# Advanced MCS Certified Installers Scraper (`morkerr/advanced-mcs-certified-installers-scraper`) Actor Scrape MCS-certified installer data from mcscertified.com. Extract contacts, certs, technology details (Solar PV, Heat Pumps, Battery Storage, Biomass, Wind), and geographic coverage for 5,500+ UK installers. Outputs structured JSON with email, phone, website, address, and coordinates. - **URL**: https://apify.com/morkerr/advanced-mcs-certified-installers-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [morkerr](https://apify.com/morkerr) (community) - **Categories:** Lead generation - **Stats:** 6 total users, 3 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $15.00 / 1,000 results This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours, and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store. In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server. Actors are written with capital "A". ## How to integrate an Actor? If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects. You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready. The best way to integrate Actors is as follows. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md). For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below. For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt). # README ## Advanced MCS Certified Installers Scraper [![Apify Actor](https://img.shields.io/badge/Apify-Actor-blue)](https://console.apify.com/actors/morkerr~advanced-mcs-certified-installers-scraper) [![Node.js](https://img.shields.io/badge/Node.js-20-green)](https://nodejs.org/) [![License](https://img.shields.io/badge/License-ISC-lightgrey)]() [![Speed](https://img.shields.io/badge/Speed-3x%20faster-orange)]() ## Advanced MCS Certified Installers Scraper Concurrent, high-performance scraper for **mcscertified.com/find-an-installer/** the official UK registry of MCS-certified installers. Uses a parallel two-phase architecture to scrape all 5,500+ installers up to 3x faster than sequential scrapers. --- ### Use Cases - **Solar PV Lead Generation** Build targeted lists of Solar PV certified installers by region at speed - **Heat Pump Market Analysis** Map Air Source & Ground Source Heat Pump installer distribution across the UK - **Competitive Intelligence** Identify certified installers in target postcodes and service areas - **Trade Body Auditing** Verify certification status, bodies, and technology coverage in bulk - **Green Energy Directories** Generate clean structured data for renewable energy directories and comparison tools - **Supply Chain Development** Find installation partners by technology type (battery storage, biomass, solar thermal, wind turbine, etc.) ### Features - **Concurrent Fetching** Multi-page parallel worker pool (configurable 1-20) scrapes pages simultaneously instead of one-at-a-time - **Two-Phase Architecture** Phase 1 discovers total pages from a single request, Phase 2 dispatches workers to harvest all remaining pages in parallel - **Per-Page Error Resilience** Individual page failures are caught and logged; remaining workers continue unaffected. Summary report at end - **Technology Filtering** Filter by 10+ renewable technology types (server-side via API) - **Regional Filtering** Filter by UK nation (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland) with England subregion support - **All Contact Data** Email, telephone, website, full address breakdown (line 1/2/3, county, postcode, country) - **Certification Info** Certification number, certification body, boiler upgrade scheme eligibility - **Geographic Coordinates** Latitude and longitude for each installer - **Comprehensive Coverage** Scrapes all 5,500+ certified installers in the MCS database - **Configurable Pagination** Set a page limit for small test runs or scrape the complete dataset - **Clean Output** Structured JSON in Apify dataset with consistent field naming ### Input Options | Field | Type | Description | |-------|------|-------------| | `technologies` | Multi-select | Filter by renewable technology types | | `regions` | Multi-select | Filter by UK nations (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland) | | `englandSubregions` | Multi-select | Sub-regions within England (only applies when England is selected) | | `maxPages` | Integer | Maximum pages to scrape (0 = all pages, ~185 pages for full dataset) | | `concurrencyLimit` | Integer | Pages to fetch in parallel (1-20, default: 5). Higher = faster but more API load | #### Available Technology Filters | Value | Label | |-------|-------| | `air-source-heat-pump` | Air Source Heat Pump | | `battery-storage` | Battery Storage | | `biomass` | Biomass | | `exhaust-air-heat-pump` | Exhaust Air Heat Pump | | `ground-water-source-heat-pump` | Ground/Water Source Heat Pump | | `micro-chp` | Micro CHP | | `small-wind-turbine` | Small Wind Turbine | | `solar-assisted-heat-pump` | Solar Assisted Heat Pump | | `solar-heating` | Solar Heating | | `solar-pv` | Solar PV | #### Available