Check if you need an environmental permit for a closed loop ground source heating and cooling system.
You may need to get a permit from the Environment Agency before you can install and run a new closed loop ground source heating and cooling system. This is a system that:
Boreholes or pipework used for these systems are fully sealed and have no direct connection with any groundwater.
The Environment Agency regulates these systems to protect the environment.
If your ground source heating and cooling system was installed before 2 October 2023, it is an ‘existing’ system.
If so, you do not need to meet the exemption conditions or have an environmental permit to run the system. But the system must not cause pollution.
If your ground source heating and cooling system is installed on or after 2 October 2023, it is a ‘new’ system.
If you’re looking to install and run a new system, you must do one of the following:
If you meet all the exemption conditions, you do not need a permit for a new closed loop ground source heating and cooling system.
Check the guidance on the exemption conditions and how to meet them.
If your system does not meet all the exemption conditions, check if you can meet all the conditions in the regulatory position statement ‘Discharge of heat to ground from a single closed loop ground source heating and cooling system supplying residential premises: RPS 307’.
If your system cannot meet either the exemption conditions or the conditions in RPS 307, you will need to apply for an environmental permit.
Standard rules permits are suitable for activities where:
The Environment Agency held a public consultation on proposed standard rules permits for cemetery developments between 1 April and 24 June 2025. For a summary of this consultation, see Standard rules permit consultation number 30: summary of consultation responses. Following this response, the Environment Agency intends to update and publish the new standard rules permits by the end of June 2026.
You must apply for a bespoke permit if your new closed loop ground source heating and cooling system:
To apply for a new, bespoke groundwater activity permit for a closed loop ground source heating and cooling system, fill in the Part B6 form.
You must also fill in part:
You will need to use an Adobe Acrobat product to complete the forms.