Our 2024 report How to install more heat pumps shed light on some of the findings from our survey with 345 heating engineers, which we ran in partnership Emma Bohan and Nathan Gambling. There were many other findings we weren’t able to include, so this project update is part of a series examining those remaining topics.

The previous update looked at the skills and training heat pump engineers want to support their work. This update explores how industry bodies and informal networks can support and empower heat pump installers.

Industry bodies play a crucial role in shaping the world of heating engineers – from setting standards to updating the workforce on developments in the sector. But many bodies also have a role in helping engineers shape their own work lives by understanding and advocating for their needs and connecting engineers with one another to share knowledge and experience. 

Building these connections is particularly important for an industry primarily composed of sole traders and microbusinesses, and many engineers naturally build informal professional networks in addition to trade association membership.

But do engineers feel able to communicate their needs to the organisations they believe have the power to impact their work for the better? And, in a relatively solitary industry, do engineers feel able to informally share knowledge and experience with one another?

Responses to our survey suggest industry body membership is key to the work of heat pump installers. Figure 1 shows 89% of respondents are members of at least one trade association, and 53% are members of multiple organisations. Among respondents, the highest number of memberships was nine. 

It’s important to note that some of these memberships might not be voluntary, such as becoming registered with Gas Safe or HETAS to work on certain systems. However, the data still illustrates the prevalence of industry body membership and the strong potential for these bodies to represent engineers’ needs and allow them to network with one another.

However, despite this high membership, engineers don’t feel as if they’re being represented in the way they require. Figure 2 shows only 13% of respondents felt that trade associations meet their needs for formal industry representation. By contrast, 81% felt their needs were met to only a small or moderate extent. 

To illustrate this further, Figure 3 shows many engineers believe trade associations can make change in the sector, but many also don’t feel able to communicate with them. Only 12% of respondents feel they have a strong ability to communicate with trade associations, compared to 34% who don’t feel they can communicate with them at all. By contrast, 31% believe trade associations have a great ability to make change in the sector.

Given the role these industry bodies play in shaping the world of engineers, poor representation and an inability for engineers to communicate with those can affect change could impact the quality of installations, access to government schemes, and consumer protection – key factors in the growth of the UK’s heat pump industry.

There are also other bodies in the sector that play an important role in the transition from fossil fuel to low-carbon heating, and who interact with the work of heat pump engineers. For example, the wider sector includes: 

• energy companies, training providers and manufacturers, who provide services, products and guidance
• MCS and other organisations, which provide certification, accreditation and standards
• the government, who dictate policy.

In fact, compared to trade associations, Figure 4 shows a greater proportion of engineers believe these other organisations have a strong ability to make change in their sector. However, a large proportion also don’t feel able to communicate their views with these bodies, and in many cases it’s an even larger proportion than for trade associations. The exception is for manufacturers and training providers, who engineers feel comparatively positive about communicating with.

This inability for engineers to communicate with organisations across the sector, neither directly nor via trade associations, could prevent organisations in the sector from knowing what services and support engineers need to succeed in a growing low-carbon heating market.

Heat pump engineers have considerable practical experience of working with households and delivering the transition from fossil fuel to low-carbon heating, making their insights valuable to organisations across the sector. These organisations should create new modes of communication and consult with engineers to find workable solutions.

Adding to issues with representation and communication with formal networks and industry bodies, it appears as if engineers don’t feel as part of an informal network as much as they’d like to be. Figure 5 shows 34% of engineers want to feel part of an informal network a large or very large amount, but only 19% feel this way in practice.

Figure 6 makes this even clearer, showing how 47% of those that expressed wanting to feel part of an informal network don’t experience this enough in practice.

Although many aren't experiencing as much connection with others in the industry as they would like, Figure 7 clearly shows that almost all respondents do share knowledge or experience with others in one way or another. Only 11% report that they never share knowledge or experiences.

This means informal connections and information sharing is already happening naturally, but these connections could be facilitated to happen more often – for more people and in a more effective way. Although organically forming networks and communicating has many benefits, trade associations could play an important role in facilitating these informal connections to make them more accessible. 

Not only would providing physical or digital space for informal networking enable engineers to more regularly and openly share their thoughts and experiences, it could also facilitate more communication with trade bodies to better understand the needs of engineers. Industry bodies could also better communicate important standards, updates and new services to engineers. For some who are otherwise reluctant to join informal networks, if facilitated by industry bodies they may be seen as more trustworthy, encouraging wider participation.

Industry networks, both institutionalised and informal, clearly play an important role in installers’ professional lives. However, engineers don’t feel able to communicate with the trade associations or organisations they believe have the power to improve the sector, and many don’t feel as part of an informal network as they’d like to.

Improving communication channels between engineers and organisations in the sector would involve valuable insights from frontline workers into their decision-making processes and allow them to identify workable solutions together. Improving communications with trade associations could be particularly important, despite engineers feeling other organisations have a larger influence over changes to the sector. Trade associations have an existing responsibility to understand the needs of and represent engineers, and could facilitate information sharing from engineers to other organisations in the sector that have greater power to make change.

Although many engineers don’t feel part of an informal network as much as they’d like, the majority do share knowledge or experiences with others, in person or online. This suggests there might be a need for more facilitated opportunities to allow more engineers to connect with others more often and in a more effective way. Again, this could be an important role for trade associations, who could not only allow engineers to better communicate with, and learn from, one another, but also with the associations that represent them.

At Nesta, we’re also exploring practical solutions to build better peer-to-peer networks of heat pump engineers nationwide. We have started consulting engineers on what opportunities peer-to-peer networks could create, but also what challenges they may bring. We are confident these networks can help develop a highly-skilled workforce capable of delivering home decarbonisation in the UK.

Our final update will address what the sector needs to prepare for the increasing demand for heat pump repairs, maintenance and servicing.