Quality in Retrofit Summit
Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, 12 Great George St, London SW1P 3AD
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Free
Raising Professional Standards in Retrofit
Overview
As the UK accelerates its transition to Net Zero, the scale and urgency of domestic retrofit has never been greater. Yet, recent assessments and findings from the National Audit Office have highlighted significant variation in the quality and consistency of retrofit work across the country. To reach national climate targets while protecting consumers, the sector must strengthen professional competence, accountability, and oversight at every stage of the retrofit process.
To discuss this challenge, we are pleased to host the Quality in Retrofit Summit. This event brings together government, professional bodies, lenders, housing providers, and delivery experts to define what quality must look like in practice and how the sector can achieve it at scale.
The event will also be a chance to participate in a discussion on how RICS is working with industry and educators, in partnership raise competence, improving consistency, and strengthening public confidence in retrofit delivery across the UK. We are pleased to host this event in association with The Retrofit Academy, alongside key stakeholders who continue to work in close coordination with RICS to help shape our work to raise standards and new planned Associate-level membership pathway for Residential Retrofit Surveying
Key topics
- The Government’s perspective on retrofit quality.
- The role of professional bodies in raising retrofit standards.
- Defining and delivering quality in retrofit.
Learning outcomes
Explain the current national challenges in retrofit quality - including gaps highlighted by the National Audit Office and understand the implications for risk, compliance, and consumer protection.
Identify the role of professional bodies and competence frameworks in driving accountability, raising standards, and improving the consistency and safety of retrofit delivery.
Assess what “quality in retrofit” looks like in practice, including how it can be measured, assured, and embedded across different parts of the supply chain.
Evaluate strategies for scaling retrofit delivery without compromising quality, including governance models, skills development, and collaborative approaches between industry, government, and professional bodies.
Schedule
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The UK’s retrofit ambitions remain central to achieving Net Zero, but delivery on the ground is still inconsistent as highlighted by the National Audit Office. Persistent gaps in quality and compliance underscore the need for a more robust and accountable system to ensure retrofit work is safe, effective, and trusted.
In this keynote, a government representative will outline the current state of play, lessons learned from previous programmes, and why professional accountability must sit at the core of any effective retrofit quality framework. The session will explore how clearer responsibilities, strengthened competence requirements, and closer alignment with professional standards can support higher-quality outcomes and better consumer protection across the sector.
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How Professional Bodies and Educational Institutions Can Work Together to Raise Standards in the Retrofit Sector
High-quality retrofit relies on strong professional standards, clear accountability, and a skilled workforce that can deliver safe and trusted outcomes.
In this address, we will set out the essential role that professional bodies must play in raising expectations across the sector — not just for installation quality, but for the professional judgement, ethics, and oversight that underpin effective retrofit delivery.
The session will highlight how professional bodies and education providers can bring greater competence, consistency, and public confidence across the retrofit ecosystem. It will underline the importance of shared standards, cross-sector collaboration, and a renewed focus on professionalism as the foundation for achieving retrofit quality at scale.
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As the UK accelerates efforts to decarbonise its building stock, ensuring retrofit is delivered to a consistently high standard has never been more critical. Recent findings from the National Audit Office and others have exposed persistent issues around workmanship, oversight, and accountability and this raises key questions about how quality is defined, measured, and delivered.
This discussion will bring together voices from across the value chain to examine what needs to change to embed quality at every stage of the retrofit process. Panellists will explore the frameworks, skills and approaches needed to deliver outcomes that are safe, durable, and genuinely low-carbon, while maintaining investor and consumer confidence.
Discussion themes:
- What does quality mean in practice and how to measure it
- The role of professional standards, accreditation, and competence frameworks
- How lenders, housing associations and contractors are managing risk and assurance
- Scaling up retrofit without compromising quality
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