Since 1 October 2008 all commercial buildings will require an EPC on sale, rental or upon construction 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, or until a newer EPC is prepared.
The certificate records how energy efficient a property is as a building and provides A-G ratings. These are similar to the labels now provided with domestic appliances such as refrigerators and washing machines.
They are produced using standard methods and assumptions about energy usage so that the energy efficiency of one building can easily be compared with another building of the same type. This allows prospective buyers, tenants, owners, occupiers and purchasers to see information on the energy efficiency and carbon emissions from their building so they can consider energy efficiency and fuel costs as part of their investment.
An EPC is always accompanied by a recommendation report that lists cost effective and other measures (such as low and zero carbon generating systems) to improve the energy rating. Each recommendation is assessed against the potential impact over three payback periods in addition to other measures based on an understanding of the building and indicates whether the impact is High, Medium or Low.
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 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
As 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