Why do I need an EPC?

1^st October 2008 for rented dwellings.

1^st October 2008 for the sale of dwellings.

6^th April 2008 for newly constructed dwellings.

Responsibility lies with the ‘relevant person’ either building, renting or selling a property.  For new builds it is the responsibility of the builder, for rentals the landlord, when a property is sold, it is the responsibility of the person selling the property.

Let Airedale EPC take care of your need for an EPC if you are selling or renting a property.  With twenty years industry experience you are in safe hands.

An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) must be provided whenever a property is constructed, rented, or sold in England and Wales.

The EPC shows the energy efficiency rating (property running costs) as an A-G rating scale.  A being of higher standards of energy efficiency, G being lower.  (The A-G rating is similar to the rating on a refrigerator).

Dwelling data is input and a rating generated based on the following:

Property type,

Location,

Year built,

Construction type,

Number of bedrooms

Number of habitable rooms and if they are heated,

Roof type and insulation thickness,

Wall type, thickness and insulation type and thickness,

Secondary or alternative wall type and thickness,

Floor type and insulation type and thickness,

Exposed wall perimeter and party wall types, lengths and thickness,

Floor areas for each level,

External door types,

Window ages, area and types,

Room-in-roof habitable room, its insulation type and area,

The main and secondary heating system boilers, fuels and types,

Heating controls,

Hot water source and type,

Space cooling,

Mechanical ventilation,

Number and type of internal lights,

Shower number, type and fuel,

Newer or different extensions, age, component construction type and details as per main building,

Conservatories and sun rooms,

Porches,

Renewable energy installations, i.e.: wind turbine, photovoltaic panels, solar panels,

Terrain.

The energy rating also includes a standard occupancy assumption.  This is a calculation of the average running costs of that type of property over a three year period, and is built into the energy rating calculation.  This method of data collection and calculation for all existing buildings is called RdSAP.  It is a method developed by the UK Government and stands for Reduced Data Standard Assessment Procedure.    ‘Standard occupancy’ assumes that the house will be heated for 9 hours a day in the week and 16 hours a day at weekends, with the living area heated to 21°C and the rest of the house to 18°C.

With our extensive experience in the surveying sector, Airedale EPC will ensure all of the relevant and required data is included in your EPC report, that’s why it makes sense to choose Airedale EPC.

RdSAP and SAP make certain assumptions about the way the occupants use energy within a property over a three year period.  RdSAP is used for existing buildings and SAP for new build.

The difference between RdSAP and SAP is that RdSAP requires much less data input than SAP.  RdSAP can therefore be done relatively quickly and cost effectively.  Both calculate the energy rating that includes a ‘standard occupancy assumption’.  ‘Standard occupancy’ assumes that the house will be heated for 9 hours a day in the week and 16 hours a day at weekends, with the living area heated to 21°C and the rest of the house to 18°C.

RdSAP is a calculation of the average running costs of that type of property over a three year period, and is built into the energy rating calculation.  This method of data collection and calculation for all existing buildings has been developed by the UK Government and stands for Reduced Data Standard Assessment Procedure.  It provides a methodology for existing dwellings that is compliant with the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive.  RdSAP can be described as non-intrusive, in so much that the assessor cannot access certain components as they have already been built and are hidden from view (for example wall insulation).  The assessor is not allowed to disturb the fabric of the building.  The calculations always default to the lowest levels dependant on the amount of access internally and externally of a property.

RdSAP isn’t appropriate for new dwellings.  If a property is a new build dwelling, the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) is used to comply with building regulations in relation to energy efficiency.  It requires knowledge of building materials that may not be able to be seen after the house has been constructed. 

Calculations in recent surveys of houses that have had both the SAP and the RDSAP calculations seem to suggest that the RDSAP system produces very similar results to the full SAP system.

Here at Airedale EPC we use the RdSAP method on all our domestic energy assessments complying to UK guidelines.

An EPC is usually 4 pages long.  It is designed to provide useful information.  It includes:

An energy efficiency rating between A and G, A being most efficient,

Estimated energy costs and savings averaged over a three year period,

The top three energy efficiency recommendations, their typical cost and savings they would provide,

A full list of cost effective recommendations for the dwelling, their indicative cost, typical savings, and whether they can be financed under the Green Deal,

A list of energy efficiency measures alternatives that would improve the rating based on the recorded data, and their cost savings,

Green Deal information,

More in depth Green Deal information, and how financing works,

The Green Deal package listing all the recommendations that could be funded,

A summary of recorded building components,

Energy assessor details including contact number, and accreditation number,

Environmental Impact Rating, the rating of the carbon emissions of the dwelling, similar to the A to G energy efficiency rating,

If selling a property, there is no statutory requirement to carry out the recommended improvements. 

