Working with Heat Pump Installers: An Electrician's Partnership Checklist

A heating contractor needs to know which part of a heat pump job your electrical business can deliver, where you work and what information you need before quoting. A useful partnership offer describes those things precisely. It does not need a claim that every heat pump installation is an easy extra job.

List the work you can assess and undertake, the documents you issue and whether you offer return visits for controls or fault investigation. HSE describes competence in relation to the work being done. Check the actual task against your team's knowledge and experience before accepting it.

Prepare a short introduction containing your real service area, relevant training and registration, insurance details and availability for a discussion. Use evidence you can provide. Ask prospective partners about their typical projects and purchasing process before promising capacity or quoting an assumed volume of work.

Electrical subcontracting and delivering the complete heat pump installation are different responsibilities. GOV.UK's guidance for England describes MCS umbrella arrangements in which a certified installer typically handles design and commissioning while subcontracting elements of installation. It recommends checking the operator's certification, technology, area, fees and support.

For work under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, use Ofgem's installer guidance to establish the responsible scheme installer and required records. Agree who handles the application, commissioning and scheme documentation. Do not advertise another business's certification as your own or assume that a subcontract makes your business a certified heat pump installer.

Put the named businesses, their contracted roles and the agreed customer contact in writing. A direct customer contract and a subcontract to a heating business have different commercial arrangements; establish which applies to this job.

Ask for information that lets the responsible people assess the electrical package. Treat missing details as questions with an owner, rather than filling the gaps from a previous installation.

• Project: address, authorised access contact, contracting business and planned programme.
• Equipment: selected heat pump and associated equipment, manufacturer documents and current design revision.
• Electrical requirements: the designer's specification, the agreed division of design work and information needed for your assessment.
• Site: proposed equipment positions, access, existing records and areas requiring a survey.
• Dependencies: relevant property permissions, network correspondence and the person responsible for each outstanding decision.
• Controls: who supplies each item, who installs it and who checks the integrated operation.
• Completion: visits needed, documents expected and who accepts your package.

Arrange the survey needed for your scope. Photographs and a model number can support an enquiry, but leave unresolved site conditions visible until assessed. Record who will supply missing information and when the price can be confirmed.

The table records an agreement; it does not appoint a designer or give someone authority they have not accepted. Confirm it with the responsible contractor. Keep the original specification alongside it so the summary cannot quietly become a different scope.

Build your price from your own labour, materials, travel and overheads. Describe the agreed route and assessed alterations, equipment supplied by each business, testing, records and making good. Identify work outside the scope, including unrelated existing faults and later changes to the heating design.

State the planned visits and what must be ready for each one. Agree how a postponed commissioning visit, unavailable access or revised equipment will be handled. A return visit should have an agreed commercial basis before it becomes an argument about who caused the delay.

Confirm who accepts your quote, who pays your invoice and which completion evidence they require. Keep a subcontract price separate from the heating business's customer price and grant administration. The scope guide and Tradehand quotes can help present your own scope and prices.

Fictional commercial example. An electrician agrees an assessed electrical package with a heating contractor, including an installation visit and attendance at a coordinated commissioning appointment. The scope identifies the equipment revision and states that the heating contractor confirms the system is ready before the second visit.

The heating contractor later reports that the appointment must move because another part of the installation is unfinished. The electrician records the message, agrees a new date and applies the previously agreed terms for any affected visit. If the equipment specification also changes, the responsible people assess that revision before the electrician confirms a changed scope or price.

The record preserves the original agreement, what changed and the accepted revision. It avoids inventing a technical cause or charging the homeowner directly when the electrician's contract is with the heating business. Use the variation record when additional work is agreed.

Provide the actual electrical documents appropriate to your work. The IET publishes distinct model forms for electrical installation, minor works and condition reporting. Keep the issued originals with the job; a shared handover checklist does not replace them.

Confirm who gathers the heating commissioning record, manuals, warranty information and any required scheme documents. The commissioning handover guide helps organise the record. Identify missing documents and their owner rather than marking the whole project complete because your visit has finished.

Agree how later faults reach the correct business. Describe the investigation or aftercare services you actually offer, without promising that every call is covered by a manufacturer's warranty. Where the property also has solar, storage or EV charging, the combined package scope guide helps keep the separate responsibilities visible.

Use Tradehand's job record to keep visits, scope changes and documents together. During setup, choose the services and area your business really covers. Joining the app does not establish heat pump competence or certification.