A campaign by the heating and plumbing sector, spearheaded by merchant Mick Williams, is urging government to reduce the amount of administration required for the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS).

There are currently fewer than 2,500 MCS accredited installers, compared with 120,000 registered gas engineers. With the bulk of the new renewable installers projected to come from the existing group of heating and plumbing contractors, this discrepancy has prompted various quarters of the plumbing and heating sector to call for changes to the scheme.

A campaign instigated by Mick Williams of Williams and Co, an independent plumbing and heating merchant, wants the MCS made more appealing and accessible to installers, and is emphasising the need to cut back on the volume of administration and paperwork required for small businesses.]]>

"Over-regulation is the biggest barrier to renewable take-up. Small businesses are put off becoming accredited, both by the total costs and the weight of paperwork required," said Williams. "The burden is simply too much to gear for a small company, which is likely to undertake a handful of installations per year."

Manufacturers including Worcester, Bosch Group, Vaillant, Biasi and the Baxi group, all support the campaign.

For more information about the campaign, visit www.tradeonly.blogspot.com.

Have you any experience of the Microgeneration Certification Scheme? Did you find it easy to achieve, or were you put off by the administrative requirements? Email hvpmag@hgluk.com and let us know what you think.