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Energy Performance Certificates

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Energy Performance Certificates | Building Surveys | Energy Performance Certificates - Find a local surveyor and get prices for EPC's, a homebuyers report, structural survey and building surveys
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Energy Performance Certificates - domestic properties

Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) are needed when any building is sold, rented out, constructed or refurbished.

EPCs give information on a building's energy efficiency in a sliding scale from 'A' (very efficient) to 'G' (least efficient). Every EPC also has a recommendations report showing how the homeowner could improve the rating.

Only qualified, accredited domestic energy assessors and qualified, certified home inspectors can produce EPCs for domestic properties. They analyse how homes are constructed, insulated, heated and ventilated, and the type of fuel being used.

This guide gives an overview about EPCs for domestic properties. It sets out when EPCs are needed, who can produce them and the responsibilities of all parties involved in producing and providing them for domestic properties - including homeowners, landlords, estate agents and energy assessors. It also provides specific information for rented, newly built and existing homes.

When an Energy Performance Certificate is required

Please note that Home Information Pack duties are suspended with immediate effect from 21 May 2010. This means that homes marketed for sale on or after this date will no longer require a Home Information Pack. However, Energy Performance Certificates are still required.

Find guidance on the changes to the Home Information Pack scheme on the communities and local government website - Opens in a new window.

Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) present a building's energy efficiency in the form of an 'asset rating'. This is similar to the system used to rate white goods, such as fridges and washing machines.

You must commission an EPC if you sell, rent out, construct or refurbish most buildings. EPCs are not required for:

places of worship;
temporary buildings with a planned period of use of less than two years;
buildings using low amounts of energy, eg barns;
certain homes which are to be demolished

When domestic properties are marketed for sale, the EPC must be made available free of charge.

For newly built or refurbished homes, the person in charge of construction - usually the builder - is responsible for obtaining an EPC. A Predicted Energy Assessment must be provided for new homes marketed for sale off-plan - ie before construction of the building is complete. The same EPC responsibilities also apply when a builder completes any building work to a home which creates a new dwelling or combines two existing dwellings. See the page in this guide on Energy Performance Certificates for new homes.

When selling or renting an existing home, the owner or landlord is responsible for making an EPC available and for providing it to any prospective buyer or tenant. See the pages in this guide on Energy Performance Certificates for existing homes and Energy Performance Certificates for rented homes.

EPC validity period

Unless a building is later modified, EPCs and their recommendation reports are valid for ten years from the date of issue. Energy assessors and home inspectors are responsible for placing EPCs in the national register of domestic EPCs, where they will be kept for 20 years. You can view energy reports on the Landmark Information Group website - Opens in a new window.

Energy Performance Certificates for rented homes

You only require an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) when you place a self-contained rental property on the market for rent. You do not need an EPC when a tenant rents a room and shares facilities or when you extend an existing agreement with the same tenant.

When you first place properties on the rental market, the EPC can be produced using different methods depending on whether you need one for a single property or for multiple similar rental properties you own.

A domestic energy assessor (DEA) can conduct the assessment on a single EPC for multiple rental properties of similar type. DEAs must be trained and competent in the techniques required to carry out these more complex EPCs - ie a sampling and multiple-certification approach.

DEAs can use one or more of these specific techniques when generating EPCs for landlords:

A common values approach - where the DEA produces an EPC for one property using data from a similar property then customises it to account for any variations, eg allowing for greater heat loss from a top floor flat which is otherwise identical to other flats within that building;
Sampling and multiple certification - once the DEA has identified that a group of properties is similar, they can produce EPCs for the group after carrying out a sample survey to make sure that the results are within certain prescribed tolerance limits;
Using existing data - where a landlord has invested in creating a comprehensive database of the energy characteristics of the stock, this data can be used to produce EPCs. It is however the DEA's responsibility to satisfy themselves that the data is accurate by visiting a sample of the properties.

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Energy Performance Certificates | Building Surveys | Energy Performance Certificates - Find a local surveyor and get prices for EPC's, a homebuyers report, structural survey and building surveys