What is EBR-01? Is It a Real UK Spray Foam Standard?

Last updated: 11 September 2026. Every check on this page is dated and sourced.

The short answer

EBR-01 is not a British Standard, not a legal requirement, and not part of the Building Regulations.

We could find no record of it being issued or recognised by BSI, RICS, the Property Care Association, UK Finance, or any UK mortgage lender. We could find no published text of the standard itself. We could find no registered organisation behind it.

There is no law that requires any particular certificate before or after spray foam removal. What your lender actually wants is evidence: a competent contractor, a proper survey, and documentation a surveyor and a lender will accept.

What we checked, and what we found

The claims below are quoted from the website promoting EBR-01, sprayfoamstandards.co.uk, as published on 11 September 2026. The right-hand column is what we found when we checked each one. We have kept dated copies of every page.

What the website says	What we found when we checked
It is issued by the "EBR-01 Code of Conduct Council"	We searched the Companies House register for "EBR-01" on 11 September 2026. It returned no results. We could find no registered company, charity or other body of that name.
"Registered in England & Wales"	We read every page of the site. It publishes no company name, no company registration number, no registered office and no trading address. The only contact given is an email address.
The standard has been in force "from 1 January 2024"	The domain was registered on 14 June 2026, according to the public Nominet register. That is two and a half years after the date given.
"888+ verified reviews", "100% verified and moderated", average 4.9 — with featured reviews dated November and December 2025	Those dates fall six to seven months before the website's domain was registered. The reviews are shown as "Direct", not linked to Google, Trustpilot, Checkatrade or any platform where they could be independently checked. We could find no way to verify any of them.
Its own notices and page code give the issuing body's web address as ebr-01.co.uk	That domain is not registered. It returns no result from the Nominet register and does not resolve in the domain name system.
"Maintained by an independent council with no affiliation to any single removal contractor or commercial interest"	The same website names one company as its "Principal Trusted Contractor", "recommended for every homeowner", with a link and phone number repeated throughout, and a permanent footer link headed "Recommended Contractor".
Its verified contractor directory	Contains five entries, one of them a duplicate — four distinct names. One of the others publishes as its contact address an email at the same domain as the "Principal Trusted Contractor" it recommends.
"As seen on / featured in — BBC News" and "Watchdog"	The BBC has covered spray foam and mortgages — that is real and well documented. We could find no BBC item that mentions EBR-01. We would genuinely like to see it if one exists. Separately, Watchdog stopped being a standalone BBC programme in October 2019.
"As featured in Which?, This is Money, The Guardian, Daily Mail, Mortgage Strategy"	Those publications have covered spray foam and mortgages. We could find no article in any of them that mentions EBR-01.
"Recognised by UK mortgage lenders", shown with the logos of seven major banks	We could find no lender that references EBR-01 in its published criteria. Lenders set their own requirements and rely on the surveyor's evidence. A bank's logo on someone else's website is not a statement by that bank.
"RICS Surveyor Compatible" and "PCA Framework"	We could find no mention of EBR-01 in RICS or Property Care Association guidance. The documents that do exist are RICS's consumer guidance on spray foam and the PCA's Sprayed Foam Insulation Inspection Protocol (March 2023).
"Download the EBR-01 standard"	We followed it. No actual standard is published — no numbered clauses, no technical requirements, no test methods, no competence requirements, no revision history, no named committee.
The front of the site: "An official UK industry standard", "Active & Enforced"	The footer of the same site: "Not a statutory body. EBR-01 is a voluntary industry code." Its disclaimer adds that it "does not guarantee the performance of any contractor listed in the directory".

Two things you can check in about a minute

The dates

A free WHOIS lookup tells you when any website's domain was registered. sprayfoamstandards.co.uk was registered on 14 June 2026.

The site presents a standard in force since 1 January 2024, and customer reviews dated November and December 2025 — both before the website existed. We have no explanation for that, and we would publish one if we were given it.

Ask your own lender

You are being told that seven named banks recognise this standard. You are almost certainly a customer of one of them.

Ring them and ask whether they require or recognise EBR-01. Whatever they say is worth more than any logo on any website — including ours.

