Spray foam product approvals and the BBA suspension explained

A product approval is a document from an independent body that assesses one product for particular uses, such as rafter-level insulation over a breathable membrane, and sets the conditions it must be installed to^[6][7]. The industry Code of Practice requires every spray foam product to hold one, specific to one product and one application^[6].

The two UK bodies named in the PCA and RPSA's Sprayed Foam Insulation Inspection Protocol (March 2023) are the British Board of Agrément (BBA) and Kiwa^[8]. The BBA describes itself as an independent product approval, testing and inspection body, not a trade body^[9]. By its own account it began as the Agrément Board, set up by the UK government in 1966, and took the BBA name in 1983^[10].

Approvals are specific to a construction and have no graded levels: there is no "better" or "basic" approval^[7]. For example, Product Sheet 1 of one open-cell approval covers breathable (low-resistance) underlays only; high-resistance underlays need a different sheet with its own conditions^[7].

Yes: people often call a BBA product approval a "BBA certificate", and the BBA itself used the word in the title of a 2021 webinar^[1]. This guide says "product approval" because that describes what the document does: it approves a product for set uses, under conditions^[1]. It is not a document about your house or your installer.

It does not tell you that your installation was done correctly, or that your roof was suitable for foam^[1]. The BBA's own explainer lists the idea that an approved product "automatically complies with Building Regulations" as a misconception, says an approval is not a warranty, and says it covers only the assessed scope and the installation it describes^[1].

A common claim, including in Trading Standards guidance for installers (November 2025), is that an approved product is compliant with Building Regulations^[11]. The BBA's explainer contradicts that^[1]. The BBA also warns that the Building Regulations statements inside approvals may be out of date after the 2022 changes, so stated figures need checking against current rules^[3].

Approval bodies approve products, not installers^[1]. The BBA does run an Approved Installer Scheme that audits installers of BBA-approved products, but it does not train them, and new applications were paused with a six-month waiting list as read on 19 October 2026 (page modified 4 June 2026)^[9].

An approval is not decisive for everyone either. A new-build warranty provider said in August 2025 it would not accept spray foam in pitched or flat roofs even where the product had UKAS-recognised approval^[12]. One anonymised case file shows the gap between product and installation: the right foam, with ten departures from its product approval.

Find the number, then check that the document matches your product, your roof and today's date. These steps use only what the documents themselves say.

1. Find the number. The industry Code says the homeowner pack and a short record left in the loft should give the approval details; installers often fix these in the roof space with the product type and batch^[6][13].
2. Check it matches the product. The PCA protocol expects an approval that matches the product actually used^[8].
3. Check the product sheet covers your roof. BBA product approval 23/7062 Product Sheet 1 covers breathable low-resistance underlays only; high-resistance underlays are in a separate sheet with extra conditions^[7].
4. Check it is current. BBA 20/5846 (February 2021) has been superseded by BBA 23/7062^[14]. The Kiwa approvals traced state a three-year validity^[4][5]. The current status of the 2011 approval BBA 11/4816 is unknown^[15].
5. Compare the conditions with your loft. Survey, timber moisture, underlay, vapour control, cables, flues and linings are set out in how should spray foam be installed?

If you cannot find the full document, ask the installer or the manufacturer for it, and keep the request and reply with your spray foam paperwork.

UKAS (the United Kingdom Accreditation Service) suspended all scopes of its recognition of the BBA on 26 February 2026, until the BBA closes UKAS's findings and at the latest 25 November 2026; it says withdrawal is possible otherwise^[2]. UKAS keeps its reasons confidential, but says findings bearing on regulatory or public-safety matters are shared with regulators and government^[2]. This is time-sensitive: the position below is at 20 October 2026.

The account of the company change and the appeals comes from the BBA alone^[16]. UKAS's statement does not mention a transfer and gives no reasons, so treat the BBA's explanation as its own view^[2]. The BBA's website banner says it is working urgently with UKAS and will advise once the matter is resolved, without giving dates^[3].

The suspension covers more than product approvals: UKAS suspended all scopes, and the BBA lists four UKAS-backed activities, namely product approval, inspection, management-system assessment and testing^[2][16]. Not every public summary has caught up: the House of Commons Library briefing, modified 8 July 2026, describes BBA approvals without mentioning the suspension^[17].

Yes, according to UKAS: existing UKAS-backed BBA product approvals "remain valid until their expiry date", but no new ones can be issued under UKAS cover while the suspension lasts^[2]. The BBA's own May 2026 notice did not address existing approvals^[16].

So an approval issued before 26 February 2026 is not cancelled by the suspension alone; whether it covers your installation is a separate question^[2][1]. The suspension concerns the BBA's own accreditation; UKAS's statement does not withdraw existing approvals^[2].

What happens after 25 November 2026 is not yet known. Dated updates are logged in what's changed.

Kiwa is the other UK approval body named by the PCA protocol, the industry Code and Trading Standards guidance^[8][6][11]. The UKAS statement is about the BBA only^[2].

• Kiwa (BDA Agrément): the closed-cell approval BAR-19-132 was first issued in December 2021, revised in November 2024 and states a three-year validity^[4]. The open-cell approval BAR-20-170 dates from October 2021 with a three-year validity, and its renewal could not be confirmed^[5].
• NSAI Agrément (Ireland): the two Irish spray foam approvals traced are each valid for five years from issue or last revision, subject to conditions; on their face those periods ran to June 2025 and January 2026, and no later revision was found; one tells readers to check it has not been withdrawn or superseded^[18][19].
• BRE: named as an approval option in one lender's published criteria, alongside the BBA and Kiwa (page last modified 2 March 2026)^[20].

For most homeowners the practical questions are the same as before: which product was used, does its approval cover your roof, and was it installed to that approval^[8]. Some lenders' published criteria ask for evidence of a product approval as one part of a wider evidence pack, for example Nationwide's, as read on 19 October 2026^[21]. No one can promise what a lender will do, and the suspension does not change that.

The government's wider statements are in what the UK government and Parliament have said, and lenders' published positions in spray foam and mortgages.