When you are selling or renting your property, you, as the seller or landlord must provide the EPC. The certificate should be given to the prospective buyer or tenant prior to entering into a sale or lease agreement.

The householder will have to pay for this survey and we offer extremely competitive prices.

The survey is entirely non-invasive as the information provided to the assessor is given directly from the householder.

An EPC has been a legal requirement since 2008 for any property, whether commercial or domestic, that is to be sold or let. Since April 2012, legislation has been set in place that makes it illegal to also market a property without a valid EPC and the responsibility is now jointly shared with Landlord/Property owner and Estate or Letting Agent to ensure the property has a valid EPC before being put up for market.

While an EPC is a legal requirement there are many reasons why it is essential to have one from reducing you carbon footprint to saving money on your energy bills.

It’s a legal requirement to have an EPC on any property for sale or rent, if you don’t have one, you could receive a fine. The maximum penalties amounts apply per property and per breach of the Regulations.

Penalties are:

• up to £2,000 and/or publication penalty for renting out a non-compliant property for less than 3 months
• up to £4,000 and/or publication penalty for renting out a non-compliant property for 3 months or more
• up to £1,000 and/or publication for providing false or misleading information on the PRS Exemptions Register
• up to £2,000 and/or publication for failure to comply with a compliance notice

The maximum amount you can be fined per property is £5,000 in total.

If an EPC is not ready for review when required, the builder or owner will incur a penalty of 12.5% of the value of the property (minimum of £500 to a maximum of £5,000). If this formula cannot yet be applied, the penalty defaults to a fee of £750, with an EPC required for purchase in the immediate future.

A standard Energy Performance Certificate lasts for 10 years from the issue date and can be used whenever required within that time frame.

Our Domestic Energy Assessor will carry out a number of checks on your property, taking into account heating, lighting & dimensions throughout the building to identify areas where heat may be lost, through windows, ceilings and walls for example.

The property will be inspected to give an indication of how much it will cost to power and heat your home. The EPC also identifies the amount you could potentially save should you improve the energy efficiency of the household running costs as outlined within the Certificate.

Once completed, the data is recorded on a property datasheet and the EPC is produced. The Certificate is then sent to the agent and/or property owner, logged with Landmark Registry and stored with all copies of Certificates with the government portal.

We’re available office hours of 9-5pm Monday to Friday, but offer an out of hour’s service to 7pm on Wednesday’s – because we know it’s sometimes difficult for clients to be at home during the day. We can usually agree a mutually convenient time to carry out the assessment within a day or two of your order.

The assessor will need to draw floor plans of the property, take dimensions & record data from your heating & lighting systems etc. We will also need access to your loft area (where possible).

Please could you ensure you have any documentation to hand, for any insulation or building work you have had done on the property.

The EPC assessment usually takes between 45 minutes and an hour to complete, but larger or irregular shaped properties can take longer.

We cover most of England & Wales, please get in touch for a free no obligation quote using our order form or by giving us a call on 07597 338 040 / email info@westcumriaepc.com

You can easily place an order for the EPC using our order form or by giving us a call on 07597 338 040

Once you have completed your order enquiry, one of our local Energy Assessors will then contact you, normally within 1 working day to discuss your order and to arrange a convenient date and time for the inspection. When your order has been confirmed, you will receive an order confirmation/invoice via email (please check you spam folders) where you will be able to pay for your EPC by bank transfer or if you prefer, cash on the day of the assessment. This must be paid for in advance of the inspection or on the inspection day at the latest.

Once our Energy Assessor has visited the property you will have your report completed normally within 48 hours of the property being assessed. We will email or post your completed EPC report depending on your preference. A copy will also be placed on the governments EPC Register.

A commercial Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rates how energy efficient a commercial premise is on a scale of A-G, with A being the most energy efficient and G inefficient. Energy efficiency is measured by total carbon emissions that a commercial premise produces. These ratings give an indication of the costs of powering the property and how high its carbon emissions may reach. It is a different certificate than one that is produced for domestic properties.

If you’re looking to sell, rent or build a commercial property, then you’ll need a commercial EPC.

There are exceptions to when an EPC is not required:

• If a building is to be demolished.
• Temporary buildings with less than two years of usage.
• An entirely detached building with a total useful floor area of less than 50m2, and not a dwelling.
• Places of worship.
• Industrial sites, workshops and non-residential agricultural buildings with low energy demand.

Landlords (the business owner of the property) are responsible for ensuring a commercial EPC is in place and not the tenant or buyer, and will pay for its completion.

In addition to the legal requirements, understanding the energy performance of commercial premises allows landlords / tenants to gauge how much their utility costs may be.

A Commercial EPC is valid for 10 years.

Yes, for buildings that qualify, having and displaying an EPC is a legal requirement for qualifying businesses in the UK.

If a building is designed or restructured for use as a type of campus, where there are multiple buildings with different functions that perform individual activities, or separate accommodation (multiple hotels in one building for example), each commercial entity within the building, or each part of the building may require its own EPC. Whether such a commercial building requires a single or multiple EPC depends on the type of heating system they use, or on future plans for the property.

When a property owner intends to sell or rent out an entire building, a single EPC may be obtained for the whole building; however, separate heating systems within one building require multiple EPCs, including communal areas. The exception to this is if a building owner sells or rents only part of a building which shares a common heating system with the rest of the building. In this case, one EPC is sufficient for the whole building or each designated area, and common areas may be ignored.

A building with separate parts and separate heating systems will need a single EPC for each part being offered for sale or rent. There must also be an EPC for conditioned communal areas or the property owner can request one for the whole building.

When a self-contained residential space is only accessible via the commercial property, such as in the case of apartment complexes, a domestic EPC will be required in addition to a commercial EPC.

If a commercial building with a floor area greater than 500 square metres is regularly accessed by the public, it is mandatory to display the EPC in a noticeable location so it’s easily visible to visitors. Failure to do so can result in a £500 fine.

Starting from April 1st, 2023, Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) require that commercial landlords in England and Wales must ensure that both new and existing lettings have an EPC rating of E or higher. You will not be allowed to let a commercial property with an EPC rating of F or G, even if the lease was granted prior to the new MEES regulations.

Previously the minimum EPC rating was just for new leases and did not apply to existing leases. Now landlords will be prohibited from continuing with an existing tenancy if the EPC rating is below an E ranking. As per the current roadmap, a C rating will be mandatory by 2027, and a minimum rating of B will be required starting from 2030.

If your EPC rating is below E or the subsequent future minimum requirements you will want to be prompt in upgrading your commercial properties’ energy rating. There may be significant consumption reducing strategies you will need to perform and these can incur costs and it would be wise to budget accordingly. There are many options available for commercial premises to improve their EPC ratings on site and support is available from the government with loans, grants and other subsidised energy saving methods.

An EPC assessment is carried out by a qualified energy assessor who will inspect the property and gather information about its construction, insulation, heating, and lighting systems.

During the assessment, the energy assessor will take measurements and gather data on various aspects of the building, such as the type and thickness of insulation, the age and efficiency of the heating system, and the type of windows and doors. They will also consider factors such as the building’s orientation, its use of renewable energy sources, and the amount of ventilation.

Once all the necessary information has been collected, the energy assessor will use specialized software to calculate the building’s energy efficiency rating and produce an Energy Performance Certificate.

You can easily place an order for the EPC using our order form or by giving us a call on 07597 338 040 / email info@westcumriaepc.com