An air conditioning inspection report must be produced by an accredited energy assessor. The energy assessor must make a copy of the air conditioning inspection report available to the building owner or manager, as soon as practicable after the inspection date, but only after the air conditioning inspection report has been lodged on the register. The energy assessor may also make a copy of the air conditioning inspection report available to the accreditation scheme of which they are a member.
All energy assessors must be a member of an accreditation scheme. To check that an energy assessor is a member of an accreditation scheme a search facility is available on the register website. If a person does not have access to the internet, they can ask the energy assessor for the name of the accreditation scheme of which they are a member and for their membership number. This information will enable the building owner or manager to confirm with the accreditation scheme that the energy assessor is accredited and fit and proper to practice as an air conditioning energy assessor.
From 6 April 2012, it became a statutory requirement for the energy assessor to lodge all air conditioning inspection reports on the register. To be valid, any air conditioning inspection report produced on or after this date must be lodged on the register. When an air conditioning inspection report is lodged it will be allocated a unique report reference number. Air conditioning inspection reports produced before 6 April 2012 may have been lodged on the register on a voluntary basis. However, there is no statutory requirement for a valid air conditioning inspection report, produced before this date, to be lodged on the register retrospectively.
Statutory lodgement was introduced to protect the consumer and to ensure that only accredited energy assessors can undertake inspections and prepare subsequent reports. Statutory lodgement enables the building owner or manager to verify the identity of the energy assessor and for accreditation schemes to monitor the standard of the air conditioning inspection reports which have been produced. Statutory lodgement also enables lost and mislaid air conditioning inspection reports to be replaced easily at no additional cost to the building owner or manager.
The building owner or manager will be able to check the validity of the air conditioning inspection report by accessing an online copy of the air conditioning inspection report. A copy of the air conditioning inspection report can be downloaded from the register website using the report reference number.
An air conditioning inspection report can also be downloaded from the register website using the building address, if the report reference number has been mislaid, unless the building owner has ‘opted out’ of making the report available in this way.
Complaints
Complaints about the availability or quality of an air conditioning inspection report or about an energy assessor who produced the air conditioning inspection report should be directed to the following:
Failure to secure an air conditioning inspection report: for complaints regarding the availability of an air conditioning inspection report, you should contact the building occupier or an authorised officer of the Local Weights and Measures Authority (usually a Trading Standards Officer). Trading Standards have the power to act on your complaint.
Quality or accuracy of the air conditioning inspection report and the recommendations: for complaints regarding the quality or accuracy of the air conditioning inspection report, in the first instance, you should contact the energy assessor who produced the air conditioning inspection report. If the assessor is no longer practising, or you are not satisfied with the response you have received, you should contact the accreditation scheme of the energy assessor who produced the air conditioning inspection report. Contact details of both the energy assessor and accreditation scheme can be found on the air conditioning inspection report.
Complaints regarding an energy assessor or any aspects of the assessment process: for complaints regarding the energy assessor or the assessment process you should contact, in the first instance, the energy assessor who produced the air conditioning inspection report. If the energy assessor is no longer practising, or you are not satisfied with the response you have received, you should contact the accreditation scheme of the energy assessor who produced the air conditioning inspection report. Contact details of both the energy assessor and accreditation scheme can be found on the air conditioning inspection report.
The accreditation scheme must investigate the complaint and where necessary, provide the appropriate redress. Where it is found that the information on the air conditioning inspection report is wrong, a new air conditioning inspection report must be provided and the inaccurate air conditioning inspection report cancelled on the register. This procedure should be followed at no cost to the complainant. If a complaint cannot be resolved satisfactorily, the accreditation scheme will refer the matter to an independent third party for adjudication.
If the building owner or manager suspects that the air conditioning inspection report has been produced fraudulently, then the matter should be referred to the police.