What we are not saying. We are not telling you that spray foam removal doesn't matter, or that documentation doesn't matter. Both matter enormously. What we are saying is that a certificate is only worth what the organisation behind it is worth — and that you are entitled to check who that is before you spend thousands of pounds.

Why we are writing this

We have a direct interest here, and you should know what it is.

The same website publishes a list of companies it describes as non-compliant. We are on it. So are several other established removal companies with no connection to us.

Nobody contacted us. Nobody asked us a question, requested a document, or carried out any assessment of our business. We first learned of it by finding it online.

Two of the specific things said about us are worth answering, because they show how the list was put together. We are told we hold no public liability insurance and no waste carrier's licence. We don't do the removal work — we never have. We are an advice and referral service. We don't send operatives into your loft and we don't carry away a single bag of waste. The contractors we put you in touch with do that work, and they hold the insurance and the waste carrier licences for it — which we check before we refer anyone to them.

So the criticism is of a business we are not. In our view, no assessment that had actually looked at what we do could have produced it.

If the operator of that website believes anything on this page is inaccurate, we want to hear from them. Contact us and we will look at it straight away, correct anything that is wrong, and say that we have.

What actually applies in the UK

Spray foam removal is not a licensed trade. There is no register you must be on and no single certificate that lenders accept. What genuinely bears on your property is this:

RICS guidance — surveyors are trained to flag spray foam, and RICS publishes consumer guidance on it in residential property.
The Property Care Association's Sprayed Foam Insulation Inspection Protocol (March 2023) — developed with lenders and surveyors. This is the closest thing to an agreed inspection standard that actually exists.
Building Regulations Part C (moisture) and Part L (energy) — where the work affects them.
Waste carrier registration with the Environment Agency — for whoever removes the waste.
Insurance — public liability and employer's liability — held by whoever does the work.
Your individual lender's criteria — which is the one that actually decides your mortgage. Lenders differ, and they change their positions.

Read our full guide to the UK regulatory position

The honest summary: because none of this amounts to a single binding standard, anyone can publish a document, call it a standard, and start issuing certificates against it. That is not a hypothetical risk. It is why the checklist below matters.

How to check any standard, any certificate, any company

Use this on anyone. Use it on us.

Checking a "standard"

1Who issues it? Ask for the legal entity's name and company number, then look it up on the free Companies House register. No entity, no accountability.
2Can you read it? A real standard is a document with numbered clauses and technical requirements. If you cannot obtain the text, there may be nothing to obtain.
3Who says they recognise it? Don't accept a logo. Ask the lender, the surveyor or the trade body directly whether they recognise it. A logo on a website is not an endorsement.
4When did it appear? Check the domain's registration date on a free WHOIS lookup. A standard that predates its own website deserves an explanation.
5Who does it point you to? If a body that describes itself as independent recommends one company above all others, ask what the commercial relationship is.

Checking a contractor

6Company number, checked on Companies House — trading history, accounts, directors.
7Public liability and employer's liability insurance — ask for the certificate and check it is current and names that company.
8Waste carrier registration, verified free on the Environment Agency's public register.
9Method statement and risk assessment, in writing, before work starts.
10What you get at the end — a survey, photographs before and after, moisture readings on the timbers, and waste transfer notes.
11Ask your lender directly what evidence they need. Their answer is the only one that decides your mortgage.
12Never pay a large deposit up front, and never to anyone who found you first and pressured you.

Where a service like ours fits

We should be straight about what we are, because the whole point of this page is that you should be able to check people.

We are not a standards body. We do not certify anyone, we do not issue certificates, and we have no authority to approve a contractor. Nobody in this industry does — that is the honest position.

What we actually do: we check companies so you don't have to do it alone. Company registration and trading history, current insurance, waste carrier registration, the documentation they issue at the end of a job, and what their previous customers say. We only pass enquiries to companies that clear those checks. If a homeowner tells us a job has gone wrong, that company stops receiving our enquiries.

How we are paid: the contractors pay us for the introduction. You pay us nothing. We think you should know that, because it is the first question you should ask anyone who recommends a tradesperson to you — including the website this page is about.

