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MCS Costs?


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Hello Folks,

 

Very quick question regarding MCS certified plumbers. Currently getting quotes for our ASHP with UFH.

 

Is there a one off cost as such to register your MCS install to qualify for RHI? We have been quoted it would be an extra £1000 for MCS registration. I assumed this would be included in the cost of the MCS certified plumber and would simply be a case of us registering our install (for free?) when completed showing all the relevant documents from our MCS plumber?

 

Maybe i am wrong however would like to know the facts before ranting to our potential plumber!

 

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nope -he is just using his certification as a method to get payment for getting the certification  he needs to allow you to claim RHI

although to be fair it will have cost him a fair bit to get that certification  ,

his involvement in the RHI process is a couple of hours of paper work   and maybe the cost of an epc survey at start to work out how much rhi grant you will get back .

 

Edited by scottishjohn
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I'd be interested if anyone has worked out the cost of becoming an MCS registered plumber.

It must be either very expensive to O the course or very restricted in the number of people allowed to be registered juding by the high fees charged for MCS registered work.

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Ours was biomass installed by an MCs registered installer, he gave us all the certifications to enable us to make the application for rhi payments, he had to register online within a certain time of the installation to say he’d done all the work, the EPC is down to you but otherwise we haven’t paid anything else 

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32 minutes ago, bassanclan said:

I'd be interested if anyone has worked out the cost of becoming an MCS registered plumber.

It must be either very expensive to O the course or very restricted in the number of people allowed to be registered juding by the high fees charged for MCS registered work.

 

No, but I talked to our plumber about it (he plumbed in the ASHP as well as the rest of the house) and he said it just wasn't worth the cost and paperwork hassle. Perhaps he hadn't considered the potential installation premium?

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I seem to remember that one of the solar installers, Greenshop maybe used to claim that going for MCS would cost £1k-£2k more on an installation although I think this was disputed. What I have noticed is that the quotes we've gotten back from MCS certified companies are certainly higher for ASHP and UFH. Whether this is because the are generally better at the job I could not say. 

Edited by Ralph
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Thanks everyone for your input. It’s a bit odd to me to slap on a £1000 if we wish to qualify for RHI. I feel they are chancing their luck to be honest! I have already got a quote from another MCS plumber who is a few grand cheaper without any ‘extra’ charges for registration! Another lesson learned! ?

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  • 4 years later...

I've been on this MSC costs thing now for a few weeks. I've learnt that it's a lot of paperwork and new builds complicate things even more. Some installers are registered themselves and do the paperwork themselves.  Others have admin staff and some use a supplier as an umbrella company.

Costs vary depending on which method they use and how much money they think they can add on- Market economy and all !

I've had quotes of (plus the grant) £4500 for 7kw to £2300 for 8kw.

Fully installed, 300ltr cylinder, connected to UFH pipes (in slab already) fit UFH manifold. 5 year warranty. 

The 8kw quote now means it's cheaper to get a heat pump installed than gas. This was the idea behind the grant.

 

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3 hours ago, Surfiejim said:

I've been on this MSC costs thing now for a few weeks. I've learnt that it's a lot of paperwork and new builds complicate things even more. Some installers are registered themselves and do the paperwork themselves.  Others have admin staff and some use a supplier as an umbrella company.

Costs vary depending on which method they use and how much money they think they can add on- Market economy and all !

I've had quotes of (plus the grant) £4500 for 7kw to £2300 for 8kw.

Fully installed, 300ltr cylinder, connected to UFH pipes (in slab already) fit UFH manifold. 5 year warranty. 

The 8kw quote now means it's cheaper to get a heat pump installed than gas. This was the idea behind the grant.

 

£2300 for an 8kW and a 300l tank sounds like a very good deal in this era of grant based pricing

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5 hours ago, Surfiejim said:

£2300 for 8kw.

That's exactly the quote I got, due to be installed next week. I wonder if it's the same people (near Helston IIRC)

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5 hours ago, sharpener said:

Sounds extremely competitive. I am in the S Hams, could you post their contact details here please @Surfiejim and @Tom, or PM me if you would rather.

Suere, it's GreenGenUK. Hope I haven't fallen foul of the forum rules for posting that

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if you are happy to install yourself or get your local plumber to install try AltoEnergy - they do the MCS umbrella scheme where you can claim BUS grant, install yourself but you still get mcs certificate and manufacturers warranty etc.  They supply Mitsubishi and Samsung systems.  Price after grant is approx £1000 - £1500    I have been very impressed with them and their feedback on Trust Pilot is great

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Thanks @mk1_man, I have been following your thread in Other Heating Systems (Mods, why are there two different boards covering ASHPs?).

 

Presumably another advantage of going this route is you avoid paying VAT on a retrofit. But as I wrote there "Alto don't list Vaillant on their web site but I will enquire, don't want all the design work around their 12W Arotherm Plus to go to waste."

 

Also AFAIUI the larger Mitsis are still R32.

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3 hours ago, sharpener said:

(Mods, why are there two different boards covering ASHPs?).

I agree, we have too many subsections in general. The forum structure was largely inherited from its predecessor.

 

(Sorry for the thread drift)

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