Regulation 2 InterpretationI1

In these Regulations—

• F1“air-to-air heat pump” means a plant which generates heat using a thermodynamic cycle by transferring energy stored in the form of heat in the air and uses that energy to heat air for the purposes of space heating;

• F2“air-to-water heat pump” means a plant^f1 which generates heat using a thermodynamic cycle by transferring energy stored in the form of heat in the air and uses that energy to heat a liquid for the purposes of space heating;

• F3“boiler upgrade grant” means the grant, the value of which has been published under regulation 13(1), (4) or (5) which is payable by the Authority to an installer under these Regulations;

• “boiler upgrade voucher” has the meaning given in regulation 15(1);

• “biomass boiler” means a plant which—

  1. (a)

     is designed and installed to burn solid biomass^f2 to provide heat,

  2. (b)

     is designed to minimise direct heat loss to the immediate area in which it is installed,

  3. (c)

     is not capable of providing heat to a property without using a liquid to deliver that heat, and

  4. (d)

     is not designed to generate heat for the purpose of cooking food F4where that function is not able to be controlled independently of the heating or hot water;

• “building” means a roofed F5, permanent construction having walls, for which energy is used to condition the indoor climate, and reference to a building includes reference to a building unit in that building;

• “building unit” means a section, floor or apartment within a building which is designed or altered to be used separately;

• “commencement date” means the day on which these Regulations come into force;

• “commissioned”, in relation to a plant, means the completion of such procedures and tests as constitute, at the time they are undertaken, the usual industry standards and practices for that type of plant which demonstrate that it is capable of operating and generating heat;

• “connected person”, in relation to an installer, means any person connected to them within the meaning of section 1122 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010^f3;

• “consumer code” means a code of practice F6for the purpose of consumer protection approved by the Secretary of State under regulation 4(1)(j);

• “eligible plant” has the meaning given in regulation 8;

• “eligible property” has the meaning given in regulation 5;

• “energy performance certificate” has the meaning given in regulation 2(1) of the EPB Regulations;

• “the EPB Regulations” means the Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012^f4;

• “financial year” means—

  1. (a)

     the period beginning with the commencement date and ending with 31st March 2023, or

  2. (b)

     any subsequent 12 month period beginning with 1st April and ending with the following 31st March;

• “grant application” has the meaning given in regulation 14(1);

• “grant change notice” has the meaning given in regulation 13(4);

• F7“grant from public funds” means a grant made by a public authority or by any person distributing funds on behalf of a public authority;

• “ground source heat pump” means a plant which generates heat using a thermodynamic cycle by transferring energy stored in the form of heat from the ground, including water in the ground or surface water or both, and uses that energy to heat a liquid F8for the purposes of space heating;

• “heat network” means a network that, by distributing a liquid or a gas, enables the transfer of thermal energy for the purpose of supplying heating, cooling or hot water to two or more properties (and includes any appliance the main purpose of which is to heat or cool the liquid or gas);

• “heat pump” means a plant which is an F9air-to-air heat pump or an air-to-water heat pump or a ground source heat pump F10or any combination of the three;

• F11“installer” means a person who is certified by the Microgeneration Certification Scheme or a subsequent version of the Microgeneration Certification Scheme, approved by the Secretary of State under regulation 4(1A);

• “installer obligation” means an obligation specified in regulation 17;

• “mains gas” means a supply of the kind mentioned in section 5(1)(b) of the Gas Act 1986^f5;

• “Microgeneration Certification Scheme”means the scheme under that name operated by the MCS Service Company Ltd (a company registered in England and Wales with company number 07759366);

• “new-build property” means an eligible property that meets the requirements set out in regulation 7;

• “non-residential building” means a building or building unit which is used—

  1. (a)

     for the purposes of a trade, profession or vocation,

  2. (b)

     as an office (whether or not for the purposes of a trade, profession or vocation),

  3. (c)

     for educational purposes, or

  4. (d)

     for religious purposes,

  and which is not in use as, or as part of, a dwelling house;

• “NOx” means oxides of nitrogen;

• “off-gas grid property” means a property that is not attached to a heat network and—

  1. (a)

     is not fuelled by mains gas,

  2. (b)

     there is no record of a gas meter point at the property, and

  3. (c)

     is not a new-build property;

• “original heating system” has the meaning given in regulation 5(1)(c)(ii);

• “PM” means particulate matter;

• “properly made”—

  1. (a)

     in the case of a grant application, means an application which provides the information required by regulation 14(3), and in relation to which any information specified in a notice issued in accordance with regulation 14(4) or (5) has been received by the Authority,

  2. (b)

     in relation to a redemption application, means an application which provides the information required by regulation 16(3), and in relation to which any information required by a notice issued in accordance with regulation 16(4) has been received by the Authority;

• “quarter” means a period of three months beginning with 1st January, 1st April, 1st July, or 1st October;

• “recommendation report” has the meaning given in regulation 4(1) of the EPB Regulations;

• “redemption application” has the meaning given in regulation 16(1);

• “related property”, in relation to an eligible property, F12... means any building or swimming pool which is used by, or available for the use of, an owner or occupier of that property F13...;

• “relevant installation standard” has the meaning given in paragraph 2 of Schedule 4;

• “relevant financial year” means a financial year beginning with—

  1. (a)

     the commencement date,

  2. (b)

     F141st April 2023,

  3. (c)

     1st April 2024,

  4. (d)

     1st April 2025,

  5. (e)

     F151st April 2026,

  6. (f)

     1st April 2027,

  7. (g)

     1st April 2028, or

  8. (h)

     1st April 2029;

• “the Scheme” has the meaning given in regulation 3;

• “supplementary appliance” means a heating appliance installed in an eligible property that is not fuelled by fossil fuel

• “UKAS” means the United Kingdom Accreditation Service, a company limited by guarantee and incorporated in England and Wales under number 3076190;

• F16“urban area” means an area classified as urban in the “2021 rural-urban classification of output areas” published by the Office for National Statistics in August 2025;

For the purposes of these Regulations, an energy performance certificate for a property is “valid” if—

Where there is more than one owner of a property, then any reference in these Regulations to the owner of the property includes any person who is an owner of the property.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

For the purposes of these Regulations, a property does not cease to be “fuelled by mains gas” if the supply meter point in relation to the property is capped or clamped, where “supply meter point” has the meaning given in the Uniform Network Code (as defined in section 36C(7) of the Gas Act 1986)^f6.