Are you the owner or occupier of commercial premises? Are you required to commission and display an Energy Performance Certificate? Do you know what your duties are? Our short guide below will help:
What is an Energy Performance Certificate (“EPC”)?
An EPC contains:
• information about a property’s energy use and typical energy costs
• recommendations about how to reduce energy use and save money
An EPC gives a property an energy efficiency rating from A (most efficient) to G (least efficient). It is valid for 10 years.
When do you need an EPC?
As a general rule, you need an EPC whenever you lease, sell or build any residential and commercial premises with more than 50 square metres of floor area – this includes most restaurants, hotels, bars and shops.
You must also obtain an EPC after completing any construction work on a building or where you have made changes such as the installation or extension of air conditioning / mechanical ventilation systems.
If you intend selling or leasing multiple units within a building, you must obtain an individual EPC for each self-contained unit unless the occupants share core facilities such as kitchens and bathrooms. Adjoining properties, for example residential properties above shops, restaurants etc. may require a separate EPC.
Duty to provide an EPC
It is the building owner’s responsibility to provide an EPC as soon as a building is in the process of being offered for sale or let.
If you have bought or taken a lease of premises since October 2008, you should have received an EPC from your seller or landlord before completion. There is no need to commission another EPC unless there has been a material change to the building which has altered the building’s energy efficiency. An EPC is valid for 10 years, but on its expiry you do not need to commission a new one until the property is next sold or leased.
If there is no EPC for your property and you are planning to sell or let out all or part of the property, you should instruct an accredited Non-Domestic Energy Assessor to carry out an energy efficiency inspection and produce the EPC on your behalf. This will cost approximately £60 to £300, depending on the building’s complexity. The Energy Assessor will rank the energy performance of the building on a scale from A to G and recommend what measures could be taken to improve this rating. Owners are not required to act on the recommendations.
Duty to display an EPC
For commercial buildings that are frequently visited by members of the public and have floor area of more than 500 square metres, the EPC (if one exists) must be clearly displayed in a prominent place. Note that this requirement to display only applies to buildings where an EPC is already available – there is no obligation to commission an EPC specially.
The EPC may be displayed by the building’s owner, tenant or the managing agent.
Penalties
From 6 April 2014, an owner and/or occupier of a commercial building can receive a £500 penalty charge for failing to display a valid EPC.
Also, if you are considering selling or leasing your premises, there is now a £200 penalty for failing to include the property’s energy performance rating in the sale or lease particulars.
You can appeal against these penalties in the county court but such an appeal must be made within 28 days.
Action:
- Obtain an EPC before advertising your property for sale or letting
- Display the EPC in a place that is clearly visible to the general public
- Ensure employees know where it is displayed, so that they can respond to any Trading Standards Officer’s visit
- To maximise the marketability of your property, consider carrying out any suggested energy efficiency improvements
If you are unsure about your responsibilities or you require further assistance, please contact Kathryn Gilbertson or Charlotte Murray on 01733 887700.
May 2014
Greenwoods Solicitors LLP
Monkstone House, City Road, Peterborough PE1 1JE, 01733 887700
4 King’s Bench Walk, Temple, London, EC4Y 7DL, 020 7822 8840
Trinity House, Cambridge Business Park, Cambridge CB4 0WZ, 01223 393518