If you are renting a property there are now minimum standards of energy efficiency that you must meet.

Airedale EPC has track record of successfully lodging EPCs for sellers and landlords.  Our knowledge of all aspects of this process ensures a fully professional EPC.

The landlord is responsible for arranging and providing an EPC free of charge to the prospective tenant, interested parties, or buyer.

As of 2016 landlords of privately rented domestic and commercial properties must now meet The Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property)(England and Wales) Regulations 2015 new Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES).

This was introduced by government to improve the standards of energy efficiency of privately rented buildings. Its aim is to reduce CO2 emissions in accordance with UK targets for decarbonisation.

From 1st April 2018, phase one of the MEES regulations came into force.  This had big implications for landlords of private rented property.

It is now unlawful to let properties with an EPC rating below an ‘E’.

If you are a landlord or letting agent in need of an EPC, look no further than Airedale EPC to provide it for you, we are able to provide a quick turnaround where necessary, allowing to comply with the UK guidelines, keep your tenants happy, and maximise income.

Estate agents or other third parties are responsible for ensuring an EPC has been produced if they are marketing a domestic property for sale or rent.  Advertisements in commercial media must include the property energy rating where available.

If you are an estate agent in need of an EPC, look no further than Airedale EPC.  We are able to provide a quick turnaround where necessary, enabling you to comply with the UK guidelines, keep your customers happy, and with competitive rates and agreements available for ongoing work, minimise your costs.

As per European Union legislation, EPCs are valid for ten years. 

During that time period they can used as many times as required. 

When there is a change of tenant for a rental property, a new EPC is not needed if within the ten years since the last one, unless notable changes to the building thermal efficiency have been carried out.

The same applies for a property for sale. 

Where there is more than one EPC, the most recent one is valid and should be produced.

In both the private and social rental sector, if the tenancy of a property was started before 1^st October 2008, and continues to be occupied, an EPC is not required.  Landlords may still consider arranging an EPC.

Failure to do so can result in a fine.

No, an EPC is only required to a dwelling with its own entrance door, either from outside or via a communal area, if it is self-contained, i.e.: it doesn’t share a bathroom, shower room, WC or kitchen with any other dwelling.

Yes, an On-Construction EPC is needed for new build dwellings.  This applies for both domestic and commercial properties. 

At Airedale EPC, we specialise in domestic energy assessments of exiting domestic dwellings.  If you have the responsibility to produce an EPC for a new build domestic property, or, a commercial property, search on one of the energy assessor accreditation websites, or the EPC Register online.

When construction is complete, it is the responsibility of the person, company or organisation carrying out the work to supply the new property owner with an EPC and recommendation report.  It is also their responsibility to notify the local authority area building control department.  Building control will not issue a certificate of completion until they are satisfied this has been done.

Depending on the local authority area where your new building is located, the rules and regulations may differ.  This makes it important to appoint an accredited assessor to advise you on regional conventions for compliance.  It is important to contact an assessor as early as possible in the design process, to identify any potential issues saving you money. 

When seeking to acquire a Commercial New Build EPC, SBEM calculations are used to complete energy assessments for the production of the required New Build/on construction Energy Performance Certificate.

At Airedale EPC, we specialise in domestic energy assessments of exiting domestic dwellings.  If you have the responsibility to produce an EPC for an existing commercial property with a floor area of over 250m2, search on one of the energy assessor accreditation websites, or the EPC Register online.

No, EPCs cannot be amended once lodged.  If a property has been modified a new EPC should be produced. 

However, if any modifications are done under the Green Deal, a new energy assessment is not required provided that evidence that the work has been done is available.

No.  Where a tenant sub-lets a dwelling, the responsibility to provide an EPC to the sub-leaseholder is the tenants.

Yes.

Yes in all cases.

No.  The first equity purchase of the dwelling creates a trigger for an EPC to be produced.  The purchase of any subsequent equity does not.

If you are an owner, landlord, or even a seller, then yes, a full SAP EPC is required to be arranged and produced by the person carrying out the modification works to meet building control requirements. 

Modification works can be defined as: internal refurbishment, change of room use, change of heating system, change of boiler, a new external extension, a new vertical extension, the refurbishment of a void space or loft creating a room-in-a-roof, a new cellar refurbishment creating a habitable room, a refurbishment of a garage to a habitable room, or any external that increase or decrease the energy efficacy of main building components.  Building control will not issue a certificate of completion until this has been done.

If a dwelling for sale or rent has been modified or converted so that it contains more or fewer dwellings, a new EPC is needed for each newly created dwelling.  For example a large terraced property that has been split in two with a new party wall dividing, and two new separate dwellings created.

The new property created must be assigned a UPRN (Unique Property Reference Number) through the Land Registry to enable an EPC to be successfully produced and lodged to the EPC Register.

