Retrofit & Decarbonisation Advisory London

Retrofit that starts with the building, not the product

Decarbonising existing stock fails when measures are bolted onto buildings that were never understood. We bring the surveying evidence - condition, construction, moisture behaviour - to retrofit planning, and coordinate accredited specialists where PAS 2035 roles are required.

For housing associations, local authorities and block owners we turn stock condition and energy data into a prioritised, fundable retrofit programme: which archetypes to treat, in what order, with which fabric-first measures, and how the work integrates with planned maintenance, fire safety and MEES/EPC obligations rather than fighting them. Heritage and conservation constraints - a constant in our part of London - are designed in from the start.

Funded programmes typically require the PAS 2035 framework, with defined Retrofit Assessor, Coordinator and Designer roles, and PAS 2038 for non-domestic buildings. Where those accredited roles are required, we confirm scope, competence and insurance and coordinate with accredited retrofit professionals - we act as the client-side surveying lead and do not claim accreditations we do not hold. Where specialist input is required, we confirm scope, competence and insurance and coordinate with competent specialists, so the right professional signs the right document for the scope it was produced for.

Domestic energy retrofit in the UK is governed by PAS 2035, the whole-house standard that sits over the installation standard PAS 2030. It sets defined roles — a retrofit assessor to survey the dwelling, a retrofit coordinator to hold the whole project together and manage risk, and a retrofit designer — because piecemeal measures fitted without that oversight are exactly what causes damp, mould and condensation in older solid-wall stock.

The framework is fabric-first and whole-house: it starts from the building’s condition, moisture risk and heritage constraints, sets a medium-term improvement plan so measures are sequenced sensibly rather than bolted on one grant at a time, and treats ventilation as inseparable from insulation. For London’s period and conservation-area housing, that discipline is not optional — the wrong insulation on a solid wall can trap moisture and damage the fabric it was meant to protect.

Retrofit is also increasingly a value question. The Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard already restricts letting the worst-rated commercial and residential stock, and the direction of policy is toward higher minimum EPC ratings over the coming years. We advise on the pathway — the assessment, the sensible order of works, and the moisture and heritage risks — so decarbonisation improves the building rather than storing up defects.