PAS 2035: Explained

During the early 2010’s, the Building Research Establishment (BRE) and subsequently BEIS recognised that many retrofit projects were failing. In response to this, BEIS released ‘An Independent Review of Consumer Advice, Protection, Standards and Enforcement for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’, in coordination with the Department for Communities and Local Government. The document, released in 2016, was titled  ‘Each Home Counts’ and made 27 key recommendations as to how the industry can better support customers within the energy efficiency sector. Recommendations 1 and 8 are particularly relevant to this article.

Recommendation 1 states that every government funded project should be delivered under a quality mark. This was subsequently agreed to be TrustMark, who are a government endorsed consumer protection scheme. Recommendation 8 requested that a new framework for the construction industry was developed, relating specifically to energy improvement works. In response to this recommendation, the British Standards Institute (BSI) were commissioned to develop and publish a document called the ‘BSI Publicly Available Specification (PAS) 2035’, or ‘PAS 2035’. This is an overarching framework for project delivery that seeks to address the risks associated with energy efficiency projects.

For developers and clients that require project delivery under TrustMark, full compliance with the PAS 2035 framework is required. The framework introduces five clear roles to the retrofit process and breaks down each project into six distinct phases, all of which are overseen by the Retrofit Coordinator. The Retrofit Coordinator, one of the five roles, is central to the new process and is ultimately responsible for ensuring compliance with PAS 2035. Below is a graphical representation of the ‘core principles’ of PAS 2035.

Whilst retrofit delivery under the TrustMark scheme is voluntary in the UK, all government funding opportunities require compliance as a prerequisite to funding success. It is however the hope and expectation of the UK government that customers will come to recognise the TrustMark, and that clients and developers within all sectors will routinely check for this in the same way they might check that heating engineers are Gas Safe registered. This statement is supported by the reference to PAS 2035 and Retrofit Academy training within key strategic documents. For example, within the BEIS  ‘Heat and Buildings Strategy’ , it is stated that the government “will look to incentivise certification to this [PAS 2035] standard and will work with industry to support training”.

Develeco are certified Retrofit Coordinators under PAS2035. By adopting a risk-based approach to Retrofit, our proposals are sensitive to the current energy crisis and the increasing cost of living. Our solutions will reduce your bills, increase your comfort levels, mitigate your impact on the planet and create improved, healthier environments for those that live and work within your property.