CIPHE expreses concern about the long waiting lists for Warm Front funded boiler replacements

(11/02/2010)

Latest official details of the waiting times across the country were published in the 2009 Warm Front Annual Report. At that time, the average waiting time for heating related work across the country was 66 days with households in London having to wait the longest at 80 days. The shortest waiting list was in the North West at 53 days.

Blane Judd, the chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering, has joined the growing number of voices expressing concern about the long waiting lists for Warm Front funded boiler replacements, proposing that CIPHE Registered Heating Professionals could be mobilised quickly to tackle the backlog.

Questions on the failings of Warm Front have been asked in Parliament and the Commons energy and climate change committee is to investigate this as part of a bigger enquiry into fuel poverty. The CIPHE will be providing written evidence to the enquiry.

Said Mr Judd: “The recent cold weather will have significantly increased the length of time people will have to wait for installation and it is clearly unacceptable for those most vulnerable households to be without heating for so long.

“Our understanding is that 96 installers were appointed by tender process by eaga, the organisation appointed by the Government to deliver the Warm Front service throughout England. They are clearly not able to meet the demand, and it is time for a second tranche of installers taken from the Register of Registered Heating Professionals to be put in place to cut through the waiting lists.

“Making sure that prospective installers hold the right qualifications to carry out the work to the highest standard is paramount. Public safety is one of our main concerns and as part of our Chartered status the CIPHE administers and regulates the voluntary registers for both Registered Heating Professionals and Registered Plumbers on behalf of the industry.

“To join the register installers must hold the necessary fuel qualification such as Gas Safe, HETAS or OFTEC together with appropriate plumbing qualifications to carry out full central heating installations. By using Registered Heating Professionals the time taken to get more Warm Front installers on the road could be significantly reduced.”

Related categories:  Boilers - Domestic   Residential applications