Guide / Choose your buying support
Specify what your energy adviser will deliver throughout the agreement
A useful adviser brief connects the buying exercise with the work that protects value afterwards. Define the outputs, competent people, complete fees and school responsibilities before appointment.
Buying and climate-planning guidance revised 5 November 2026. Added sources were checked on that date; earlier evidence retains its stated date.
Start with the school’s service gaps
Use your data brief to identify where support is needed. Your team may already manage procurement or billing effectively but lack time to investigate consumption. Another school may need a common process across several sites. Set out the actual gaps, the resources already available and the outcomes the school wants to improve.
Where you appoint a TPI, give the appointed adviser a clear coordinating role and limits of authority. Keep the school’s comparison and acceptance rights explicit. The service specification should help you evaluate its capability and full remuneration; the fact that someone obtains quotations does not establish that every additional service is included.
Turn a site visit into a usable commission
A meaningful consultation starts before the visitor arrives. Supply the meter register, bills, operating calendar, planned estate changes and previous action reports. Agree which buildings, plant and activities will be examined, which staff should attend, the information required and how access will be arranged safely.
Ask who will undertake the work and what relevant competence they have. An account manager’s walkaround and a technical energy assessment may serve different purposes. Identify any specialist subcontractor, its fee and who is responsible for the findings. Where work is intended to meet a statutory requirement, confirm that the required assessment and sign-off are specifically included.
The output should identify observations, supporting data, uncertainties, proposed actions and priorities. Each action needs an owner, indicative cost, dependencies and a method for checking the result. A recommendation affecting heating, hot water or pool operation must be reviewed by competent staff against welfare, hygiene and operational requirements.
Where a climate-plan measure could change the next supply requirement, specify the handoff. Name who prepares the technical demand estimate, who checks it against the operating calendar and who asks the supplier about volume, capacity and timing consequences. Require one reconciled forecast with its assumptions, rather than leaving finance to choose between incompatible technical and buying reports. Identify any additional specialist appointment and fee.
Describe the recurring work precisely
Specify what will be checked on bills: correct meters and dates, readings, contracted charges, remuneration and agreed tax declarations. Define the reporting format, frequency and treatment of exceptions. Record who raises a query, who follows it through and how a credit or correction will be confirmed.
For consumption management, ask for an agreed baseline, reliable data access and a regular exception review. Require explanations that finance and premises colleagues can use. A report identifying unusual overnight consumption should lead to a named investigation and a recorded outcome. Establish who can change controls and how a change will be checked.
For staff and pupil engagement, agree the audience, practical actions and follow-up. Boarding teams, catering staff, cleaners and lettings managers may have different operating needs. Behaviour support should complement effective controls and maintenance. Keep learning, comfort and safe operation at the centre of the work.
| Service | A defined deliverable | Evidence of delivery |
|---|---|---|
| Bill validation | Specified checks and a managed exception log | Checked invoice, query, response and confirmed adjustment |
| Usage review | Agreed data, baseline and investigation process | Dated findings, owner, action and subsequent data |
| Site consultation | Competent assessment against a written brief | Report, priorities, costs, limitations and follow-up |
| Continuity and renewal | Named contacts, notice calendar and exit handover | Accessible school-owned records and completed review |
Compare the complete service and price
Request direct fees, supplier-paid remuneration, volume-related commission, additional charges and subcontractor costs. Establish what happens if consumption changes or the supply contract ends. Obtain the amount or calculation basis and a full-term illustration. Reconcile it with the supplier offer so an embedded fee is not added twice.
Ofgem’s July 2026 TPI guidance expects clear information on role, supplier coverage, principal terms, services and fees. It also discusses fair value and complaints handling. Use those points as evidence requests when assessing an adviser. The guidance describes expectations ahead of new rules; membership of a voluntary code should be checked on its own terms.
Compare deliverables, capability and risk alongside cost. A broad promise of savings is difficult to evaluate. A specified programme of checks and interventions can be assessed against its price and the school’s need. Claimed financial benefits should have credible assumptions, implementation costs and a plan for later verification.
Ask how the adviser’s remuneration behaves under the project and delayed-project demand cases. If a per-kWh payment falls when imports fall, establish whether another fee, minimum payment or service change follows under the appointment. The school needs the price of the support it will actually receive in each case, alongside the supply consequences.
Keep responsibility visible after award
Name the school lead, the adviser lead, the technical contact and the escalation route. Agree review dates and access to school-owned records. Record which tasks the school retains, including approval, budget control, safe operation and decisions to implement recommendations. Procurement, supply and technical work may involve separate contracts.
Before appointment, retain the final service schedule, remuneration disclosure, authority limits and evaluation. At the first review, check whether the promised outputs have arrived and whether actions have progressed. Your next step is to bring those commitments into mobilisation so the service starts alongside the supply agreement.