What you get from us: more than one quote, from companies whose paperwork we have already checked; someone to talk to who is not trying to sell you a removal job; help understanding what your lender and surveyor actually want; and a straight answer about whether you need removal at all, including when we think you don't.

Talk to us about your property — free, no obligation See exactly what we check

Common questions about EBR-01

What is EBR-01?

EBR-01 is presented on a website called Spray Foam Standards (sprayfoamstandards.co.uk) as "the UK's independent industry code of conduct for spray foam insulation removal", issued by an "EBR-01 Code of Conduct Council" and referenced as EBR-01-2024. It offers an "EBR-01 certified" contractor directory and publishes a register of companies it describes as non-compliant.

Is EBR-01 a real UK standard?

EBR-01 is not a British Standard, not a statutory requirement and not part of the Building Regulations. As at 11 September 2026 we could find no record of it being issued or recognised by BSI, RICS, the Property Care Association, UK Finance or any UK mortgage lender, and no published text of the standard itself.

Is EBR-01 certification legitimate, and who accredits it?

We could find no UKAS accreditation, no ISO/IEC 17065 certification body behind it, and no published assessment criteria. A genuine certification scheme publishes the standard it certifies against, names the body that issues it, and can be checked with the organisations said to recognise it. We could not do any of those things with EBR-01.

Who runs the EBR-01 website?

The website does not say. It publishes no company name, company registration number, registered office or trading address — only an email address and the words "Registered in England & Wales". A Companies House search for "EBR-01" on 11 September 2026 returned no results. Its own structured data gives the issuing body the alternate name of the single contractor it recommends.

Do I need an EBR-01 certificate to get a mortgage after spray foam removal?

No law requires any particular certificate. Mortgage lenders set their own criteria and rely on the evidence in front of them — typically a survey, photographic records, moisture readings on the roof timbers and waste transfer notes from a competent, insured contractor. Ask your own lender what they require before paying for any certificate.

My company is on the EBR-01 non-compliant contractors register. What does that mean?

We are on it too, and so are several established removal firms unconnected to us. No assessment was carried out on our business and we were never contacted. The register is published by a website that also names a single removal company as its recommended contractor. Treat it as what it is — a list published by a commercial website, not a regulator.

Is EBR-01 recognised by mortgage lenders or RICS?

The website displays the logos of seven high street banks under "Recognised by UK mortgage lenders" and claims to be "RICS Surveyor Compatible". We could find no lender that references EBR-01 in its published criteria and no mention of it in RICS or Property Care Association guidance. A logo on a website is not a statement by the organisation it belongs to — ring your own lender and ask.

What spray foam removal standards do actually apply in the UK?

There is no single binding standard. What genuinely applies is RICS guidance on spray foam in residential property, the Property Care Association's Sprayed Foam Insulation Inspection Protocol (March 2023), Building Regulations Parts C and L where relevant, Environment Agency waste carrier registration for whoever removes the waste, the contractor's insurance, and your own lender's criteria.

How can I check whether any spray foam standard or certificate is genuine?

Ask who issues it and look that entity up on Companies House. Ask to read the standard itself. Ask the lender, surveyor or trade body directly whether they recognise it rather than relying on a logo. Check when the website was registered using a free WHOIS lookup. And check whether the body recommends one particular company above all others.

Correction and sources

We have tried to be accurate and to show our working. Every check on this page is dated and sourced, and we have kept copies of what we looked at.

If you think anything here is wrong — including if you operate the website discussed — please contact us and we will look at it straight away and correct anything that is inaccurate.

This page describes checks we carried out on publicly available information on 11 September 2026. Where we say we could not find something, we mean exactly that: we searched and found nothing. Websites change, and we will update this page if the position changes.

Sources

• Companies House register — company search
• Nominet — public .uk domain register
• RICS — consumer guidance on spray foam insulation in residential property
• Property Care Association — Sprayed Foam Insulation Inspection Protocol, March 2023
• Environment Agency — public register of waste carriers
• sprayfoamstandards.co.uk, as published 11 September 2026 (copies retained)