Buildings for sale or rent that are due to be demolished.

Buildings and monuments protected as part of a designated environment or because of architectural or historic interest.  Where any such energy efficiency measures would unacceptably alter the character and appearance.

Buildings used for religious activities as places of worship.

Temporary buildings with a proposed time of use of two years or less.

Residential buildings with a proposed use of less than four months in a year.

Stand-alone buildings with a total floor area of less than 50m2 that are not dwellings.

EPCs for existing buildings must be produced by an accredited domestic energy assessor.  For new build dwellings by an accredited on-construction domestic energy assessor.

All energy assessors must be accredited with an accreditation scheme.  The accreditation scheme ensures assessors are competent.  Periodic audits are issued to all assessors on domestic energy assessments used to produce EPCs lodged to the EPC Register.

At Airedale EPC all our domestic energy assessors are fully accredited with a great amount of experience in producing EPCs for a varied range of customers.  For a reliable, professional, and competent service, always trust in Airedale EPC to meet your EPC requirements.

Yes, all energy assessors must have a valid DBS check demonstrating they have passed a basic criminal records check.  At Airedale EPC, all our assessors are DBS checked.

The Landmark Information Group website – EPC Register.  Or accreditation scheme websites.  There isn’t a need to register or pay a fee.

Lettings or estate agents may also hold lists of local energy assessors.

What format does an EPC need to be produced to a prospective seller or tenant?

Landlords and sellers can provide an EPC to a prospective seller or tenant either electronically as an email attachment, or by printing a hard copy.

All our domestic energy assessors are fully accredited with a great amount of experience in producing EPCs for a varied range of customers.  For a reliable, professional, and competent service, always trust in Airedale EPC to meet your EPC requirements.

The EPC Register website.  There isn’t a need to register or pay a fee.  Anyone with an EPC can opt out of having their information made public.  It is possible to opt back at any point. 

The local area trading standards is responsible for enforcing the regulations requiring EPCs to be produced.

Trading Standards Officers have powers and authorisation to ensure a seller or landlord produces an EPC and recommendation report if they suspect that an offence has been committed.

An example of Trading Standards intervention would include when a tenant of a rental property complains that an EPC has not been provided to them by their landlord.

A landlord has a right to challenge.  Trading Standards can issue a penalty charge of £200 per dwelling.  The Energy Performance of Buildings Regulations covers all aspects of Enforcement.

The cost per EPC varies.  There is no defined industry standard cost.  It is set by the individual energy assessor, company or consultancy with the capability to provide EPCs.

The cost is based on varying factors including:

Travel time,

Property type,

Detachment,

Size,

Number of bedrooms,

Inputting data recorded,

Successfully gaining access to a dwelling,

Encountering ‘no-access’ properties, and

Modifications to dwellings resulting in the need to create a new UPRN (Unique Property Reference Number),

Lodgement fees. 

A lodgement fee is the cost charged to the energy assessor every time an EPC to the EPC Register using accreditation scheme software.

Lower costs per EPC would be prevaillant in cases where there are larger volumes of work in a smaller geographical area. 

Other factors allowing a lower cost per EPC include if the properties are empty, if there are more than one of the same architype, the size of the dwelling, and the existence of existing recorded data for the same or similar property.

Here at Airedale EPC, we have experience in all of the above circumstances.  We have assessed every conceivable type of property in various locations.  Currently we cover the following areas:   Harrogate, Craven, Bradford, Leeds, Calderdale, Kirklees, Pendle, Burnley, Rossendale and Blackburn.  Our competitive rates ensure less cost incurred on you, while receiving a professional and reliable end product to meet your EPC needs.

No, an EPC is only needed when a new tenancy starts at a property.

Yes, an EPC must be provided as soon as reasonably possible after renting the dwelling.

Where a tenant needs emergency accommodation, landlords are exempt from the requirement to produce and provide an EPC where there currently isn’t a valid certificate and insufficient time to arrange one.  But the EPC must be provided as soon as reasonably possible after the start of the tenancy.

No, an EPC is only required for a habitable dwelling unit if it is self-contained.  Where individual rooms in a building share facilities (i.e.: a Kitchen and/or Bathroom) an EPC is not required. 

An EPC is only required on the rental of a building or part of a building designed or altered to be used separately.  Renting a room does not meet the part of a building definition.

Landlords planning an EPC compliance strategy including housing associations, local authority housing departments or landlords with a large property portfolio for example, should consider the following issues: 

The size of the housing stock property portfolio,

The geographical spread,

The size, architype, existing recorded data or similar or the same properties.  For example a housing estate with properties that are the same architype,

The tenancy turnover of the housing stock,

Data base systems already holding data of housing stock property portfolio,

Stock condition and energy efficiency assessment survey contracts in future,

Other policy and regulatory requirements to visit properties and assess their condition,

The vulnerability of tenants or dwelling occupants potentially preventing access to a dwelling, or access to rooms or building components essential to the energy assessment,

Whether landlord staff are trained and accredited energy assessors, or whether external consultancy or contractors are needed to meet a demand.

