Electrics and gas
The agent says an MCS installer fitted the heat pump. The certificate was not in the surveyor's papers. What has not been checked?
The MCS certificate has not been checked. It was not in the surveyor's papers, and the survey has not verified any registration. An agent saying an MCS installer fitted the heat pump is a claim, not a document. This visit did not confirm the installer, the commissioning date or that a certificate exists. It did not test heat-pump efficiency. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme is a grant route in England and Wales. The survey does not decide eligibility and must not quote a grant figure. Approved Document L is guidance, not a certificate this report issues. The unchecked item is the certificate the agent named.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.
What is the fuller explanation?
People rely on MCS paperwork when a heat pump is described as professionally fitted. A home survey does not police that scheme and does not invent its rules. Without the certificate, the surveyor cannot match an installer, an address or a product to the plant on site. The machine may still have been fitted by a registered installer, or the claim may be loose sales language. Those are the reasons the paper matters. A spoken attribution is not a check. The report records the claim and the missing certificate.
Ask the solicitor to obtain the certificate from the seller and to keep it with the legal papers. A document that arrives later still will not have been verified on this visit. Do not tell a lender the installation is registered on the agent's word. Grant eligibility is not decided here. If the certificate never appears, say that plainly. What has not been checked is the certificate, not some hidden test of how efficiently the machine runs.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Did the surveyor receive any installer paper other than the missing certificate?
- Does the report name a make or model, or only say that a heat pump is fitted?
- Who is now going to obtain the certificate the agent mentioned?
What are the typical next steps?
- Treat the MCS claim as unchecked.
- Ask, through your solicitor, for the certificate that was not in the papers.
- Do not tell a lender the registration was verified.
Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.
Also asked about this
If the certificate appears after the survey, has the survey verified it?
No. A document produced later was not in the surveyor's papers and was not checked on this visit. You can pass it to your solicitor. Matching it to the installation would be a further look, which has not happened. Do not write that the survey confirmed the registration when it did not see the certificate.
Does a missing certificate prove the installer was not registered?
No. It proves the certificate was not in the papers and was not checked. The installer might be registered and the paper mislaid, or the claim might be wrong. The survey has not decided which, and it has not invented scheme rules to fill the gap. Obtain the document. Until then the status is simply unverified.