Commercial Energy Performance Certificates

Energy performance certificates (EPCs) 

are now legally required for business and commercial buildings when the properties are newly built, sold or leased.

Businesses that need a Commercial EPC may include:

Commercial Property (Offices, Storage Units)Hotels and Bed and Breakfasts B&BsIndustrial Units and WarehousesShops and Retail UnitsRestaurants (Chinese Restaurants, Indian Restaurants)Takeaway Food Outlets (Chip Shop, Pizza, Kebab, Coffee Shop, Cafeteria)Pubs or Public HousesRental Property

Commercial EPCs

Certain buildings are legally required to display a Display Energy Certificate DEC.

These are buildings that are occupied or part occupied either by a public authority or an institution, that provides a public service, and expect to be visited by a large numbers of the public and with a total useful floor area greater than 1000m2.

An Energy Assessor, accredited to produce display energy certificates for that type of building, is the only person who can produce a DEC and Advisory Report for your building. They will use the approved calculation method for Operational Ratings to calculate the required figures.

Display Energy Certificates

Commercial EPCs 

Energy Performance Certificates are documents which will provide an energy rating for a building. Similar Energy Performance Certificates can be found on vehicles and domestic appliances etc. You will need an EPC whenever a building or part of a building is constructed, sold or let. It will provide valuable information for potential purchasers and the tenants on the energy performance and efficiency of the building. It is accompanied by recommendations which will provide information on how to upgrade the energy performance and the payback period for carrying out any such improvements.

From the 1st October 2008 all buildings that are not residential dwellings require an EPC upon construction, sale or letting and prior to marketing by agents. A lease assignment is considered to be a sale or let and so the same applies. It is clear that it is the responsibility of the seller/landlord to see that there is an EPC in place. Furthermore it is their responsibility to see that any agent acting upon their behalf is correctly complying with the regulations. An EPC is also required when buildings over 1,000sq.m are substantially modified of when any building undergoes a change of use. The EPC must be produced by an accredited energy assessor who is a member of a Government approved accreditation scheme and who has visited the premises.

Commercial EPCs

Regions covered: Northern England: Cleveland, Cumbria, Durham, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear. Yorkshire and Humberside: Humberside, North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire. East Midlands: Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire. East Anglia: Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk. South East: Greater London, Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Essex, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey, West Sussex. South West: Avon, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Wiltshire. West Midlands: Hereford and Worcestershire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands. North West: Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside Wales: Clwyd, Dyfed, Gwent, Gwynedd, Mid Glamorgan, Powys, South Glamorgan, West Glamorgan. Scotland: Grampian, Tayside, Fife, Lothian, Central, Borders, Strathclyde, Clydeside, Dumfries and Galloway, Highlands.

Towns covered: North: Manchester, Yorkshire, Tyneside, Liverpool, Sheffield, Leeds, Teesside, Birkenhead, Hull, Bradford, Preston, Blackpool, Newcastle upon Tyne. Midlands: Birmingham, Nottingham, Leicester, Coventry, Stoke-on-Trent, Wolverhampton, Derby, Northampton, Dudley. South East: London, Brighton, Portsmouth, Reading, Croydon, Barnet, Southampton, Ealing, Bromley, Enfield, Southend, Lambeth, Brent, Wandsworth, Lewisham, Newham, Southwark, Aldershot, Hillingdon, Redbridge, Luton, Havering, Greenwich, Waltham Forest, Haringey, Hounslow, Bexley, Harrow, Hackney, Camden, Tower Hamlets, Merton, Luton, Milton Keynes. South West: Bristol, Plymouth, Bournemouth, Swindon, Poole, Gloucester, Torbay, Exeter, Cheltenham, Bath, Weston-Super-Mare, Torquay, Kingswood, Taunton, Weymouth, Paignton, Stroud, Salisbury, Yeovil. Wales: Cardiff, Swansea, Newport, Pontypool, Islwyn, Prestatyn, Rhondda, Barry, Cwmbran, Llanelli, Neath, Pontypridd, Wrexham. Scotland: Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee, Falkirk, Paisley, East Kilbride, Greenock, Blantyre, Ayr, Livingston, Cumbernauld, Hamilton, Kirkcaldy, Dumbarton, Stirling, Glenrothes, Inverness, Kilmarnock, Perth, Coatbridge, Dunfermline, Dalkeith, Irvine.