Region Filters | Value | Label | Subregions | |-------|-------|------------| | `england` | England | Eastern, East Midlands, London, North East, North West, South East, South West, West Midlands, Yorkshire & Humberside | | `scotland` | Scotland | | | `wales` | Wales | | | `northern-ireland` | Northern Ireland | | ### Performance | Concurrency | Full Scrape (5,500+ installers) | |-------------|----------------------------------| | 1 (sequential) | ~3-4 minutes | | 5 (default) | ~1-2 minutes | | 10 | ~45-60 seconds | | 20 | ~30-45 seconds | - **Per page**: ~1 second - **Container size**: ~60MB (Node.js 20, no browser dependencies) - **Memory usage**: ~80MB ### Performance Tuning - **Low concurrency (1-3)**: Gentle on the target API; use if you encounter rate limiting or are running many concurrent actors - **Medium concurrency (4-10)**: Best balance of speed and reliability for most use cases - **High concurrency (11-20)**: Maximum throughput; may trigger API rate limiting. Use for one-off full scrapes where speed is critical The actor isolates per-page errors using `Promise.allSettled`, so individual page failures at high concurrency don't crash the entire run. Failed pages are logged in the final summary. ### Output Fields Each installer record in the dataset includes: | Field | Description | |-------|-------------| | `name` | Installer company name | | `installerId` | Unique MCS installer ID | | `email` | Contact email address | | `telephone` | Contact phone number | | `website` | Company website URL | | `address` | Full address (combined) | | `addressLine1` | Address line 1 | | `addressLine2` | Address line 2 | | `addressLine3` | Address line 3 | | `county` | County | | `postcode` | Postcode | | `country` | Country | | `certificationNumber` | MCS certification number | | `certificationBody` | Certifying body | | `boilerUpgradeScheme` | Boiler Upgrade Scheme eligibility (boolean) | | `technologies` | Array of renewable technology labels | | `regions` | Array of UK region labels | | `lat` | Latitude coordinate | | `lng` | Longitude coordinate | | `distance` | Distance from search centre point | | `technologySubType` | Technology sub-type | | `scrapedAt` | ISO timestamp of when the record was scraped | ### Error Handling The actor uses `Promise.allSettled` for the parallel phase, meaning: - A failed page fetch does **not** abort the entire run - Failed pages are tracked in a per-run error log - All successfully fetched pages are saved regardless - A summary of failed pages (if any) is printed at the end This makes the actor robust against transient network issues or API hiccups at high concurrency. ### Quick Start 1. Open the actor in Apify Console: [advanced-mcs-certified-installers-scraper](https://console.apify.com/actors/morkerr~advanced-mcs-certified-installers-scraper) 2. Click **Start** with default settings to scrape all installers 3. Adjust `concurrencyLimit` to tune speed vs. load 4. Export results as JSON, CSV, XML, or Excel #### API Example ```javascript const { ApifyClient } = require('apify-client'); const client = new ApifyClient({ token: 'YOUR_API_TOKEN' }); const run = await client.actor('morkerr/advanced-mcs-certified-installers-scraper').call({ technologies: ['solar-pv'], regions: ['scotland'], maxPages: 10, concurrencyLimit: 5, }); const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems(); console.log(`Extracted ${items.length} installers`); ```` ### Limitations - Region filtering is applied client-side because the MCS API does not support server-side region filtering - The MCS AJAX nonce has a 12-24 hour lifetime; the actor extracts a fresh nonce on each run - The API returns a maximum of 30 results per page - High concurrency settings (15-20) may trigger API rate limiting; reduce `concurrencyLimit` if you encounter throttling ### Changelog #### 2.0.0 - Added concurrent fetching parallel worker pool (configurable 1-20 concurrency) - Two-phase architecture: discover total pages first, then harvest concurrently - Per-page error resilience via `Promise.allSettled` individual page failures don't abort the run - Summary error reporting for failed pages - Removed sequential-only resume in favour of parallel throughput #### 1.0.0 - Initial release - AJAX API-based scraping (no browser) - Technology and region filtering - Complete installer data extraction ### Support Report issues or request features via [GitHub Issues](https://github.com/anomalyco/opencode/issues). ### Disclaimer This actor scrapes publicly available data from mcscertified.com. Users are responsible for complying with the website's terms of service and applicable data protection regulations when using scraped data. # Actor input Schema ## `technologies` (type: `array`): Filter by technology types. Leave empty to scrape all installers. ## `regions` (type: `array`): Filter by UK regions. Leave empty to scrape all installers nationwide. ## `englandSubregions` (type: `array`): Only applies when England is selected. Filter by specific English