How we built our own retrofit assessment system and why quality wins every time.
In this blog, you’ll learn:
- Why standard retrofit assessment reports often fall short
- What a genuinely detailed, compliant retrofit assessment should include
- How BEE’s in-house system closes these gaps
- What this means in practice for retrofit coordinators and housing associations
- Why Quality Assessments Matter
Why Quality Assessments Matter
Most retrofit assessments in this sector run on the same generic, app-based report – and that’s exactly the problem. Retrofit coordinators and housing associations regularly tell us these reports lack essential detail, forcing extra site visits just to fill gaps that should never have existed in the first place. For anyone appointing a retrofit assessor in Bristol or further afield, the quality of that underlying report shapes everything downstream: how fast a design can progress, how confidently a scheme can be delivered and how much back-and-forth gets built into the programme before work even starts.
Our Retrofit Manager, Oliver Morgan, has spent over two years addressing exactly this – carrying out assessments himself, working with retrofit coordinators and housing association leaders to refine the reporting process, and managing BEE’s retrofit assessor team. In this interview, Oliver explains why BEE built its own in-house assessment system, what it includes that off-the-shelf reports typically miss, and what that means in practice for the people who depend on it.
The Problem With Standard Retrofit Assessment Reports
Q: What is the usual approach for retrofit assessments, and why do things differently?
A: The commonly used app report used in this sector isn’t terrifically detailed and felt a bit lacking in places. We were hearing from clients that reports typically took a lot of time and didn’t always include appropriate and essential core information.
What a Quality Retrofit Assessment Should Include
Q: What do BEE reports contain that others might not?
A: Missing information includes basic industry standards that it’s a mistake to assume are known and understood easily. They also change regularly and our app is constantly updated so any changes in standardisation can be adapted to and the report never becomes outdated. We also include Part F, eaves ventilation, air tightness and in certain cases where a report may simply give a pass or a fail we give measurements – eg. door undercut. This all feeds into Part F.
How This Benefits Retrofit Coordinators and Housing Associations
Q: How would these features of the reports benefit clients?
A: The top advantage we hear regularly is that providing this level of information means they don’t need to go back to site for clarification and have to sift through misinformation. From a retrofit designer‘s perspective, the layout is super clean in our forms and when combined with ventilation and assessments the report is a time saver and they are then able to progress straight away getting a design done.
Typically, this work is delivered for retrofit coordinators contracted by housing developments, as well as directly with housing associations and social housing providers. Using EPCs and other assessments, those teams can then act on energy-saving measures with confidence — lowering emissions, cutting fuel costs and delivering warmer, healthier homes for tenants.
Behind the Scenes: Delivering at Scale
Q: How many reports are BEE doing? And how does a typical week pan out for the team?
A: Usually we do three or four a day, depending on location and these are typically done Monday to Thursday. We spend Fridays finishing them internally with a quality assurance process so each one is checked to make sense and then our bespoke report is populated and then sent to the client (usually the week after the assessment).
Retrofit assessments delivered for Anchor Properties under SHDF Wave 2.1, including a two-storey brick retirement housing scheme at Hanover Mead, Newbury.
What’s Next?
As industry standards continue to evolve, like the new PAS 2035:2023 changes, we remain committed to innovation and continuous improvement in how retrofit assessments are delivered.
If you’re a retrofit coordinator, housing association or social housing provider looking for a more detailed, reliable assessment process, we’d be happy to talk it through.
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