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Terms and conditions for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme Property Owner Consent Portal

Guidance

Publication date: 18 May 2022
Scheme name: BUS; ALL

The use of the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) online service for property owner consent ('the consent portal') is subject to the following terms and conditions ('the terms and conditions').

The portal is managed by the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) on behalf of the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority both of which are collectively referred to herein as ‘we’.

Please read the terms and conditions carefully before using the consent portal. Your use of the consent portal indicates your agreement to be bound by the terms and conditions.

Your personal data and privacy

The terms and conditions should be read in conjunction with Ofgem’s BUS privacy notice for property owners.

The BUS privacy notice for property owners sets out the terms which govern the collection, retention and processing of personal information relating to property owners provided to Ofgem both directly by property owners themselves and provided to Ofgem through installers. It tells you what to expect when we collect and process your personal information under the BUS.

By accepting the terms and conditions, you’re also accepting the terms of the BUS privacy notice for property owners.

Your installer should provide you with a privacy notice that tells you how they will treat the information you give them.

Your responsibilities

If you have received an email to confirm a BUS installer to make this application, you must only use the consent portal if you are the owner (or co-owner) of the property at the installation address. If you are a co-owner, it’s your responsibility to ensure you have the appropriate authority to act on behalf of the other owners and you will be asked to confirm you have this authority.

You must take all reasonable steps to ensure that any information that you confirm on the consent portal is accurate at the time of confirmation. Knowingly or recklessly confirming information which is materially false could result in a criminal prosecution. Confirming information which is materially false may also lead to Ofgem not paying the installer the BUS grant and they may hold you liable for this.

Where information held on the portal is no longer accurate, you must contact your installer so they can provide us with up-to-date information as soon as possible.

Your use of the portal and any dispute arising from its use will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales, including - but not limited to - the:

Computer Misuse Act 1990
Data Protection Act 2018
UK General Data Protection Regulation
Mental Capacity Act 2005

Security

There are risks in using a shared computer (for example, in a shared office) to access the portal. It’s your responsibility to be aware of these risks and to avoid using any computer which may leave your personal information accessible to others. You’re responsible if you choose to leave a computer unprotected while using the consent portal.

You must take your own precautions to ensure that the way you access the portal does not expose you to the risk of viruses, malicious computer code, or other forms of interference which may damage your computer system.

You must not misuse the consent portal by knowingly introducing viruses, trojans, worms, logic bombs or other material which is malicious or technologically harmful. You must not attempt to gain unauthorised access to this Portal, the system on which it is stored, or any server, computer or database connected to it. You must not attack this site using a denial-of-service attack or a distributed denial-of-service attack.

Our responsibilities

We’ll try to ensure that the portal is available during normal office hours (9am to 5pm Monday to Friday). However, there may be occasions when it is temporarily unavailable from time to time for maintenance or other reason.

We’ll try to ensure that the information available on the consent portal is accurate. However, we do not guarantee that the information on the consent portal is always accurate.

We reserve the right to change, suspend or discontinue any aspect of the consent portal, and to impose limits on the use of the portal at any time. Any variations to the terms and conditions will be carried out in accordance with the ‘Variations’ paragraph below.

The failure of Ofgem to exercise or enforce any right or provision of the terms and conditions will not constitute a waiver of such right or provision or any other instance.

Termination

If for any reason we believe that you’ve not complied with any of the responsibilities set out above - in whole or in part - we may at our discretion cancel your access to the portal, reject the BUS voucher application or BUS voucher redemption application you have been named the property owner for, revoke a BUS voucher, withhold or recoup grant payments from the installer applying for BUS funding on your behalf immediately and without giving you notice.

Error

Where consent has been provided in error, please contact Ofgem on BUS.application@ofgem.gov.uk so we can correct the situation.

Fraud

Where we identify that consent has been provided fraudulently, we will reject an application or revoke the voucher and contact you and the installer regarding the application. We may refer the case of fraud to the police.

We reserve the right, without notice and at our discretion, to terminate the agreement and cancel your access to the Portal or portions of it for any reason.

Audits

To help ensure public money has been used correctly, Ofgem run a comprehensive audit programme. We will be conducting audits on installers and installations that have made a BUS application or received a BUS grant and you as a property owner will be responsible for engaging with our audit regime. For more information see chapter six of the Guidance for Property Owners.

Force majeure

We’ll try to provide you with constant uninterrupted access to the portal. However, we do not guarantee it. We accept no responsibility or liability and cannot be deemed to be in default for any interruption or delay, resulting directly or indirectly from any cause or circumstance beyond our control.

Severability

If any provision of the terms and conditions is held to be invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction or is deemed to be unlawful, void or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision shall be severed from these terms and the remaining provisions shall remain in full force and effect.

Governing law and jurisdiction

These terms and conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales. Any dispute arising under these terms and conditions will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.

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Variations

The terms and conditions may be varied from time to time. Please ensure that you review the terms and conditions every time you use the consent portal. Your use of the consent portal indicates your agreement to be bound by the terms and conditions.