Grace Period Extended for Solar Mounting Products Following Certification Withdrawal

THE SIX-MONTH grace period following the withdrawal of certification from a number of solar mounting products has been extended to 10 August 2026.

New changes to the Solar Mounting Product Standard (MCS 012) meant several solar mounting products lost certification on 10 May 2025. Shortly after, MCS opened an investigation to understand the differences in approach taken by Product Certification Bodies (CBs) in relation to the withdrawal of product certificates and assess the best way forward.

During this time, a six-month grace period was opened to reduce disruption and ensure that the market could still utilise products in the supply chain while the investigation was ongoing.

Grace Period Extended

Now, the MCS says after having “consulted robustly with both manufacturers and product Certification Bodies”, it has decided to extend the grace period for a further nine months, until 10 August 2026. This will be the final extension of the grace period.

MCS says this additional extension will provide product Certification Bodies and manufacturers with additional time to ensure the process for the certification of products under the standard is transparent and clearly communicated; increase consistency in the testing of products across Certification Bodies; and provide confidence for installers during that time.

During this time, installers can use products that already hold certification to the latest version of MCS 012 and can continue to use affected solar mounting products that previously held certification and are in the grace period.

All affected products are clearly marked in the MCS Installation Database and MCS Product Directory with the label ‘GRACE PERIOD’ after the certification number, and certification dates will be displayed as 10/05/2025 to 10/08/2026.

On 10 August 2026, product listings will be expired and will no longer be available to installers to select when creating an MCS certificate.

MCS will continue to provide updates throughout the extended grace period. For further support, contact the MCS Customer Support Helpdesk.

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