Do you have a requirement for consistent numbers of EPCs on your property portfolio on an ongoing basis? Yes, then look no further than Airedale EPC.  With extensive experience in all types of domestic property energy assessments including social and private housing stock, at Airedale EPC you are in safe hands, helping you meet your obligations as a landlord.

Landlords with large volumes of stock generally would benefit from an adopted approach.  Where there is likely to be a need for a specified number of EPCs needed on a weekly basis in order to satisfy landlord obligations, adopting this approach is more cost effective.  Landlords may consider whether to do EPCs in-house , by an external consultant, or by appointing independent local domestic energy assessors.

Where a landlord has a relatively high turnover of tenants, they might consider arranging the production of an EPC in advance of the requirement. 

The proactive approach involves assessing tenanted properties, therefore difficulties in gaining access could mean repeat visits impacting increased costs.

A reactive approach would probably be more cost effective for properties with a low turnover where EPCs are not needed for many years.

Here at Airedale EPC, our experience in handling EPC requirements for landlords with larger volumes of housing stock, means that you can rely on us to provide you with accurate EPCs on a weekly basis to meet your landlord obligations when letting properties to tenants.

Yes, should a landlord with a relatively large volume of property decide to store EPC data on an asset management database, this can be used in future to inform decisions on future planned maintenance programmes in relation to:

Roof and/or loft insulation,

External. Internal and cavity wall insulation,

Floor insulation,

Windows and/or doors, and

Heating source and/or system and/or secondary heating maintenance capital replacement programmes.

Changes of use of unheated unhabitable rooms to habitable,

Room-in-roof habitable room, its insulation type and area,

The main and secondary heating system boilers, fuels and types,

Hot water source and type,

Space cooling,

Mechanical ventilation,

Newer or different extensions, age, component construction type and details as per main building,

Conservatories and sun rooms,

Porches,

Renewable energy installations, i.e.: wind turbine, photovoltaic panels, solar panels.

Here at Airedale EPC, our experience in handling EPC requirements for landlords with larger volumes of housing stock, means that you can rely on us to provide you with accurate EPCs to be fed into your asset database.  This can help you to identify those properties, schemes and estates tin most need of upgrades in future programmes of work.

Usually access to dwelling for energy assessments runs smoothly with cooperation form its occupants.  There are however times when a more sensitive approach may be needed, or where hazard, risk and safety to the assessor is necessary.  Factors to consider for a landlord planning a programme of EPCs to occupied dwellings may include:

The rights and limitations in the lease in relation to access by the landlord, or person acting on their behalf,

Providing adequate notice to tenants in order for access to be granted to a property,

Consideration of whether evening or weekend appointments are more convenient,

If sample energy assessments are required, considering having a large volume of housing stock may help where the dwelling types are the same architype, i.e.: identical.

Maintaining good communications to tenants so they understand the need to gain access,

Where tenants are vulnerable consider special arrangements,

Consideration of whether there is a risk to the assessor due to physical or occupant lifestyle hazards.

Here at Airedale EPC we have vast experience in handling all assignments using a risk assessment based approach to ensure your EPC is lodged in a timely manner.

The accreditation schemes’ code of practise will prevent domestic energy assessors from entering dwellings where unsupervised children under eighteen years of age, vulnerable children under eighteen years of age, and vulnerable adults are present.

Also, a tenant has the right to refuse access, i.e.: an assessor needs the consent of the tenant before entering to carry out an assessment.  In this instance the energy assessor would have to notify the landlord/owner and leave the property.

Detailed guidance on the cost effective production of EPCs for similar dwellings can be found on the www.gov.uk website.

An EPC is required for each dwelling. 

It may be possible to use techniques to reduce the number of dwellings needed to be assessed.  Separate guidance is available for this case.  As dwellings in a block are likely to be almost identical in many cases, it is possible to copy an assessment when creating a new assessment and altering data as required before lodging.

Explain to the new tenant or owner that the EPC was arranged and produced before the improvements were done, and, that the dwellings energy efficiency rating may now have changed.  It is beneficial to commission another EPC after completion of the improvements.

No, an EPC is not needed where a room within a dwelling is rented.  A separate EPC is not required for the rented room.

No, these examples are not rentals, therefore an EPC is not required.

No, an in EPC is not required in this situation.

An EPC is required for a property rented as a holiday let when the building is occupied as a result of a short term letting arrangement and is rented for four months or more in any twelve month period.

An EPC is not required where the property is let under a license to occupy, irrespective of the time it is rented.

No, because they are not buildings.