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Quality Assurance

The Retrofit Coordinator shall ensure that every retrofit project is subject to monitoring and evaluation to: 

  • determine whether the intended outcomes of the retrofit project have been realised,  

  • identify and learn from any project-specific or systematic problems with the retrofit risk assessment, the dwelling assessment, the retrofit design, the installation of Energy Efficiency Measures (EEMs) or the testing, commissioning, or handover of EEMs. 

Monitoring and evaluation shall be carried out by the RC with overview from a Quality Assurance Officer (QAO) (see section 3.2.4.). 

Throughout the installation of property upgrades, it will be the responsibility of the RC to ensure that the QAO is brought in at appropriate points in the build.  

  1. Levels of monitoring and evaluation 

In addition to the three levels of post works monitoring and evaluation listed below, there will be additional checklists to be completed during the works phase by the installer. These will be checked and monitored by the RC. Three levels of post works monitoring and evaluation shall be carried out, as appropriate: 

  • Basic monitoring and evaluation shall be applied to every completed domestic retrofit project. 

  • Intermediate monitoring and evaluation shall be applied to projects for which (in the opinion of the HO, the RC or the QAO) basic monitoring and evaluation indicates that the outcomes are significantly different from those originally agreed and intended, or there are unintended consequences of the retrofit work. 

  • Advanced monitoring and evaluation shall be applied to projects for which (in the opinion of the HO, the RC or the QAO) intermediate monitoring and evaluation indicates that further investigation is required to understand and resolve any discrepancy between predicted performance and outcome performance, or to explain any unintended consequences. 

Intermediate and advanced monitoring involve access to the dwelling(s), possibly on several occasions, and advanced monitoring might require intrusive investigation of the building fabric. In this instance HO’s consent shall be obtained by the QAO; intermediate and advanced monitoring and evaluation shall not proceed without such consent. 

  1. Basic monitoring and evaluation 

Basic monitoring shall include the use of a measures-specific questionnaire distributed to the HO(s) of the dwelling that have been retrofitted to establish, as far as possible: 

  • whether the agreed intended outcomes of the project have been achieved; 

  • whether there have been any unintended or unexpected consequences as a result of the work; 

  • whether the HO(s) are satisfied with the outcomes; 

  • whether the HO(s) are satisfied with the process of assessment, design, installation, testing, commissioning and handover of retrofit measures; 

  • the identification of any specific points of dissatisfaction; 

  • the identification of any elements of the installation that are not working as expected; and 

  • any other comments the HO(s) might want to make. 

The QAO shall: 

  • collate the information provided by the HO, summarise it, and formulate recommendations for any remedial actions required and any changes to the retrofit process that may be appropriate. 

  • circulate the summary and recommendations to the HO, the RC, the RAs, the RD and the RI. 

  • Monitor and evaluate to a basic level and report on findings within three months after handover of the retrofit project 

  1. Intermediate monitoring and evaluation 

Intermediate monitoring and evaluation shall include: 

  • a review of the report of the basic monitoring and evaluation carried out; 

  • an inspection of the dwelling to check that all the installed EEMs are in place and functioning correctly, and to identify any instances of condensation, damp or mould; 

  • post installation air-tightness testing (if an airtightness standard was specified, improvement measures that might have affected air-tightness were installed or there is any evidence of condensation or mould); 

  • fuel use monitoring for a period long enough to acquire useful information, using data from the occupants’ fuel bills, meter readings or smart meters, and taking account of the occupancy pattern during the monitoring period; 

  • recording of internal temperature and relative humidity throughout the monitoring period; 

  • brief questionnaire-based occupant interviews, covering the points identified in 7.4.1. and the following additional points: the functionality of the installed EEMs; and the ability of the occupants to achieve satisfactory comfort conditions, including temperature and internal air quality; and  

  • identification of any occupancy factors or occupants’ actions that might be contributing to poor outcomes 

NOTE Fuel use monitoring should preferably be carried out during the heating season. 

The QAO shall: 

  1. Collate the information obtained during the monitoring process and produce a summary  

  1. Formulate recommendations for any remedial actions required and any changes to the retrofit process that might be appropriate  

  1. Circulate the summary and recommendations to the HO, the RC, the RAs, the RD and the RI. 

  1. Intermediate monitoring and evaluation shall be completed and reported within six months after basic monitoring and evaluation have been completed, or as soon as seasonal weather conditions allow. 

  1. Advanced monitoring and evaluation 

Advanced monitoring and evaluation shall include all the elements of intermediate monitoring (7.5.1.) and in addition shall also include, as appropriate: 

  1. a post construction review to confirm the exact nature of the installation and whether work was consistent with the retrofit design; 

  1. a post occupancy evaluation based on two detailed questionnaire-based interviews with occupant(s), carried out with an interval of one year between them; 

  1. a thermographic survey of the dwelling(s); 

  1. monitoring of internal conditions including temperature, relative humidity, and carbon dioxide concentration for a period of at least one year; 

  1. monitoring of moisture levels within the building fabric and/or at the interfaces between insulation and masonry; 

  1. sub-metering of energy use by any new building services systems including ventilation, heating and hot water, lighting and any LZC or “renewable energy” technologies (e.g. solar thermal systems, solar photovoltaics) for a period of at least one year; and  

  1. investigation of any defects revealed by monitoring (at any level), the post construction review, the post occupancy evaluation, the inspection, the air-tightness test, the thermographic survey, or the monitoring of fuel use and internal conditions. 

The QAO shall: 

  • Collate the information obtained during the monitoring process, analyse and interpret it to establish the root cause(s) of any performance discrepancy 

  • Summarise it including tables and charts as appropriate 

  • Formulate recommendations for any remedial actions required and any changes to the retrofit process that might be appropriate,  

  • Circulate the summary and recommendations to the Client, the Retrofit Coordinator, the Retrofit Assessor, the Retrofit Designer and the Retrofit Installer. 

  • Advanced monitoring and evaluation shall be completed within two years after basic monitoring and evaluation has been completed. 


 

 

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