Terms and conditions for a heat pump installer

A heat pump installation goes wrong in ways a boiler swap does not: the running costs the customer says you promised, the radiators nobody priced for, the grant that never arrives, and the system blamed for a cold house it was never designed to heat. I draft customer terms that deal with all of that, for a fixed fee of £995, delivered in five working days.

Who this is for

Air source and ground source heat pump installers in England and Wales, sole traders and limited companies, including businesses doing their own cylinder, pipework and electrical work. Most of your customers are homeowners, so consumer law applies in full. Some are landlords, developers, housing associations or letting agents, and those are business customers. One set of terms can serve both if it is written for both.

What matters in a heat pump installer's terms

The design and what you said about running costs

A heat pump is sold on a heat loss calculation and a promise about how the house will feel and what it will cost to run. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, information a consumer relies on in deciding to go ahead is binding, so an indicative figure in your proposal can become a contract term. Your terms should record the design assumptions: insulation, flow temperature, occupancy, emitters being retained and how the controls are to be set. Estimates given on those assumptions are estimates, and the terms should say so.

Grants and the price the customer actually pays

Where the customer expects grant funding, the terms need to say who applies, what happens if the application is refused or the property turns out to be ineligible, and whether the full price then falls due from the customer. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 bans drip pricing, so a headline price shown to consumers must include every mandatory charge. Advertising a net of grant figure without making the gross price and the conditions clear is the sort of thing the Competition and Markets Authority now enforces directly.

Cancellation rights and deposits on ordered plant

Most of these contracts are signed at the customer's kitchen table or by email after a survey, which brings them within the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013. The customer has fourteen days to cancel, and if the cancellation information is missing that period can extend by up to a year. Cylinders and outdoor units are ordered well before then. Your terms need the customer's express request to start inside the period, and a clear statement of the proportionate amount payable if they cancel.

The house, the emitters and the permissions

Nobody prices a full system from the doorstep. The terms should state what the survey covered, that radiator upgrades, pipe runs, cylinder space, lifting floors and any electrical supply work are priced on stated assumptions, and that whatever is found behind the plaster is a variation agreed in writing before work continues. Siting, noise, neighbour objections, planning permission and freeholder or listed building consent should be the customer's responsibility to obtain, with your duty limited to telling them what is needed.

Decommissioning, certificates and waste

Removing the old boiler is gas work, which under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 only a registered engineer may do, so the terms should say who is doing it where you subcontract. Certain electrical and building work must be certified or notified under the Building Regulations, and customers hold the final payment until they have the paperwork. If you take away old cylinders, radiators and boilers you are transporting waste, which requires registration with the Environment Agency.

Handover, warranties and liability for water

Separate what you guarantee from what the manufacturer guarantees, and say plainly that manufacturer warranties usually depend on annual servicing the customer must arrange. Handover should be a defined event, with commissioning records and final payment attached to it. Water in a house is expensive, so cap your liability to business customers at a sensible figure and exclude consequential loss; the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 tests that cap for reasonableness. Liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence cannot be excluded against anyone.

What it costs

Customer or supplier terms and conditions, £995. One set of terms, customer-facing or supplier-facing, drafted around your business. Five working days.

Review of your existing terms, £495. You already have terms and want to know how much of a problem they are. Returned marked up with my amendments and an explanation of the changes. Three working days.

Buying online forms the engagement on payment. The scope is what the terms and conditions drafting page describes, you accept the Terms of Service at checkout, and I email you within four working hours to get started. If you would rather ask something first, email me.

What you get

• A full set of terms drafted around your business, not a template with your name inserted
• A covering note in plain English explaining every commercial choice I made and why, so you can defend the terms in a negotiation without ringing me
• Liability, payment, termination and IP provisions set at a level that will survive a procurement review
• Consumer-facing wording drafted to be enforceable where you sell to consumers
• Guidance on how to incorporate the terms properly, which is where most businesses actually fail
• One round of amendments after you have read them

What is not included

• Negotiating your terms with individual customers
• Sector-specific regulatory compliance beyond the contract terms themselves
• Website privacy notice and cookie compliance, which I quote separately
• Terms governed by the law of another country

Questions I am often asked

Do I need different terms for landlords and housing associations?

One set can cover both, with a section that applies only to consumers. For landlord, developer and social housing work the commercial levers change: you can claim interest and fixed compensation under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, cap your liability and agree staged payments against milestones rather than work around the consumer cancellation regime.

A customer says the system is not performing. What should the terms do?

Your terms should give you a complaints procedure with a period to inspect and put matters right before anyone else is instructed. Under the Alternative Dispute Resolution for Consumer Disputes (Competent Authorities and Information) Regulations 2015 you must also tell a consumer you cannot satisfy about a certified ADR provider and whether you will use it. Getting on site first protects you.

I already have terms from my boiler work. Is a review enough?

Often it is. Boiler terms rarely deal with heat loss design, grant funding, performance expectations or a long commissioning process, but the payment and liability machinery may be sound. I will review what you have and return it marked up with my amendments and an explanation, for £495 in three working days. If the gaps are structural I will say so.

Related guidance and services

• Terms and conditions drafting, £995, the service this page describes
• Contract review, £495
• Consultancy and contractor agreements, £595
• Terms and conditions for a plumbing and heating business

This page is general guidance for businesses in England and Wales, not advice on your own circumstances. Last reviewed: September 2026. Email geoffrey@caesar.co.uk.