Why do I need a Commercial EPC?
If you are renting, selling or commissioning a new building you have to have an EPC – it is a legal requirement. Once you have have one, it will be valid for 10 years, unless there is a material change to the building, for example: there is a change of use, there are significant changes to the fabric of the building, significant extensions to the property and /or changes to the provision of fixed services then a new EPC will have to be produced. Also, if there are modifications to the existing premises after the original transaction date, for example the building has had new building services installed, then a new EPC should be produced. This gives the prospective buyer or tenant the most updated information on energy efficiency of the property.
How is the Commercial EPC carried out?
To start this process one of our qualified assessors would need to visit the property and carry out a physical inspection of all the key parts, which include the building fabric, lighting and business services, whilst taking into account any changes that have happened to the building over time. During the visit, the assessor will determine the various operations for differing parts of the property (zones) and then calculate the dimensions for all those zones. All the measurements from the zones are separately recorded in the software and when added up at the end should be equal to the total size (m2) of the building.
Sometimes the information about the building adaptations may not be obvious to our team when they are onsite inspecting the property and additional information maybe sought from the person commissioning the EPC. Typical information that maybe asked to provide additional clarification on:
- Information on various extensions and alterations and when they were completed,
- Serial numbers for heating, mechanical ventilation and cooling systems,
- Information on renewables.
If the information is not provided and cannot be evidenced, then the assessor is obliged to revert to ‘default’ values, which will suppress the rating (make it lower) on the final report. However if supplementary and adequate information is provided, then the assessor will be able to override those values and help produce an EPC with a better score.
Our team of assessors like to keep a close relationship with the customer, and would send the customer a first draft of the report before the final copy is lodged onto the database. This means there is time to explain to the customer how the value has been calculated and for any outstanding points to be closed off.
