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What
is a Commercial Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)
From
1st October 2008, it became a legal requirement to provide
a Commercial Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)
with the sales particulars for any commercial property that
is to be marketed for sale or to let in England and Wales.
The
Commercial EPC comes in two parts, the now familiar 'fridge'
style graph and 8 pages of recommendations.
The EPC rates the energy efficiency of the building by applying
zoning methods to calculate the energy efficiency of the building
and estimating how much carbon dioxide escapes into the atmosphere.
It will give each property (or part of a property) a rating
from A-G.
Unlike
the EPC software used for residential property, the Commercial
EPC software makes many fewer assumptions,
so the Commercial Energy Assessor has to collect much more
data and comment on the fabric of the building and the services
in much more detail. The Commercial Energy Assessor has to
be more qualified and skilled and the whole energy assessment
process takes significantly longer. The result being that
the Commercial EPC is significantly more expensive than its
residential counterpart.
My fees range from £179 per property, depending on the
size, complexity and heating and cooling facilities of the
building.
The
Commercial EPC can only be carried out by a qualified Commercial
Energy Assessor.
What
does an Energy Performance Certificate contain ?
Commercial EPC's provide
an energy rating on the performance of a
property based on it's current performance and services
such as heating, ventilation, air conditioning and lighting.
An EPC is effectively a certificate that shows the
current energy rating of the property, A+ (highest) to
G (lowest)
along with a numerical value.
It also shows the total useful floor area, address of
property, name
and address of the Energy Assessor and the date it was
issued with a registered reference number.
The Certificate will be complimented by a Recommendations
report
advising how the building's efficiency grading may be
improved. As a
building becomes more energy efficient, significant cost
savings can
be made as the amount of fuel and power required to keep
the building operational is reduced. With ever increasing
gas and electricity prices,
many companies will see an EPC and subsequent recommendations
report as an opportunity to reduce the running costs associated
with
their buildings and thus increase their bottom line, especially
where
businesses occupy multiple sites.
Recommendations are split into three categories of short,
medium
and long-term payback appropriate for the building that
has been
assessed. Examples of recommendations may be as simple
as
installing energy efficient lighting, through to upgrading
out of date
(inefficient) plant such as boilers and air conditioning
systems.
There is currently no legal requirement to implement these
recommendations. However, this may change in the future
as the
UK seeks to further reduce its carbon emissions.
The purpose of the EPC is intended to inform new buyers
or tenants
of a building about the energy performance of a building
so they can
consider energy efficiency as part of their investment/business
decision
to occupy that building.
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Who
is responsible for obtaining an EPC?
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This
is either 'the seller' when a building is being sold
or 'the landlord' when a building is being rented out.
The regulations apply
where the written particulars are made available to
any potential purchaser or tenant. The person giving
the sales particulars must ensure
that they include an asset rating of the building or
attach an EPC to the sales particulars.
Failure to provide an EPC can result in a fine of 12.5%
of the rateable value of the building up to a maximum
of £5,000.
Enforcement is carried out by local Trading Standards
departments.
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How
long are EPC's valid ?
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The
EPC is valid for 10 years unless major modifications
have been carried out to the property in that time period.
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Who
can provide an EPC and what do they do?
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An
EPC can only be carried out by a qualified Energy Assessor.
An energy assessor has to attend specific training,
pass exams and carry out numerous monitored energy reports
before he/she is accepted on a government
approved accreditation scheme. This normally takes about
6 - 12 months in total.
A level 3 assessor is qualified to provide EPC's
for an estimated 75% of commercial properties
in England and Wales. Generally covering properties
that are naturally ventilated,
with a heating system up to 70kW and / or a cooling
system up to 12kW. Generally this covers most
high street retail outlets, offices and light industrial
units.
A level 4 assessor can carry out EPC's on properties
(inc new build) with a more complex heating or
cooling system, typically air conditioning.
Highly complex building such as shopping centres with
say an atrium etc. can only be carried out by a level
5 assessor.
The commercial energy assessor works with a standard
government software system that is referred to as SBEM.
This is a much more complex system than the one used
for generating EPCs for existing residential properties,
which is a reduced data SAP system. The energy assessor
will record and assess the thermal efficiency of the
fabric of the
building the walls, roof, floors, windows, etc; and
all the services including heating, lighting, cooling,
ventilation, type of switches, etc.
The building is zoned in some detail based on activity
and energy usage of that zone. This data is then entered
into the software and the
final assessment is made. A number of recommendations
will be generated to which the assessor may add some
of their own. The main
cost of the commercial EPC reflects the level of skill
and knowledge of the commercial energy assessor (who
needs significant property
knowledge before commencing the course) and the time
it takes to record all the relevant data and input it
into the software to obtain the EPC.
This will rarely take less than a day.
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Are
any buildings exempt from having an EPC?
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In
theory buildings do not need an EPC if they have no
heating, mechanical ventilation or air-conditioning.
So if a buildings only power is used for light and hot
water an EPC should not be necessary. Also, no EPC is
required for
a sale of shares in a company where buildings remain
in company ownership.
The following are also exempt: places of worship, buildings
that are intended to exist for less than two years,
agricultural buildings
and some basic workshops with low energy demands. Also
detached buildings of less than 50 sq m (550 sq ft)
are exempt.
Finally where it can be demonstrated that a building
is suitable for demolition or redevelopment it could
be exempt.
In this instance the property should have appropriate
planning consents etc or the seller has reasonable grounds
to believe
that a prospective buyer intends to demolish the building.
A commercial EPC will not be required for a lease renewal
or a lease extension or surrender or under a compulsory
purchase order. 'i.e. transactions that do not involve
a new owner or tenant may not require an EPC'.
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What
about shops with residential above?
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If the residence is self-contained then a separate domestic
EPC is required for the flat.
If it is not self-contained then it will be included
in the commercial EPC for the shop.
I can also supply Domestic EPC's from only £59
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Why are Commercial EPC's necessary?
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Greenhouse gases contribute to global temperatures through
the greenhouse effect. Greenhouse gases are produced
by
many natural and industrial processes. Current levels
of CO2 are approximately 25% higher than during pre-industrial
times,
when direct human influence was negligible. There is
a general view that it may get a bit too hot on the
planet to sustain human life!
The
greenhouse gas caused by human activity is predominately
carbon dioxide. It is estimated that 50% of all UK
carbon emissions
come from UK property. Commercial property (or non-domestic
as the government refers to it) accounts for just
under one fifth or 20%.
The
UK Government has agreed with The European Union Energy
Performance of Buildings Directive to promote the
improvement
of energy performance of buildings within the Community.
Each EU member state is required to transpose the
Directive into law by the beginning
of 2006 with a further three years being allowed for
full implementation of specific articles. This gives
the UK until the beginning of 2009.
The
UK Government has established its commitment to addressing
climate change through legal instruments. These include
the Kyoto Protocol,
Energy White Paper, Building Regulations and Sustainable
Development Strategy. The Energy Performance of Buildings
Directive is another
implemented in line with these commitments and is
where EPC's come in.
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©
Gary Hilton Dip DEA, Dip NDEA
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