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How should you read a heat pump note in a home survey?

A home survey can note a heat pump it could see: the outdoor unit, the pipes and whether it ran if the surveyor tried it. It does not service the machine, decide a grant, or issue a building-regulations certificate. GOV.UK describes the Boiler Upgrade Scheme for heat pumps in England and Wales. Eligibility is not a survey finding.

Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless a source says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.

Which parts of an air-source unit can be described, and which tests were not done?

It can describe the equipment in front of it. An air-source unit on a bracket, a ground-source manifold in a cupboard, staining under pipework, or a control screen that was dark are all things a surveyor can write down. If they ran it, the report should say so. If they did not, silence is not a test.

The survey does not measure efficiency, does not certify refrigerant, and does not decide whether the unit was large enough for the house. Approved Document L is the England guidance on fuel and power when building work is done. A survey sentence is not that approval, and it is not a competent-person certificate. Competent-person schemes are one route to compliance, not the only route, and this visit did not issue either.

Does the Boiler Upgrade Scheme replace a look at the heat pump?

No. GOV.UK describes the Boiler Upgrade Scheme as a grant towards replacing fossil-fuel heating with a heat pump or a biomass boiler, for eligible homes and non-domestic buildings in England and Wales. The page says the scheme is not the route for Scotland or Northern Ireland. None of that is a condition report on the unit outside this house.

The survey does not decide eligibility and this page does not state a grant figure. A letter about a grant, if one is in the pack, is a funding paper. Ask the solicitor what it actually covers. Do not treat it as proof the machine was serviced, or as proof the installation met building regulations.

Why is an energy certificate not a service record for the heat pump?

An EPC is an energy model of the dwelling. It can recommend a heat pump in a house that does not have one, and it can sit in a pack beside a house that already has one. Either way it is not the engineer's service sheet. The survey should not be asked to pretend the certificate is a maintenance log.

If a gas boiler was removed, the survey still has not safety-checked any gas pipe that remains. Gas work is for a Gas Safe registered engineer. Papers for the heat pump, the old boiler and the electrics are separate. Ask which of them are actually in the legal pack before you treat the installation as documented.

Common questions

The outdoor unit was running. Has the survey measured how efficient it is?

No. Running means it operated while someone was there, if the report says they tried it. Efficiency is a test this inspection does not do. Do not turn a spinning fan into a performance figure.

There is no service sticker on the heat pump. Has the survey failed it?

No. A missing sticker is a missing paper trail, which the survey can note. It is not, by itself, a verdict that the machine is broken. Ask the solicitor for any service record. The survey has not created one.

The house is in Scotland and has a heat pump. Does the Boiler Upgrade Scheme apply?

GOV.UK says that scheme is for England and Wales, not Scotland or Northern Ireland. A Scottish heat pump can still be noted by a surveyor. The grant route is a different question, and this page does not invent the Scottish funding rules.

A ground-source manifold is in a cupboard. Did the survey trace the loops under the garden?

Not unless the report says it did, which a normal inspection does not. The cupboard is what was visible. Loops in the ground were not dug up. Do not read a neat manifold as a survey of the garden array.

The heat pump replaced a gas boiler. Has the survey signed off the old gas pipe?

No. A home survey does not do gas safety work. Any remaining gas pipe, meter or cooker is outside that sign-off. Gas Safe registration is the regime for gas work, and it is a different appointment.

Nothing in the pack mentions planning permission for the outdoor unit. Has the survey decided it is lawful?

No. Planning and permitted development are not decided by a condition survey. The surveyor can see the unit. They have not applied a planning test and they have not granted permission. Ask the solicitor what searches say. Do not invent a distance rule the report did not write.

The energy certificate recommends a heat pump and one is already fitted. Are those the same finding?

No. The certificate is an energy assessment. The survey note is about the machine that was there. One can recommend a technology the other has already seen. Neither is a service, and neither is a grant decision.

Can you add a heat-pump service to a Level 2 and treat it as included?

Not unless the firm agrees that extra scope in writing. RICS describes a home survey as a condition inspection. Servicing a heat pump is a different trade. Ask before you instruct if you want both, and do not assume the standard visit includes the service.

Sources

Key facts

What was seen: The outdoor unit, indoor cylinder or manifold, leaks, and whether anyone tried the controls.
What was not done: No service, no efficiency test, and no certificate that the installation meets building regulations.
The grant: GOV.UK's Boiler Upgrade Scheme is a grant towards a heat pump or biomass boiler in England and Wales. It is not a survey, and it is not the Scottish or Northern Ireland route.
The EPC: An energy certificate can recommend a heat pump. That recommendation is not a service record for a unit already on the wall.