BCAR vs Heat Battery

mike_2009

Hi,
I want to use Solar PV and a product called SunAmp UniQ (A heat battery) to provide heating and hot water in a house I'm planning to build. The problem with Opting in is that I need a plumber to sign a certificate and put their Professional Indemnity insurance on it at the end of the installation. As Sunamp have no local installers in ROI, being UK based, this presents a challenge.
So I may be able to send the plumber on an installers course but what product certification would the device need to have to satisfy BCAR and ensure the plumber is 100% happy with installing and signing off the solution? Is a CE mark enough?
Finally, post Brexit how could this affect things regarding the product certification (building post April 2019)?
It's a bit of a rabbit hole with all the legislation and brexit but any thoughts appreciated or I'll have to stick an ASHP in instead.....

sydthebeat

is this for a new house?

mike_2009

Yes, new house - opt in, full BCAR etc for the mortgage.

sydthebeat

mike_2009 wrote: »

Yes, new house - opt in, full BCAR etc for the mortgage.

im no plumber, but it appears to be just another thermal store ... but being described using some very flowery language.

The plumber wont be certifiying the physical appliance, thats for the manufacturer to do, the plumber should just be certifying his own work ie physically connecting it up.

as long as the connections are industry standard, i dont see the issue.

has any plumber looked at this system yet and said they cant plumb it in?

mike_2009

I've had a chat with the Architect and a builder just to gauge reception. They were less than enthusiastic. I may be working with a helpful plumber in the end but it's the builder who's taking part of the risk.

It should be straightforward enough as you're right it's just a fancy thermal store with standard copper tails but BCAR makes tradesmen cautious.

Gumbo

mike_2009 wrote: »

I've had a chat with the Architect and a builder just to gauge reception. They were less than enthusiastic. I may be working with a helpful plumber in the end but it's the builder who's taking part of the risk.

It should be straightforward enough as you're right it's just a fancy thermal store with standard copper tails but BCAR makes tradesmen cautious.

It’s not BCAR.
CE marking, certification and declaration of performance was always there. It’s not a new thing at all.

Depending on the location of this unit you may have additional supports required, it may give rise to a greater risk of fire starting so increased detection may be required also.

Metric Tensor

Just reading the very vague website this appears to be an electrically powered storage heater. With this in mind I would contest that it will also fall under the Electrician's BCAR Ancillary Certificate.

The best you can do to allay the fears of your Assigned Certifier, Builder and Ancillary Certifiers is to get a copy of the Product Liability Insurance for the device from the manufacturer. This should show all concerned that if the device causes a fire or some other damage that the manufacturer are putting their money behind their talk by having insurance backing for such eventualities.

The device itself should then also have the appropriate CE markings, DoPs and probably an energy label also depending on which CE scheme it falls under.

Finally - if any of your certifiers are unhappy or unwilling to use it you can't force them to do so because they are the ones who have to certify that they are satisfied their own work complies with the building regulations and that would include the materials they use in their work.