My name is Dave Spernaes and I have a company called E Pack and I specialise in providing energy performance certificates EPC's to lawyers estate and letting agents landlords and to the general public.
Talking to clients I have found much confusion surrounding recent changes in legislation surrounding EPC's with the suspension of HIP's and many people including lawyers were unsure whether EPC's were still needed and if so under what circumstances' were they needed.
Under current rules an EPC has to be ordered from a qualified and accredited domestic energy assessor DEA before a property is marketed for sale or rent.
The EPC must be completed and available for inspection within 28 days and has a lifespan of 10 years
There is a £200 fine for non compliance and it is currently policed by trading standards
The survey itself involves
taking a measurement of the area of the property
glazing type and age
assess the presence of loft, cavity wall, external and/or internal wall insulate (in the case of loft insulate the amount is measured)
floor construction type
boiler systems
6 accreditation bodies are licensed by the UK government and all DEA's are required to accredit with at least one of these bodies involves ensuring that the DEA is a able to carry out the role of DEA.
to accredit a DEA must be CRB checked every 2 years and be qualified to at least a level 3 diploma in domestic energy assessment and as part of the accreditation agreement the DEA is also audited on a regular basis.
EPC's were created as a result of a European directive which is effectively a European law called the energy performance of buildings directive so effectively all properties in the EU have to have some sort of energy rating
The governments of Europe have various targets for tackling climate change and building account for around 30% of carbon emissions.
The EPC is ever developing and the current coalition government have plans to link it to the new green energy bill where an interest free loan for energy saving improvements is available from the government and is paid back though utility bill savings.
My personal prediction is that the EPC COULD partly determine council tax rates
