Energy Efficiency Installations Under the Energy Company Obligation: A Technical Monitoring Agent’s View.
Having spent many years at the coal front of ECO in people's homes, the latest NAO report wasn't a surprise.
The Energy Company Obligation (ECO) scheme has helped thousands of UK households reduce energy bills and carbon emissions. Funded by energy suppliers and focused on improving the least efficient homes, ECO4, the latest phase, supports insulation, heating upgrades, and renewable measures like heat pumps and solar panels. But while the benefits are clear, the real success of any installation depends on the quality of work carried out in homes.
As a technical monitoring agent, my role has been to independently assess whether installations meet the required standards. Every visit tells a story about the property, the installer, and how well the guidance has been followed.
While most installers genuinely aim to deliver good outcomes, I’ve also seen where small oversights can undermine performance, safety, or comfort, never mind quality which is not really monitored!
Quality Over Quantity
The pressure to complete jobs quickly, especially under funding deadlines, can sometimes lead to rushed work. Energy efficiency improvements should be a long-term investment, not a box-ticking exercise.
The Value of Pre-Installation Checks
Good outcomes start before any work begins. A proper assessment of the property’s existing condition is essential and should be carried out in person by someone with the right qualification grouped with experience.
Too often, pre-install checks are treated as paperwork rather than the foundation for effective design. These pre-inspections are usually completed on behalf of the installation companies, either on a commission base or through direct employment.
The overseer (retrofit coordinator) who is designated to fit all the pieces together can also be part of the installer network (typically are), which can add a bit of a conflict of interest when profits come into the equation.
Since the inception of PAS 2030/35 the process supposed to be robust, but who is checking the robustness? The process of recording data is exactly that, DATA, and all this information just populates forms to satisfy the powers that be.
Raising Standards Together
The ECO framework has evolved since its early days, but in my experience the quality and installer led customer engagement remains somewhat poor. Some get made promises and are left high and dry with a cost of rectifying or making good their properties.
I have heard many times about homeowners trying to engage with installation companies post install, but to get no callbacks or engagement.
Guidance needs to be tighter, tougher and monitoring more rigorous.
The roles of Installers, assessors, coordinators, and monitoring agents each play a role in ensuring measures deliver what they promise.
If the right checks are in place and customer engagement and education are encouraged, then hopefully the next ECO scheme may have some positive news reports and audits.
Ultimately, energy efficiency isn’t just about meeting targets, it’s about improving people’s lives. A well-installed system can transform a cold, draughty house into a warm, efficient home.
But that only happens when we take quality seriously at every stage.
As a technical monitoring agent, I see the difference it makes every day, and I believe that continued focus on standards, communication, and genuine care for the homeowner will define the next chapter of the ECO story.
Here’s a summary of the National Audit Office (NAO) report titled “Energy efficiency installations under the Energy Company Obligation (ECO)”.
Key Facts
The ECO scheme (currently in its ECO4 phase for April 2022–March 2026) and the related Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS) were designed to improve energy efficiency in domestic homes, reduce carbon emissions and tackle fuel poverty.
By the end of March 2025:
Approx. 243,900 homes upgraded under ECO4.
Approx. 60,600 homes under GBIS.
Only about 28,000 external wall insulation (EWI) installations (~3 % of all measures) and about 45,200 internal wall insulation (IWI) installations (~5 %) across both schemes.
What went right
The scheme is aligned with the government’s aim of improving home energy efficiency and reducing fuel poverty.
Once problems were flagged (in 2024) by the accreditation body TrustMark, the department (Department for Energy Security & Net Zero – DESNZ) and regulator Ofgem responded by suspending installation businesses and introducing checks.
What went wrong and key issues.
Quality of installation was widely poor:
For external wall insulation under ECO4/GBIS, 98 % of installations were found to require remediation.
For internal wall insulation, about 29 % had major issues.
Many homes face damp, mould, or even health/safety risks due to inadequate ventilation or workmanship.
Oversight, monitoring, and accountability weaknesses:
The system lacked sufficient checks, timely detection of non-compliance, and effective enforcement.
Limited data on costs, impacts, and remediation progress.
Suspected fraud and over-claiming:
Some retrofit businesses are suspected of claiming for work not done, or over-claiming.
System design weaknesses
The scheme design, accreditation and consumer-protection frameworks were not fully up to the challenge.
NAO’s main conclusions
The scheme is important and well-intentioned — it has the right broad objectives (fuel poverty, decarbonisation).
On the other hand, the design and setup of ECO4/GBIS have clear failures, which have led to widespread poor-quality installations and suspected fraud.
The government was slow to detect and act on systemic problems. Though they have now responded, the system still lacks strong levers and oversight mechanisms.
Key tasks now:
To ensure all affected homes are remediated, ensure accountability of firms, and reform the system to prevent repeat of same issues.
Recommendations.
DESNZ (and relevant regulators) should clarify responsibility and governance: who ensures the quality and follow-up of work.
A clear timetable and plan for remediation of all homes with faulty installations.
Consumer-protection regime (for retrofit schemes) must be strengthened: stronger accreditation, better monitoring, clearer redress for households.
Annual reporting on non-compliance and fraud within the schemes.
Improve data collection on costs, performance, lifetime savings (energy bill reductions, carbon reductions) so that value for money can be better assessed.