Installers need to offer a workmanship warranty for the protection of consumers, according to the Oil Firing Technical Association (OFTEC).

The requirement to offer the warranty has been imposed on all competent person schemes by the Department for Communities & Local Government (DCLG). DCLG has given OFTEC until June 2014 to ensure that all registered installation businesses which self-certify building regulation work in England and Wales provide a workmanship warranty to their customers. The Channel Isles and Isle of Man have also adopted the OFTEC workmanship warranty but on a voluntary basis.

Workmanship warranty is an insurance scheme designed to give customers peace of mind when they have installation work carried out, and is available from OFTEC Insurance Services. It covers the cost of rectifying any contravention of building regulations directly attributable to the installation lasting for six years, should the original installer not be around to rectify any defects. It covers all domestic installation work including oil boilers, cookers, storage and supply installations covered by Building Regulation Approved Document J. It also covers plumbing installations, ventilation and electrical work, providing the business is registered for these disciplines.

New OFTEC registrants are being asked to provide the warranty upon application if they are carrying out installation work. For existing registrants there is a transition period working towards June of next year sanctioned by DCLG.

OFTEC's registration manager Adrian Lightwood said: “Because the warranty provides important additional reassurance for homeowners it should form part of any professional installation service. For this reason we hope installers will endorse the warranty for the benefit of both themselves and their customers. To help with this, OFTEC has developed a new consumer home guide to workmanship warranty, which is available free of charge, or can be downloaded from the OFTEC website at www.oftec.org.”