{"id":123,"date":"2026-06-04T10:58:32","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T09:58:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sterlingaccreditationltd.uk\/blog\/?p=123"},"modified":"2026-06-04T10:58:42","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T09:58:42","slug":"dec-requirements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sterlingaccreditationltd.uk\/blog\/2026\/06\/04\/dec-requirements\/","title":{"rendered":"DEC requirements"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why DECs are required<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The purpose of introducing DECs is to raise public awareness of energy use and to inform visitors to public buildings about the energy use of a building. DECs provide an energy rating of the building from A to G, where A is very efficient and G is the least efficient and are based on the actual amount of metered energy used by the building over the last 12 months within the validity period of the DEC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An affected organisation must display a DEC in a prominent place clearly visible to the public and have in its possession or control a valid advisory report. The advisory report contains recommendations for improving the energy performance of the building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Buildings requiring a DEC<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A DEC and advisory report are required for buildings with a total useful floor area (see definitions at&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/display-energy-certificates-and-advisory-reports-for-public-buildings\/a-guide-to-display-energy-certificates-and-advisory-reports-for-public-buildings#annex-b-definitions\">Annex B<\/a>) over 250m<sup>2<\/sup>&nbsp;that are occupied in whole or part by public authorities and frequently visited by the public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For the purposes of the regulations, a building is defined as, \u2018a roofed construction having walls, for which energy is used to condition the indoor climate, and a reference to a building includes a reference to a part of a building which has been designed or altered to be used separately\u2019<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/display-energy-certificates-and-advisory-reports-for-public-buildings\/a-guide-to-display-energy-certificates-and-advisory-reports-for-public-buildings#fn:1\">[footnote 1]<\/a><\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For a building to fall within the requirement for a DEC it must:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>have a roof and walls; and<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>use energy to condition the indoor climate. This is the case where the building has any of the following fixed services: heating, mechanical ventilation or air conditioning<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A building can either be:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>the whole of a building; or<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>part of a building, where the part is designed or altered to be used separately<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Only buildings, with a total useful floor area greater than 250m<sup>2<\/sup>, occupied by a public authority and frequently visited by the public are affected by this legislation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Private organisations, including those that may share a building with a relevant institution, do not need to display a DEC, but may elect to do so on a voluntary basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">When DECs are required<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From 9 January 2013, if you are an occupier of a building requiring a DEC, you will need to display a DEC showing an operational rating in a prominent place clearly visible to the public. You will also need to have in your possession or control a valid advisory report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you are a new occupier, or have been in occupation for less than 15 months by 9 January 2013, you may not have the previous 12 months of meter readings available that are required for an operational rating. The legislation makes provisions for calculation over the period of occupation in these cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Validity period of DECs<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Where the building has a total useful floor area of more than 1,000m<sup>2<\/sup>, the DEC is valid for 12 months. The accompanying advisory report is valid for 7 years. Where the building has a total useful floor area of between 250m<sup>2<\/sup>&nbsp;and 1000m<sup>2<\/sup>, the DEC and advisory report are valid for 10 years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why DECs are required The purpose of introducing DECs is to raise public awareness of energy use and to inform visitors to public buildings about the energy use of a building. DECs provide an energy rating of the building from A to G, where A is very efficient and G is the least efficient and&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sterlingaccreditationltd.uk\/blog\/2026\/06\/04\/dec-requirements\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">DEC requirements<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mhclg-guidance-display-energy-certificates","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingaccreditationltd.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingaccreditationltd.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingaccreditationltd.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingaccreditationltd.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingaccreditationltd.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingaccreditationltd.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":124,"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingaccreditationltd.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123\/revisions\/124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingaccreditationltd.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingaccreditationltd.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingaccreditationltd.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}