Energy Performance Certificates reach commercial market
Posted April 2008
The April deadline has arrived: Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) are now required for commercial properties in England and Wales when they are new build, sold or leased.
The certification process is less than straightforward, with some anomalies still awaiting clarification.
EPCs will provide vital information to property owners and tenants about energy use in their buildings. As the importance of energy issues rises on tenants’ agendas, EPCs may become crucial as a way of demonstrating that property meets the best available standards.
These certificates have already been implemented for domestic properties being sold, with domestic rental properties following in October 2008. The implementation date for Scotland and Northern Ireland, for both residential and commercial properties, is January 2009.
Commercial Buildings
Commercial properties requiring EPCs include:
- Retail units
- Shops
- Industrial units
- Hotels
- New Build commercial units
- Rental property
- Public institutions
- Government buildings
Timetable for the new requirements:
| Deadline Date | Measures |
| 6th April 2008 | EPCs required on construction for all dwellings. EPCs required for the construction, sale or rent of buildings other than dwellings with a floor area over 10,000 m². |
| 1st July 2008 | EPCs required for the construction, sale or rent of buildings other than dwellings with a floor area over 2,500 m². |
| 1st October 2008 | EPCs required on the sale or rent of all remaining dwellings EPCs required on the construction, sale or rent of all remaining buildings other than dwellings. Display certificates required for all public buildings over 1,000 m². |
| 4th January 2009 | First inspection of all existing air-conditioning systems over 250 kW must have occurred by this date. |
| 4th January 2011 | First inspection of all remaining air-conditioning systems over 12 kW must have occurred by this date. |
Further details are available at www.communities.gov.uk
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The RICS has called for greater government co-operation with professional bodies, criticising the rush for commercial certification, with claims that accreditation schemes and assessor training are barely in place. There are fears that insufficiently trained assessors may operate without proper regulation, and that scope for checking the quality of the EPC could be lacking.
Faithful+Gould has fully encompassed the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive and made the provision for an energy performance certificates service for commercial buildings.
Our national team of accredited energy assessors are predominantly building surveyors who have attained the RICS ‘Safe As’ Commercial Energy Assessors qualification, adding this new accreditation to their established skill-set.
The team was established last year and has been providing the EPC assessment within the residential sector, as a stand-alone service or as part of a broader package for portfolio owners. In the residential sector we have been able to help our clients to turn the potential constraint of the EPC into a cost-effective tool, improving marketability of their properties.
The team also includes accredited Code for Sustainable Homes assessors and EcoHomes assessors.
Faithful+Gould’s accreditation as energy performance assessors forms part of our wider sustainability remit – importantly, our assessors can draw upon the resources of our in-house sustainability services.
In addition to the necessary practical building surveying skills, our assessors have also been grappling with the nuances of the new legislation, anticipating the inevitably complex situations arising for many commercial clients. We envisage challenges ahead, as developers, tenants and owner-occupiers get to grips with the new requirement.
For further information contact Mark Bugler on +44 (0)2920 485181 / mark.bugler@fgould.com.