards. Gates SEG and most grants | The sales process, the contract, or your money |
| RECC | The consumer-facing side: sales conduct, contracts, deposits, warranties, dispute resolution | Technical quality of the installation |
| HIES | The same territory as RECC, under a different operator | As above |
| TrustMark | Registration under the government endorsed quality scheme, via scheme operators | It is a framework, not an installation standard |
| Companies House | Whether the company files, how long it has traded, who runs it | Nothing about quality at all |
They answer different questions and a good installer holds both.
MCS is about whether the system is properly designed and installed. A consumer code is about what happens to your money and what route you have if the relationship breaks down.
An installer with MCS and no code leaves you without a dispute route. A code member without MCS leaves you unable to claim export payments.
The consumer codes
Both RECC and HIES are approved by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute under the Consumer Codes Approval Scheme. That approval is the thing to look for; it is what distinguishes a real code from a logo.
RECC — the Renewable Energy Consumer Code, operated by Renewable Energy Assurance Limited, a subsidiary of the Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology. It is also a TrustMark scheme operator, which is why a business may display both.
HIES — the Home Insulation and Energy Systems Quality Assured Contractors Scheme, a division of The Integrity Foundation, a company limited by guarantee. It offers deposit and stage payment protection, an insurance-backed guarantee, and alternative dispute resolution.
Neither is the “better” badge. What matters is that your installer belongs to one, that you know which, and that you understand what it gives you — covered on consumer codes and dispute routes compared.
The check almost nobody does
Companies House. Free, instant, and more predictive than any certification.
What to look at:
Incorporation date. A company incorporated eight months ago offering a ten-year workmanship warranty is offering something it has no track record of being able to honour.
Accounts — filed, and on time. Overdue filings are a signal. So is a pattern of filing at the last possible moment.
Directors, and their other companies. A director with a series of dissolved companies in the same trade is the pattern worth noticing. Note that we do not name individuals on this site — but you are entitled to look, and you should.
The registered address. Several similar companies at one address, incorporated and dissolved in sequence, is a recognisable shape.
Charges registered against the company. Not disqualifying, but informative.
None of this tells you whether the work will be good. It tells you something about whether there will be anyone to call in five years — which, given that a workmanship warranty is a promise from the company itself, is the question that decides what your warranty is worth. See my installer went bust.
Which company are you contracting with?
Solar is frequently sold through a chain: a lead generator advertises, an agent visits, and a third company installs. All three may appear on the paperwork.
Establish the contracting entity by name and company number, then check that entity’s certifications. A brochure carrying MCS and RECC logos tells you nothing if the contract is with a different company.
This also matters for section 75, where the relationship between the supplier and the credit arrangement can affect a claim.
How to verify, rather than take on trust
MCS — check the installer’s certification and ask for the certificate number. MCS holds installation records on its Installations Database.
RECC and HIES — both publish member directories. Search by company name or number, not by the logo on the quote.
TrustMark — has its own registered business search.
Companies House — search by company name or number. Free.
The certificate itself — ask for a copy of the current certification, and check the name on it matches the company on your contract.
What good looks like
An installer who is straightforward about all of this:
- gives you the contracting company’s full name and number without being pressed
- holds MCS for both the installation and the products
- belongs to a CTSI-approved consumer code and tells you which
- provides the insurance-backed guarantee documentation, not a promise of it — see deposit protection
- has filed accounts on time and been trading long enough to have a record
- leaves you a written quotation you can compare with others
None of that guarantees good work. All of it is checkable before you commit, and an installer who resists any part of it has told you something useful.
Sources
Sorry to hear that. What was the problem?