IN Brief:
- The research will assess current and alternative workforce pathways.
- International models, work-based learning, and competence development will be examined.
- Findings will inform Scotland’s planning for low-carbon heating delivery.
Built Environment – Smarter Transformation and Skills Development Scotland have launched research into the workforce pathways needed to expand domestic heat decarbonisation while maintaining competence, quality, and safety.
The project will examine how people currently enter low-carbon heating and cooling roles, which factors restrict workforce growth, and whether additional training and employment routes could increase capacity.
Its work builds on the Pathways to Productivity report published in March 2026, which assessed how Scotland’s construction sector could attract, recruit, develop, and retain the workforce needed for housing and net-zero programmes.
Employer feedback gathered during that study showed strong interest in alternative entry routes for occupations expected to experience rapid growth, particularly roles associated with low-carbon heat.
The latest research will cover the installation, commissioning, maintenance, and technical support of heat pumps and related domestic systems. Rather than beginning with a preferred training model, it will compare the available options and establish an independent evidence base.
Existing entry pathways will be reviewed alongside the practical constraints that limit workforce growth. International approaches in comparable markets will also be examined, with researchers assessing how different routes could affect workforce supply and the time required to achieve competence.
Work-based learning and structured competence development are among the models being considered. Skills, knowledge, assessment, and assurance arrangements will also be evaluated to protect safety, quality, and consumer confidence.
Douglas Morrison, deputy chief executive at BE-ST, said: “This next phase of the research will build on what was found and provide an independent evidence base to help industry, government and skills partners understand what options could be available, what the trade-offs are, and what would be needed to ensure competence remains central.”
Elaine Ellis, skills planning manager for construction and net zero at Skills Development Scotland, said established workforce routes alone would not deliver the required scale or range of capability.
“This research will explore the art of the possible and look at what can be done to improve pathways into heat decarbonisation to allow the sector to train for the high level of skills needed, at the volume and pace needed,” she said.
Domestic heat decarbonisation relies on a much broader workforce than equipment installers alone. Designers, surveyors, heating engineers, electricians, refrigerant specialists, controls technicians, retrofit coordinators, assessors, commissioning personnel, and maintenance providers all contribute to successful delivery.
Although many of those occupations overlap with established trades, low-carbon systems change the way the disciplines interact. Heat pumps generally operate at lower flow temperatures than conventional boilers, placing greater emphasis on heat-loss calculations, emitter sizing, hydraulic design, controls, and commissioning.
An installation can meet basic equipment requirements yet deliver high running costs or poor comfort where the building fabric, radiators, pipework, hot-water demand, electrical supply, and control strategy have not been developed together.
Competence frameworks must therefore address both practical installation and whole-building performance. They also need to distinguish between experienced workers converting from a related trade and new entrants requiring a broader foundation in construction, plumbing, electrical safety, refrigeration, and customer care.
Shorter entry routes could increase workforce numbers where individual roles are clearly defined and supported by supervision, assessment, and structured progression. Compressing training without narrowing responsibility would instead transfer technical decisions to workers who have had insufficient opportunity to develop judgement across varied properties.
Scotland’s geography adds another layer of difficulty. Rural and island communities may have limited access to training centres, experienced supervisors, demonstration facilities, and sufficient installation volume to support conventional apprenticeship structures.
Mobile provision, blended learning, regional hubs, and collaboration between employers could improve access, but practical competence still needs to be demonstrated on real equipment and across different building conditions.
Heat electrification is also developing alongside changes in electrical standards, network capacity, controls, consumer protection, and product regulation. Proposals for a practical transition under smart and secure electricity-system requirements show how training provision must keep pace with regulation as well as installation demand.
Workforce growth will require a stable market as well as additional qualifications. Installers need a predictable pipeline, while households require confidence in cost, system performance, warranties, technical advice, and aftercare.
Stop-start funding can produce a rapid increase in training followed by contraction when support changes, leaving employers reluctant to invest in new staff. Long-term deployment plans give businesses a stronger basis for apprenticeships, equipment, supervision, and specialist development.
Different occupations are unlikely to fit a single pathway. New entrants, experienced heating engineers, electricians adding specialist capability, system designers, and commissioning technicians each begin with different knowledge and levels of responsibility.
The findings will inform discussions between employers, government, training providers, and skills bodies. Their practical effect will depend on whether the evidence leads to funded provision, recognised competence standards, employer participation, and enough consistent work to retain the people trained.
