Cheltenham Hereford Ross-on-Wye Worcester Serviced offices London Birmingham clark.co.uk clark.co.uk

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Cheltenham Hereford Ross-on-Wye Worcester Serviced offices London Birmingham info@harrison clark.co.uk www.harrison clark.co.uk"

Garey McCoy
8 years ago
Views:

2 Legalities of the Green Deal

3 The Green Deal Electricity Company Occupier consent Owner GDAS Green Deal Provider Finance Co Installer Installer Installer

4 Green Deal Assessors Assessors must be accredited and comply with a code of practice. The code of practice requires that they are accredited by an EPBD accreditation scheme and qualified under the Green Deal National Occupational Standards. They must either be accredited as or employed by or contracted to an Organisation accredited to provide the Green Deal Advice Service in accordance with the Specification for Organisations providing the Green Deal Advice Service They must do more than just assess the fabric of the property.

5 Organisations providing the Green Deal Advice Service They must comply with requirements for impartiality and clearly distinguish between services provided as part of the assessment and any other services. They can be employed by a Green Deal Provider but the Green Deal Assessment can be used by the customer with any Green Deal Provider. This breaks the link between the assessment and the Green Deal Provider. They have professional indemnity insurance cover

6 Green Deal Advice Services Specification of service requirements 29 pages Some standard software and documentation under development to support the process The format of the Green Deal Advice report and software are being developed by DECC The Green Deal Assessment Checklist is being developed by DECC Requirements for issuing new EPC s

7 Green Deal Advice Services Commercial terms for providing the services are not being developed by DECC but organisations must comply with specification requirements. The specification does not address all the legal issues that must be considered i.e. data protection, IP, and other regulatory and commercial terms under the Supply of Goods and services Act or consumer regulations. The specification does include some minimum requirements i.e. insurance. The specification points more to what information and procedures must be complied with to protect the customer. It does not set out the agreement between the customer and the service provider and it will not provide any protection in terms of limitation or exclusion of liability. It will be relevant but not conclusive when complaints are raised through the ombudsman service. It is unclear what will be the relationship between a Green Deal Assessor Organisation and the Green Deal Provider that subsequently enters into a Green Deal Plan based upon that assessment. Will the Contracts Rights of Third Parties Act apply or will the law of Tort govern the relationship?

8 Green Deal Provider This is the key role there are a number of possible ways which this can be undertaken. The important point to note is that significant duties and risks are being undertaken which cannot be contracted out of.

9 All Green Deal Providers must meet minimum requirements Comply with Green Deal Code of Practice Sign up to Green Deal Arrangements Agreement with Electricity Suppliers Hold a valid Consumer Credit Act (CCA) license Make provision for continuity in the event of insolvency/discontinuation Pay oversight fees and report annually to the Oversight Body for Green Deal Authorisation ( 2 year holiday First point of contact for customer redress. Obligation to investigate all problems and seek redress from relevant party. Subject to independent review and appeal to Ombudsmen. Liable for customer compensation up to 100,000, with 6 year limit. Source : Encraft Informed engineering for the new energy economy

10 Some Tricky Issues Credit worthiness of the customer? The risk of arrears interest on arrears. Carrying arrears forward with the property. Professional Indemnity Insurance. Guarantees and Warranties not clear. See Schedule 3 to Regulation 35(2). See Code of Conduct Part 4 paras Inaccuracy of the Green Deal Plan. Lack of ownership of the Green Deal Assessment. Unforeseen costs. Cost of finance.

11 Green Deal Installers Must be accredited. Comply with PAS2030, Building Regs, other statutory requirements, and are responsible for quality of work. Design will they select materials or products (note avoidance of conflict of interest). Complete any manufacturers warranties. Maintain records and liaise and notify with various bodies. They will be sub-contractors to Green Deal providers, unless they form joint venture structures. Green Deal Providers will set terms of trading and transfer of risk. BEWARE the M&S effect.

12 Collaboration and Joint Venture Structures Increasing Trend JVs and collaborative working increasingly popular in renewables sector: maximise opportunity / maximise funding / shared risk. Why enter into a formal JV / Collaborative arrangement? Scale of project: technical, financial, commercial Develop innovative new products utilise shared IP Access to new markets / technology Tender submission requires formal arrangement in place Benefits Better quality solutions and supply chain management = better returns. Collaborating with leaders/specialists in their own field. Sharing risk and costs of design, development, installation, operation and maintenance. Pooling of resources = better access to funding / new opportunities and income streams.

13 Next Steps Consider what role do you wish to undertake Consider your options / possible partners Consider the risk allocation and process and how you will deal with that as a management process Consider what commercial documentation will you need to enter into those relationships with the consumer, the supply chain, your partners If you are trading on your terms have you got those established are they fit for the Green Deal? If you are working with others how is that documented? If you are trading on others terms how will you review the risk allocation and commercial terms and will they be fit for the Green deal? If you need to set up a new trading vehicle have you got that organised? IF you need assistance or documents speak to us we are here to help

14 Our Offices Worcester T: Deansway Worcester WR1 2JG Cheltenham T: Kings House 127 Promenade Cheltenham GL50 1NW Hereford T: Thorpe House 29 Broad Street Hereford HR4 9AR Ross-on-Wye T: High Street Ross-On-Wye HR9 5HL Serviced Offices Birmingham & London Cheltenham

Experts in debt recovery

Local National International Debt Recovery Experts in debt recovery Every business needs to maintain a healthy cash flow and our debt recovery service can help you keep the wheels turning. There are a