8. What changes affect social-housing and heat-network contractors?

What should social-housing repair teams change before 30 November 2026?

Awaab’s Law Phase 2 is a near-term triage priority for England’s social-housing supply chain. Phase 1 began on 27 October 2025, covering all emergency hazards and significant damp-and-mould hazards. Phase 2 starts on 30 November 2026 and expands significant-hazard coverage, including excess cold and excess heat. The legal requirements described by government are on social landlords; contractors should establish how their contracts and reporting arrangements support them. MHCLG collection and Phase 2 guidance. (gov.uk)

Recommended changes to an AI repairs desk:

• Preserve the time and content of the original report.
• Use landlord-approved escalation rules.
• Route vulnerability or uncertain hazard information to trained people.
• Distinguish booking, attendance, temporary measures and completed remediation.
• Prevent an unanswered callback or failed appointment from automatically closing the case.

Do not let the supplier invent one universal response deadline for every no-heating report. Obtain the client’s approved interpretation and operational procedure.

Does every commercial HVAC contractor need Ofgem heat-network registration?

Do not infer that from a maintenance contract alone: identify whether the business is a relevant operator or supplier. Ofgem’s regulatory role began on 27 January 2026, and its current guidance requires relevant operators and suppliers to identify their roles and register networks by 26 January 2027. Ofgem regulatory introduction · Who should register.

For businesses in scope—or supporting a client that is—link outage records, complaints and service communications to the correct network and legal entity. Ask separately whether proposed billing or complaint automation is covered by the implementation engagement.