What paperwork should you have for spray foam insulation?

Start with the loft: under the industry Code, a short version of the homeowner pack should be left in the roof space with a contact for the full records^[2]. The IMA says roof installers often fix details there, such as the installer, date, product type, batch and approval^[8].

The Code also says the installer should send a copy of the pack to the manufacturer, for its records and for property mortgage records^[2]. If you bought the house with foam already in, ask your conveyancer whether the seller's pack was handed over. RICS advises buyers to make sure the paperwork is available^[4].

Ask the installer or the manufacturer first, as RICS suggests^[4]. The joint consumer guide from the PCA, IMA and partners adds the IMA as a contact, and says that if no pack can be found you should get a specialist surveyor to inspect for defects or departures from standards^[9].

The government's October 2026 policy paper gives the same advice: have your installation paperwork available, and if you do not, contact the installer or manufacturer, who should be able to provide it retrospectively^[18].

The IMA's guide says missing documents can be supplied retrospectively by the installer or manufacturer^[8]. Be clear about what that can and cannot do. Copies of documents that already exist may be obtainable, but a survey written after the foam went in cannot record what the timbers and underlay looked like before they were covered. The PCA protocol treats a pack that was not produced at the time as not enough on its own, and routes the roof to specialist survey, re-roofing or removal^[1].

If the installer has gone, the IMA's own steps are: contact the warranty provider named in any paperwork; and with no paperwork and no installer, arrange an inspection by a chartered surveyor^[10]. More on that situation is in spray foam installer gone bust?

In writing: to the installer first, then to the manufacturer, which under the industry Code should have been sent a copy of the pack^[2]. Keep a copy of what you send and every reply.

If the installer has stopped trading and the work was done under a government scheme, the October 2026 paper says TrustMark can tell you who your insurance-backed warranty provider is^[18]. See installer gone bust?

No. A product approval covers only the installation it describes; it does not show that your installation matched it^[11]. Paperwork records what was planned and sold, and the roof itself shows what was done. What the approvals require is set out in how should spray foam be installed?

The two can differ. One anonymised case file records an order form that says 100 m² of foam, for a roof that measures about 52.7 m². The PCA protocol allows for this: one of its three possible conclusions is that there is not enough information to say whether risk has increased^[1].

Paperwork also matters if you ever complain or claim. In one 2025 Financial Ombudsman decision, a Section 75 claim was not upheld; the evidence included the sales order, an undated installer list and a warranty document, but no surveyor's report, photographs, moisture readings or product approval^[12]. The foam had already been removed, and the ombudsman decided that case on its own evidence; it is not a prediction for others. See Section 75 and the Financial Ombudsman.

Some lenders' published criteria name the documents they want to see, but they still decide case by case^[5][13]. These positions can change; each is given as published on the date shown.

• Nationwide (criteria page, read 19 October 2026): where foam is on the rafters, the valuer first declines. Nationwide then reconsiders on either a pre-installation suitability report, a condensation risk assessment, evidence of BBA approval and a transferable warranty; or an invasive inspection by an MRICS or FRICS chartered building surveyor, only where the foam was installed more than two years ago^[5]. A transferable warranty is one part of the pack, not an alternative to it^[5].
• The Co-operative Bank (criteria page last modified 2 March 2026): may consider open-cell foam where documents show it was installed to the manufacturer's instructions under a BBA, BRE or Kiwa approval, with an insurance-backed warranty that transfers to future owners, among other conditions^[14].
• Santander (buy-to-let criteria, August 2026): cases are assessed individually and need documents showing an authorised installer did the work, plus a valid warranty^[13].

Full paperwork is not the end of it. A joint HomeOwners Alliance and PCA letter (February 2025) said lenders remained reluctant even where a legitimate firm installed the foam with the correct paperwork^[15]. RICS says the surveyor may ask for a specialist report and must follow the lender's instructions^[4].

An independent inspection is evidence for your own decision, whether that is to keep the foam, remove it or renegotiate. It is not a report for a lender, and no one can promise what a lender will do. Published lender positions are compared in spray foam and mortgages.

Three kinds commonly appear, and they cover different things^[4][6].

For government-scheme installations, a minister said in January 2026 that customers can get non-compliant work put right by claiming under their warranty, even if the installer has ceased trading^[16]. In September 2025 the government described the route as the installer first, then a claim on the installation warranty, with TrustMark support^[17]. The PCA protocol expects warranties to be assigned to the property, so check whose name and address each one carries^[1].