MCS "bureaucracy" slammed

MCS “bureaucracy” barrier slammed

An “astonishing” level of bureaucracy is posing a barrier to people looking to achieve Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) accreditation, claims Worcester Bosch marketing and technical support director Martyn Bridges.

“As if installers’ access to MCS isn’t difficult enough given the sheer volume of prerequisites in place for funding qualification, manufacturers also have to overcome their own set of challenges in getting products tested for compliance under MCS 012 – the scheme’s very own product standard,” he said.

Questioning the need for a new UK-specific solar testing procedure, he added: “Despite the fact that the majority of solar products are certified with the Solar Keymark – a Europe-wide quality label for solar thermal – MCS now lists an extensive list of additional requirements over and above what is has already become a harmonised European standard.”

He went on to point out that Worcester offers five different solar thermal products, each of which he said now needs to be tested at an independent test house, to a cost of well over £30,000, to gain approval under the MCS’s local requirements. He said: “We have reached a point where the bureaucracy associated with MCS – both for a manufacturer and its products, and the installer – is astonishing. With the renewables market already struggling to meet its potential, should we not be doing all we can to stimulate sales rather than deter them?”

 

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