Vital Supports Road to Heat Meter Regulation Compliance

The revised Heat Network (Metering and Billing) Regulations came into force on the 27^th November which affect organisations that manage properties which are supplied with heat from a communal source, via a hot water heating system. The regulations will place a burden on Housing Associations and Property Managers to ensure operators of eligible properties provide individual metering and billing for their occupants.

The underlying principle of the regulations is that people are billed for what they actually consume. Individual billing provides greater visibility and control over their energy usage and costs.

Failure to comply with the regulations puts the operator at risk of fines for non-compliance. The level of fine is set by an adjudicator and can be for up to 100% of the cost of installing the compliant solution.

We can help and support operators to take the steps to understand their liabilities and develop solutions to achieve compliance.

This will include;

• Helping to define the classification of housing stock and the related liability
• Carrying out detailed surveys and cost-effective assessments
• Identifying technology solutions tailored to the client requirements
• Full project and delivery management
• Provide options for flexible financing solutions that remove the capex burden from the client organisation.

The road to regulatory compliance is a two-stage process. After the 27^th November Housing Associations, Property Managers and building operators will only have a year to review the classification of their housing stock and notify the OPSS (Office of Product and Safety Standards) by November 27^th, 2021. This means that housing operators need to identify and determine whether their properties are classified as viable, exempt or open class, followed by completing the viability assessment tool for any properties within the “Open Class” group.

The BEIS viability tool will determine whether additional works would be cost effective, If the tool determines the works are not cost effective the property will be classified as exempt. Otherwise the property will be classified as exempt.

The second stage towards compliance will require the owner or operator of the heat system to install heat meters, heat cost allocators or smart technology in all properties classified as “Open Class” by September 1st^h 2022.

We can work with you to provide:

• Stock Classification Evaluation Support
• Survey Support
• Cost Effective Evaluations
• Technology Appraisals
• AMR Solution Development
• Full Project Scope
• Procurement Guidance
• Project Financing
• Project Delivery
• Meter Management

Our soon to be launched smart app technology, Glass, can reduce installation costs, giving residents visibility of their consumption while ensuring housing operators can easily reconcile their finances and debt burden – it is designed to provide an affordable  and effective solution to the issue of compliance.