BCIA urges ministers to back building controls after Budget offers no BEMS incentives

The Building Controls Industry Association (BCIA) has called on the government to turn its energy efficiency ambitions into practical support for businesses, after the Autumn Budget offered no new incentives for building energy management systems.

The trade body made the call as it published the second edition of its Policy Pulse 2026 report, which tracks its engagement with government, Parliament and national bodies.

BCIA said the Budget set out plans to cut business energy costs through a new Cost Control Framework and £2.32bn for the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme, which it said would reduce electricity bills for over 10,000 eligible manufacturers in Great Britain by 20-25%. It said the Budget gave no specific new incentives for building energy management systems (BEMS) and no further clarity on dedicated funding for non-domestic retrofit.

Graeme Rees, Interim President of BCIA, said: "The Budget recognises that high energy costs are holding businesses back, but reducing the price of energy is only part of the answer. We also need to help businesses use less of it."

Rees said building controls can make an immediate difference, often by improving the performance of systems already installed, but were still not getting recognition in funding and policy decisions.

The Budget measures

The Budget 2026 document says 10,000 energy intensive manufacturing firms will get a 20-25% electricity discount starting in April 2027, including a back payment for 2026-27.

The government had announced on 15 April 2026 that eligibility for the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme had been widened from 7,000 to over 10,000 businesses. That release said eligible firms would see bills cut by up to 25% from April 2027, with exemptions on Renewables Obligation and Feed-in Tariff levies applying from the same date. It said the scheme would be funded through a combination of changes within the energy system and Exchequer funding, with full detail to follow in Budget 2026.

The £2.32bn figure for the scheme is as reported by BCIA, which attributes it to the Autumn Budget.

Lobbying activity

BCIA said it had submitted evidence to Parliament's Business and Energy inquiry and met senior officials from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero to press for intelligent controls to be recognised within retrofit funding.

It said the Climate Change Committee had recognised the contribution BEMS can make to climate adaptation and invited the association to an industry roundtable in October.

The association also said its Parliamentary work on workplace temperatures had been followed by confirmation that the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is preparing a consultation on updated guidance. HSE's current guidance says the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations require employers to provide a reasonable indoor temperature, and that the Approved Code of Practice suggests a minimum of 16°C, or 13°C where much of the work involves rigorous physical effort.

The efficiency case

Research highlighted in Policy Pulse says the most energy-efficient buildings can cost between 43% and 75% less to operate each year than the least efficient, according to BCIA. The association's own research puts the potential contribution of advanced BEMS to the UK economy at £12.75bn by 2050.

Rees said: "Building controls shouldn't be an afterthought in energy policy. They need to be part of the plan from the outset."

Regulatory backdrop

The call comes as tighter energy performance standards approach for commercial landlords. BCIA has welcomed the government's confirmation, which it said came in June, that privately rented non-domestic buildings over 1,000 sq m in England and Wales must reach a minimum Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of B by 2031. It said buildings below 1,000 sq m would remain subject to the existing EPC E minimum, and described that limit as disappointing.

BCIA has cited government modelling that tenants could save up to £360m a year under the EPC B standard. Ron Purcell, Vice President of the BCIA and Product Manager at Siemens Infrastructure - Buildings, has said that an EPC rates how a building is designed, not how it is run.

Rees, a former BCIA President, took up the interim role under arrangements announced on 17 September. He will hold the post until 1 March 2028 unless the President returns earlier.

BCIA was established in 2004 following the merger of two long-standing organisations and describes itself as the unified voice of the UK building controls industry.