RECC Consumer Code: Your Rights When Buying Solar

What is RECC?

The Renewable Energy Consumer Code (RECC) is a consumer protection scheme approved by the Trading Standards Institute. It has been in place since 2006 and covers domestic sales of small-scale renewable energy systems — solar PV, solar thermal, heat pumps, and battery storage.

RECC membership is mandatory for all MCS-certified installers. In practice, if an installer is genuinely MCS-certified, they are also bound by the RECC Consumer Code. You do not need to ask for RECC separately — it comes with MCS certification.

RECC is administered independently of government. Its role is to set standards for how installers must behave when selling and installing renewable energy systems, and to provide a route for consumers to raise complaints when things go wrong.

It is not a marketing badge. It is a set of binding obligations your installer must follow.

What protection RECC gives you

Before you sign

RECC requires installers to provide specific information — both verbally and in writing — before you commit to anything. This includes:

• The full cost of the installation, with no hidden fees
• The specification of the system being installed
• Realistic performance estimates based on your property's actual orientation, shading, and location
• Details of all warranties included
• Information about the complaints process

The performance estimates requirement is significant. Installers cannot use best-case-scenario output figures as if they were typical. An estimate must reflect your roof — not a south-facing unshaded roof in Cornwall when yours faces east in Manchester.

Your cooling-off period

Once you have signed a contract, RECC gives you a minimum 7-day cooling-off period. In some circumstances this extends to 14 days. During this window, you can cancel the contract without penalty and without giving a reason.

This matters particularly for door-to-door or high-pressure sales situations. If you feel rushed into signing, your legal right to cancel within 7 days gives you time to reconsider, get a second opinion, or simply change your mind.

During and after installation

During the installation itself, your installer must carry out the work to the agreed specification. After completion, they are required to:

• Provide a minimum 2-year workmanship warranty covering the quality of the installation (racking, wiring, electrical connections, weatherproofing)
• Issue you an Insurance-Backed Guarantee (IBG) that protects this workmanship warranty

The IBG is important. It is not the same as the workmanship warranty — it is the insurance mechanism that keeps the warranty alive if the installer's company ceases trading. If the company goes bust and there is no IBG, your workmanship warranty dies with it. With an IBG, liability transfers to the insurer and you can still claim during the remaining warranty period.

IBGs transfer with the property when you sell, which can be a relevant point when marketing a home with solar installed.

The three types of warranty — and why they matter

Articles about solar often refer to "a 25-year warranty" without being clear about what this actually covers. There are three distinct types, provided by different parties:

The 25-year figure people often quote refers to the panel performance guarantee only. If your roof leaks because the flashing was fitted poorly, that is a workmanship issue — covered by the 2-year installer warranty, not the panel manufacturer's output guarantee.

The RECC complaints process

If something goes wrong and your installer does not resolve the issue to your satisfaction, RECC provides a dispute resolution pathway:

1. Raise the complaint formally with the installer in writing
2. If unresolved after 8 weeks, you can escalate to RECC's dispute resolution service
3. RECC can investigate and, where the installer is found to have breached the Consumer Code, require remediation or compensation

This is a meaningful route — more accessible than civil litigation and free to use as a consumer. It does not replace your statutory rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, but it gives you a structured process before you need to consider legal action.

Keep written records of any communications with your installer from the start. If a dispute arises later, having a paper trail of what was agreed — and what happened — significantly strengthens your position.

RECC and MCS — different things, both matter

RECC is often confused with MCS, or the two are treated as interchangeable. They are not.

MCS (Microgeneration Certification Scheme) is a quality standard. It covers the technical competence of the installer, the quality of the products used, and the standards the installation must meet. MCS certification is required to receive Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) payments and access most UK solar grants.

RECC is a consumer protection code. It governs how installers must behave when selling to you — what information they provide, how they handle complaints, and what guarantees they must offer.

An installer can, in theory, hold one without the other — but in practice, MCS-certified installers must be RECC members, so the two come as a package for any properly certified installer.

Think of MCS as the quality standard for the installation itself, and RECC as the standard for how you are treated as a customer.

How to check if your installer is RECC-registered

RECC maintains a public register of member businesses. To verify your installer:

1. Go to recc.org.uk and use the "Find a Member" search tool
2. Search by company name or postcode
3. Confirm the company appears as an active member

You can also verify MCS status simultaneously at mcscertified.com. Both checks take under a minute, and there is no reason not to do both before you sign anything.

A legitimate installer will provide their RECC member number without hesitation. If an installer is unclear about their membership status or asks you to trust their word, check the register yourself before proceeding.

What if your installer is not RECC-registered?

If an installer is not RECC-registered, you lose several protections:

• No enforced cooling-off period under the RECC code (though your rights under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 may still apply depending on how the sale was conducted)
• No requirement for realistic performance estimates — optimistic projections with no binding standard
• No IBG requirement — your workmanship warranty has no insurance backing
• No RECC dispute resolution — if things go wrong, your options are limited to direct negotiation with the installer or civil action

A non-RECC installer is also, by definition, not MCS-certified. This means the installation will not qualify for SEG export payments or most grant schemes. Given that SEG income at reasonable tariff rates can add up to several hundred pounds per year over the system's life, the long-term cost of using an uncertified installer is difficult to justify.

If you are at the stage of comparing quotes, reading about how to choose a solar installer and what solar panels cost in the UK will help you evaluate what you are being offered — and whether the numbers stack up.

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