commercial epc’s

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This is a new legislation as a direct result of a European Directive.

RitchieLambor are a substantial provider of Commercial Energy Performance Certificates in Sussex.

We set out hereunder information concerning the new legislation.

An Energy Performance Certificate is only required when a building is constructed, sold or rented out.

It is the responsibility of the person selling or renting a building to have a valid EPC to show to prospective buyers and tenants. The EPC must be given to the eventual buyer or tenant.

The certificate is valid for ten years.

For a building to fall within the requirement for an EPC it must: Have a roof and walls and use energy to condition the indoor climate (i.e. has heating, air conditioning or mechanical ventilation) then you will require an EPC.

A building can either be the whole building or part of a building designed or altered to be used separately.

The sale and let of commercial buildings can be complex with floors let to different tenants, and with a mixture of retail, office and residential accommodation. The EPC required for any space you offer for sale or let must reflect the accommodation on offer.

Selling or letting a building as a whole
You can prepare an EPC for the whole building, even if that building has parts designed or altered to be used separately with separate heating systems.

Selling or letting part of building, where the building has a common heating system
If a building has a common heating system, then the seller or prospective landlord can prepare (or make available) an EPC for the whole building or for a part designed or altered to be used separately. The EPC will be based on the energy consumption of the building apportioned in relation to the area of the accommodation being offered.

Buildings with separate parts and separate heating systems
An EPC should be prepared (or made available) for each part of a building that is being offered separately for sale or let. The EPC should reflect the services in those part(s) being offered for sale or let and will include a portion of the energy consumption of any common areas that exist solely or mainly for access to the part.

Residential accommodation
Any separate residential accommodation that is self-contained will require its own EPC (using SAP or RdSAP as appropriate). Residential space that can only be accessed via commercial premises (i.e. a house with a shop in a downstairs room or a shop with accommodation where the access is through the shop) will be assessed with the commercial premises as a single building (where SBEM is more appropriate).

Modifications to a building
If a building is modified to have more or less parts that are designed or altered to be used separately and the modification includes the provision or extension of heating, hot water, air conditioning or mechanical ventilation then an EPC for the building must be provided on completion of the work.

Buildings which don't need an EPC
EPCs are not required before the construction of a building is completed. Nor are they required on the sale, rent or construction of:

• Places of worship
• temporary buildings with a planned time of use is less than two years
• stand alone buildings with a total useful floor area of less than 50m2 that are not dwellings
• industrial sites, workshops and non-residential agricultural buildings with low energy demand

The purpose of EPCs is to enable potential buyers or tenants to consider energy performance of a building as part of their investment, transactions which do not involve a new owner or tenant may not require an EPC.

Examples might include:

• lease renewals or extensions to existing tenants
• compulsory purchase orders
• lease surrenders

When buildings are to be rented out, the landlord is responsible for ensuring a valid certificate is made available to all prospective tenants.

The certificate is being introduced in stages. Since April 2008 buildings with a total floor area of more than 10,000 sq.m. required one. From 1 July 2008 this will be extended to buildings with a total floor area greater than 2,500 sq. m. From 1 October 2008 all buildings will require one.

The EPC and recommendation report must be made available free of charge by a landlord to a prospective tenant at the earliest opportunity and no later than:

• when any written information about the building is provided in response to a request for information received from the prospective tenant; or
• when a viewing is conducted; or
• if neither of those occur, before entering into a contract to sell or let.

An Energy Performance Certificate does not have to be made available if:

• the landlord believes that the prospective tenant is unlikely to have sufficient funds to purchase or rent the property or is not genuinely interested in renting that type of property; or
• the landlord is unlikely to be prepared to rent out the property to the prospective or tenant (although this does not authorize unlawful discrimination)

The letting of commercial buildings can be complex with floors let to different tenants, and with a mixture of retail, office and residential accommodation. The EPC required for any space you offer for sale or let must reflect the accommodation on offer.

An EPC for rented property is valid for ten years.

The only person who is able to produce an Energy Performance Certificate is an Accredited Energy Assessor.

An Energy Performance Certificate is needed when a building is built.

Energy Performances Certificates tell owners and potential buyers and tenants about the energy efficiency of a building and how it can be improved. They come with a recommendation report which includes advice and suggestions on improvements you could make to save money and energy. The certificate also shows the rating that could be achieved if all the recommendations are followed. In the case of new buildings the recommendation report will be shorter as most money-saving improvements will have already been included in the design.

It is the responsibility of the builder to provide an EPC. This will also apply if a building is converted into fewer or more units and changes are made to the heating, hot water provision or air conditioning/ventilation services.

When the building is physically complete, the builder must obtain an EPC for the building, provide the EPC to the new owner and notify the local authority building control officers or approved inspectors that this has been done. This must be done no later than the time specified by the building regulations. Building Regulations include standards for the energy performance of new buildings which builders must adhere to in order to comply with Building Regulations.

Once building control are satisfied the EPC has been properly produced and provided to the relevant party, they are able to issue a final completion certificate. The only person who is able to produce an Energy Performance Certificate is an Accredited Energy Assessor.

If you are selling a building before it has been built, you will need to provide information about energy efficiency in a Predicted Energy Assessment (PEA). This is simply the predicted SAP and Environmental Impact (CO2) rating from the SAP calculations you do at the design stage to check whether you will meet energy-saving targets. You can use a spreadsheet template to create the graphics from the SAP rating. There is no need for PEAs to be produced by an accredited assessor and they do need to have a recommendation report.

The seller is responsible for ensuring an Energy Performance Certificate is made available to all prospective purchasers at the earliest opportunity.

The Energy Performance Certificate and recommendation report must be made available free of charge by the seller to a prospective buyer at the earliest opportunity and no later than:

• when any written information about the building is provided in response to a request for information received from the prospective buyer; or
• when a viewing is conducted; or
• if neither of those occur, before entering into a contract to sell. An EPC does not have to be made available if:
• the seller believes that the prospective buyer is unlikely to have sufficient funds to purchase the property or is not genuinely interested in buying type of property; or
• the seller is unlikely to be prepared to sell the property to the prospective or tenant (although this does not authorize unlawful discrimination)

The sale and let of commercial buildings can be complex with floors let to different tenants, and with a mixture of retail, office and residential accommodation. The EPC required for any space you offer for sale or let must reflect the accommodation on offer.

EPCs for commercial and public buildings are valid for ten years. The only person who is able to produce an Energy Performance Certificate is an Accredited Energy Assessor.

For more information call Maggie Harris or Craig Ritchie. Tel. 01273 883367