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Published on February 7th, 2023
So who exactly are the people that assess your home and talk to you about the eco-upgrades you want to make? Here we look at people behind the clipboard and what exactly they do.
If you want to know what happens during a home assessment (when the surveyor comes to your house) check out our blog post on home assessments here.
At Furbnow we use a range of contractors to carry out different jobs. It could be installers who fit heat pumps or double glazing, a project manager who oversees your home retrofit work, or in this case a surveyor who assesses your property and its needs to make it more energy efficient.
We’re featuring three particular surveyors in this piece but there are a whole army of them out there who work with us. A big shout out to them all. All our retrofit contractors are fully accredited and experienced. We know how much of a headache finding the right contractor is, let alone knowing what work needs to be done to make your home more energy efficient. That’s why we set up Furbnow, to act as a companion from start to finish through your retrofit journey.
Inversely, Furbnow offers a solution to installers and surveyors where they can have a steady income through regular work for our customers, meaning they can get on with their jobs without worrying about things like advertising and sales. If you’re a contractor feel free to check out our signup form here.
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Read: What could a whole house retrofit do for you
L Retrofit is run by Leanne (which is where the L comes from), she covers Essex and East London and can coordinate home retrofit, assess your property and can tell you a thing or two about Energy Performance Certificates.
Leanne is a qualified Architectural Technologist and worked within Architecture for 15 years and actually wrote her dissertation back in the day on home retrofit. After working with Clients who didn’t understand or care for Sustainability, she decided to take the leap into her specialist subject and set up her retrofit consultancy in the hope to educate homeowners and encourage quality retrofit.
Leane finds herself predominantly onsite with clients, as well as networking around the industry and enjoys the opportunity to meet different people.
She’s looking to help shake up the industry along with the rest of us, seeing the opportunities that lie ahead in the sustainability sector. The thing she’s noticed missing in many places is a lack of quality in jobs that are carried out and that’s why she spent the time becoming fully accredited (and also a reason why we work with her!).
We also both agree that if you’re having work carried out to your home you should do it through a green lens. Save having the builders in twice and make sure to include home eco-upgrades as part of getting your extension done.
Like most in this new industry, L Retrofit is a young company which started earlier this year but has quickly found a place for itself within the growing industry. Leanne works across government funded projects and with private clients
Read: From heat-pumps to insulation: 5 ways I can reduce my bills for good
Another initials based business. FJ Retrofit was set up by Adrian Jevons and Stephen Farrow, who both took what Adrian calls ‘a leap of faith’ from their PAYE jobs into setting up their own business with a cause.
They’re driven by a mission of providing better green infrastructure for future generations. So much so that they aim to hire those who share their vocation to the industry and want to make a career in the area. Adrian explained that “we recognise our responsibility to the planet, we hire people looking for careers, it’s not a job it’s a vocation.
Adrian describes FJ Retrofit as a business ‘that reacts’ given the constant changes the industry undergoes and how young it is. He also sees a huge amount of scope for improvement; “We’ve got to formalise the industry and provide better training, which takes into account environmental factors that impact the building fabric”, he said looking across to the Bournville Construction College.
Read: How retrofit works with other home renovations
Adrian see’s Grenfall as a watershed moment for the construction industry with calls for better quality assurance and independent surveyors, and admits while we want to jump into the future and what it holds there’s still so much learning ahead.
Can do across the uk, want to be more hands on in process. When discussing his work Adrian explains, “Quality is the key word”. Like Leanne he sees that installers and surveyors often favour quantity instead.
Book a home assessment and start your journey to a healthier home with Furbnow.
Written by
Oisin Teevan