How easy it is to find a heat pump installer: do public authorities or manufacturers hold a list of certified installers? The answers will be presented below on a country-by-country basis. Of the four countries, only Slovakia and Slovenia operate with a list of certified installers/manufacturers, while the Czech Republic and Spain do not report having one.
SLOVENIA
As mentioned above, Slovenia operates with a list of accredited companies for the installation and maintenance of air conditioners and heat pumps, regulated by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Spatial Planning. However, the list is difficult to access for the average consumer. It requires self-initiated research and a further review, since it offers the names of the accredited companies, their addresses, their post codes, and the name of the accredited installer, while HP suppliers do not share the list on their websites. Consumers must therefore initially contact the supplier, who will then direct them to an installer. Otherwise, Slovenian MSs in most cases had no problems finding heat pump suppliers, the majority of whom also offered the possibility of installing the pump. There were only 3 cases where the providers did not offer the possibility of installation, but gave the MS the contact details of an installer, with whom he/she had to make further arrangements on his/her own. If the installer did not respond, the participant had to contact the providing company again to get new contact details. It would therefore be easier for companies to provide the official list on their websites so that consumers could contact the installers themselves and not be dependent on the HP provider.
CZECH REPUBLIC
Unlike Slovenia, the Czech Republic does not operate with a publicly regulated list of heat pump installers. Despite that, Czech MSs had no problems finding heat pump providers, as there are many sources (internet, media, articles, or the personal acquaintances of existing users, etc.) from which they can obtain credible information; both about the pumps, and about providers and installers.
SLOVAKIA
In 2014, the Slovak Ministry of Economy published a publicly available list of heat pump installers, which can be found via the link below. In addition, the web is the main source for gathering general information on HPs, while customers can also contact a supplier (which they can find online) who, as in Slovenia, will forward them the contact details of an installer, or vice versa.
SPAIN
Spain does not operate with an official list of certified HP installers. Additionally, participants report that, unlike in the other countries, finding a contractor was not an easy task (more detailed information about the process will be provided in the following chapters).
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