Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) are a requirement of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD). The EPC must be made available to prospective purchasers or tenants, to inform their choice of property. All EPCs must be undertaken by a qualified and accredited assessor – each type of building (newbuild/existing, commercial/domestic etc) requires a different type of assessor. See our other Insight pages for details of other buildings.

EPBD History The Directive became European law on 4 January 2003. EPCs must be made available every time a building is constructed, sold or rented by 4 January 2009 at the latest. A phased approach has been adopted throughout the UK, by CLG and the devolved administrations for Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Regulations The EPBD has been implemented in England and Wales through The Home Information Pack (No.2) Regulations 2007 and The Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007 as amended.

Summary of current requirements In England and Wales, an EPC is now (from 6 April 2008) required for all marketed sales and on construction of all dwellings. A builder’s guide to what is required is available here For guidance from CLG on specific scenarios whether an EPC is required or not, click here.

Existing Properties being marketed for sale will require an RDSAP EPC undertaken by a DEA or HI. This must be included in the Home Information Pack.

Domestic Energy Assessors and Home Inspectors
The number of individuals trained by NHER/SAVA to date is available on our DEA Accreditation Scheme page, and the total for England and Wales is available on the Government's Home Information Pack website. Domestic Energy Assessors and Home Inspectors will be able to undertake RDSAP EPCs in England and Wales. For information on training opportunities, visit our DEA training microsite.

All newbuild properties require a SAP EPC (using SAP 2005), undertaken by an OCDEA (On Construction DEA) - this is effective from 6 April 2008. As for existing properties, this must be included in the HIP. Building Control must also confirm that an EPC has been produced before issuing the completion certificate.

All newbuild properties marketed 'off plan' require a Predicted Energy Assessment (PEA) to be included in the HIP. PEAs will be based on SAP 2005 and can be produced from the same data required for Building Regs approval, for little additional cost. PEAs can be produced by anyone with SAP software. A SAP EPC must replace the PEA in a HIP when the property is completed, in all cases.

Life of EPCs EPCs for marketed sales of new and existing dwellings are valid for 1 year. 

Certification/Accreditation Schemes Home Inspectors and Domestic Energy Assessors must join a Certification Scheme or an Accreditation Scheme respectively, to be able to work. The SAVA Certification Scheme has already registered thousands of reports and the NHER Accreditation Scheme for DEAs has been running successfully since its launch early in 2007. Details of our OCDEA Accrediation Scheme are available here.

What about Scotland?

 EPCs for dwellings will be implemented in Scotland as follows:

• Construction from May 2007
• Points of sale December 2008
• Rental by January 2009

The relevant legislation for marketed sales is the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 which became law on 5 January 2006 - see here for details. A Home Report will be used for this sector including a Single Survey, Energy Report and a Property Questionnaire. The Single Survey and Energy Report can only be carried out by RICS members.

Houses bought under Right to Buy will be exempt from these Regulations but separate regulations under the Housing (Scotland) Act will require better information about the property to be made available.

For model EPCs and the latest from the Scottish Building Standards Agency, see here.

What about Northern Ireland? The EPBD is being implemented jointly by the Department of Finance and Personnel and the Department for Social Development. HIPs will not be a requirement in NI, but EPCs will be produced as stand-alone documents.

Articles 3-6 of the EPBD were implemented through an update to Building Regulations in November 2006. Articles 7-10 are yet to be implemented. The timetable for both dwellings and non-dwellings will be:

• marketed sales 30 June 2008
• newbuild 30 September 2008
• rentals by 30 December 2008

For dwellings, RDSAP will be used, as will the DEA qualification – exactly as England and Wales. For non-dwellings, SBEM and Dynamic Simulation Models will be used. EPCs for all buildings will be lodged with Landmark, as in England and Wales.

Click here and here for more information.

This page will be continually updated to reflect our understanding of the current situation.