What is it all about?

An Energy Performance Certificate ( EPC ) is an objective report on the energy efficiency of a building as required under the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive.

Why do I need one ?

We , in the UK , are locked into global measures being taken to reduce production of greenhouse gases by adopting technology to conserve energy and utilise alternative sustainable resources of energy instead of burning fossil fuels. Improvements in energy efficiency of buildings will go a long way to achieving such noble aims as these. The EPC is a measure of where the building lies on an arbitrary scale from A to G and what suggested steps can be taken to improve things

Who needs one ?

• Any person selling a Domestic Residential Property will need one.
• Any Landlord of rented residential property will need one.
• All Social Housing Landlords will need one for each of their properties.
• All Government premises will need one.
• All Commercial and Industrial premises will need one.

As the Owner of a Domestic Property when do I need one ?

All qualifying domestic residential homes being put up for sale after the 30th June 2008 will need one . There is a programme of introduction of properties which has been set up to allow enough DEAs to be trained and accredited to deal with the very large number of properties on the market.

Who will do the work ?

An Accredited Energy Assessor will carry out a survey of the domestic property and from all the information made available or gathered by research, will produce a written report . The report is created only once by the Seller and a potential Buyer need not carry out another.

What is included in an EPC ?

The energy performance is calculated from the information that has been input into the Government’s Standard Assessment Procedure for Energy Rating of Dwellings . A simplified version is used for properties that are no longer new which applies to domestic residential sales , RdSAP.

A chart is produced with coloured arrows rated from A ( excellent ) to G ( very poor ) , if certain improvement measures are adopted which are calculated within the range of the parameters used by RdSAP , then an idea of the improvement in efficiency rating is given alongside the actual rating. The report will also grade suggested measures into low cost versus high cost and calculate both the original cost of energy consumption vs projected energy savings . The energy cost being based on an average cost of fuel based over an historical period . It does not predict the future.