Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)
Residential Sales
Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) tell you how energy efficient a home is on a scale of A-G. The most efficient homes - which should have the lowest fuel bills - are in band A.
The Energy Performance Certificate also tells you, on a scale of A-G, about the impact the home has on the environment. Better-rated homes should have less impact through carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
The average property in the UK is in bands D-E for both ratings. The Certificate includes recommendations on ways to improve the home's energy efficiency to save you money and help the environment.
Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) are part of Home Information Packs, which have been in effect since the 1st August 2007 in England and Wales for domestic properties.
Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) are a result of European Union Directive 2002/91/EC relating to the energy performance of buildings. The directive itself was inspired by the Kyoto Protocol which commits the EU to reduce CO2 by 8% by 2010, to 5.2% below 1990 levels. The directive came into force on the 4th January 2006 and requires member states to comply with Article 7 (Energy Performance Certificates), Article 8 (Inspection of boilers) and Article 9 (Inspection of air conditioning systems) within 3 years of the inception date, the deadline being 4th January 2009.
In the UK this directive was enacted in Part 5 of the Housing Act 2004.
The Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) is based on the RDSAPv3 procedure, which is a simplified version of the SAP2005. SAP is short for Standard Assessment Procedure and RDSAP for Reduced Data SAP. The EPC will be produced by Home Inspectors or Domestic Energy Assessors (DEA) to be included as part of a Home Information Pack (HIP).
Residential Landlords
From October 2008 landlords offering property for rent will be required by law to provide prospective tenants with an Energy Performance Certificate for their property.
The certificates (‘EPCs’) will have to be provided free either when (or before) any written information about the property is provided to prospective tenants or a viewing is conducted. They will not have to be provided if the landlord believes the prospective tenant is unlikely to have sufficient funds to rent the property or is not genuinely interested in renting, or the landlord is unlikely to be prepared to rent the property to the prospective tenant.
A new certificate will not be required on each let since, in the case of rental property, EPCs will be valid for 10 years.
Information for Landlords can be found at: http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/planningandbuilding/pdf/866773.pdf
Non-Dwelling EPC
Under the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), from 1st October 2008 all commercial property in the UK, over 50 sq metres in size will have to have an Energy Performance Certificate (Commercial EPC) upon construction, or prior to sale or lease of the property.
The certificate will be similar to those produced for domestic dwellings and assess the energy efficiency of a building. The commercial EPC will provide advice on how to make the cost effective improvements to the building to make it more energy efficient.
Commercial Energy Performance Certificates will be required upon construction, sale or lease for all non-dwellings, covering everything from small retail units to offices, industrial units and large scale commercial premises such as airports and public buildings.
There are exemptions to the requirement for a commercial EPC however. These include: Places of worship, temporary buildings (with less than two years expected use), low energy demand buildings and stand alone buildings less than 50 sq. metres.
Responsibility for enforcement in newly built properties will fall to Building Control, whilst Trading Standards departments will enforce certification of existing buildings. The Non-Dwelling is totally different to a residential EPC. Landlord EPC.
New Build EPC's & PEA's
Predicted Energy Assessments are simply a way of providing information about energy performance for homes that have not been built yet (off-plan sales).
If you are selling a home before it has been built, you will need to provide information about energy efficiency in a Predicted Energy Assessment (PEA). This is the predicted SAP Rating and Environmental Impact (CO2) rating from the SAP calculations that should have been done at the design stage, to check whether you comply with Building Regulations. PEA's do not have a Recommendation Report like full Energy Performance Certificates.
For dwellings completed on or after 6 April 2008, you will need to give the prospective owner a full EPC and recommendation Report. The EPC can only be produced by an Accredited On Consruction Energy Assessor. People who are currently doing SAP calculations to show that they meet Target Emission Rates as part of Building Regulations will not be able to produce the EPC unless they have undergone additional training and joined an accreditation scheme.
The accreditation schemes protect builders and potential homeowners by making sure Energy Assessors have the appropriate skills to carry out energy assessments, and that EPCs are always of the same high quality.
To produce a new build EPC, the On Construction Energy Assessor will need to use an approved version of the SAP software. The completed Energy Performance Certificate must be registered and stored in the national register at www.EPCregister.com. with a unique reference number. This must be done by the On Construction Energy Assessor in conjunction with their accreditation scheme.
An On Construction Energy Assessor should not normally need to visit the property to produce an EPC as the calculations can be made from scale plans and the design specifications. The EPC will be the result of the As Built calculations which is an extension of the SAP calculation needed for Building Control.
Building Control are unable to issue a completion certificate without an EPC. Furthermore the sale of the property cannot proceed without an EPC. This will also apply if a building is converted into fewer or more units and there are changes to the heating, hot water provision or air conditioning/ ventilation services. Homes will require an EPC on construction or such conversion from 6 April 2008.