regions. ## `maxPages` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of pages to scrape. Set to 0 to scrape all pages (5500+ installers). ## `concurrencyLimit` (type: `integer`): Number of pages to fetch in parallel. Higher values speed up scraping but may trigger rate limiting. ## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`): Proxy settings for the actor. ## Actor input object example ```json { "maxPages": 0, "concurrencyLimit": 5, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true } } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `installersDataset` (type: `string`): Complete dataset of scraped MCS-certified installers # API You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup. ## JavaScript example ```javascript import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; // Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token // Replace the '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = {}; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("morkerr/advanced-mcs-certified-installers-scraper").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`); const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems(); items.forEach((item) => { console.dir(item); }); // 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs ``` ## Python example ```python from apify_client import ApifyClient # Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token # Replace '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = {} # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("morkerr/advanced-mcs-certified-installers-scraper").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{}' | apify call morkerr/advanced-mcs-certified-installers-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=morkerr/advanced-mcs-certified-installers-scraper", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "Advanced MCS Certified Installers Scraper", "description": "Scrape MCS-certified installer data from mcscertified.com. Extract contacts, certs, technology details (Solar PV, Heat Pumps, Battery Storage, Biomass, Wind), and geographic coverage for 5,500+ UK installers. Outputs structured JSON with email, phone, website, address, and coordinates.", "version": "2.0", "x-build-id": "B7xXlXiXeY4r8VAOa" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/morkerr~advanced-mcs-certified-installers-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-morkerr-advanced-mcs-certified-installers-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/morkerr~advanced-mcs-certified-installers-scraper/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-morkerr-advanced-mcs-certified-installers-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/morkerr~advanced-mcs-certified-installers-scraper/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-morkerr-advanced-mcs-certified-installers-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "technologies": { "title": "Technology Types", "type": "array", "description": "Filter by technology types. Leave empty to scrape all installers.", "items": { "type": "string", "enum": [ "air-source-heat-pump", "battery-storage", "biomass", "exhaust-air-heat-pump", "ground-water-source-heat-pump", "micro-chp", "small-wind-turbine", "solar-assisted-heat-pump", "solar-heating", "solar-pv" ], "enumTitles": [ "Air Source Heat Pump", "Battery Storage", "Biomass", "Exhaust Air Heat Pump", "Ground/Water Source Heat Pump", "Micro CHP", "Small Wind Turbine", "Solar Assisted Heat Pump", "Solar Heating", "Solar PV" ] } }, "regions": { "title": "UK Regions", "type": "array", "description": "Filter by UK regions. Leave empty to scrape all installers nationwide.", "items": { "type": "string", "enum": [ "england", "scotland", "wales", "northern-ireland" ], "enumTitles": [ "England", "Scotland", "Wales", "Northern Ireland" ] } }, "englandSubregions": { "title": "England Subregions", "type": "array", "description": "Only applies when England is selected. Filter by specific English regions.", "items": { "type": "string", "enum": [ "eastern", "east-midlands", "london", "north-east", "north-west", "south-east", "south-west", "west-midlands", "yorkshire-humberside" ], "enumTitles": [ "Eastern", "East Midlands", "London", "North East", "North West", "South East", "South West", "West Midlands", "Yorkshire & Humberside" ] } }, "maxPages": { "title": "Max Pages to Scrape", "minimum": 0, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum number of pages to scrape. Set to 0 to scrape all pages (5500+ installers).", "default": 0 }, "concurrencyLimit": { "title": "Concurrency Limit", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 20, "type": "integer", "description": "Number of pages to fetch in parallel. Higher values speed up scraping but may trigger rate limiting.", "default": 5 }, "proxyConfiguration": { "title": "Proxy Configuration", "type": "object", "description": "Proxy settings for the actor.", "default": { "useApifyProxy": true } } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```