An EPC is intended to provide prospective buyers and tenants of a building with correct information about the energy performance of the building and practical advice on improving such performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An EPC provides an energy efficiency rating (related to running costs) for a building based on the performance potential of the building itself (the fabric) and its services (such as heating, insulation ventilation and fuels used). Not all buildings are used in the same way, so the energy rating uses \u2018standard occupancy\u2019 assumptions which may be different from the way the building is used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An EPC includes recommendations on how the energy performance of the building can be improved (to reduce running costs) together with an indication of the payback period. There is no statutory requirement to carry out any of the recommended energy efficiency measures stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Any reference to a building includes a reference to a building unit in that building, except where otherwise stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Existing buildings need an EPC when they are to be sold or rented out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An EPC is valid for 10 years or until a newer EPC is produced for the same building no matter how many times the property is sold or rented out during that period. Existing occupiers and tenants will not require an EPC unless they sell, assign or sublet their interest in a building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A building offered for sale or rent, must include the energy performance indicator of the building as shown on the EPC, for example C, in any advertisements in the commercial media[footnote 1]<\/a><\/sup>. There is no requirement to display the full EPC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An EPC is generally not required where the seller or landlord can demonstrate that the building is any of these:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Buildings protected as part of a designated environment or because of their special architectural or historical merit<\/strong> are exempt from the requirements to have an energy performance certificate insofar as compliance with minimum energy performance requirements would unacceptably alter their character or appearance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To comply with minimum energy performance requirements, many of the recommendations in an EPC report e.g. double glazing, new doors and windows, external wall insulation, and external boiler flues would likely result in unacceptable alterations in the majority of historic buildings. These can include buildings protected as part of a designated environment or because of their special architectural or historical merit (e.g. listed buildings[footnote 2]<\/a><\/sup> or buildings within a conservation area). In these cases an EPC would not be required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Building owners will need to take a view as to whether this will be the case for their buildings. If there is any doubt as to whether works would unacceptably alter the character or appearance of a building, building owners may wish to seek the advice of their local authority\u2019s conservation officer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Temporary buildings with a planned time of use of 2 years or less.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Residential buildings which are intended to be used less than 4 months of the year<\/strong> or where the owner or landlord could reasonably expect the energy consumption of the building to be less than 25% of all year round use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stand-alone buildings with a total useful floor area of less than 50m2<\/sup> (i.e. buildings entirely detached from any other building).<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A building is also exempt where the seller or landlord can demonstrate that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Holiday lets may not need an EPC. An EPC will only be required for a property rented out as a furnished holiday let, as defined by HMRC, where the building is occupied for the purposes of a holiday as a result of a short term letting arrangement of less than 31 days to each tenant, and is rented out for a combined total of 4 months or more in any 12 month period, and if the occupier is responsible for meeting the energy costs for the property.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The property must meet all the conditions of a furnished holiday let as defined by HMRC and the occupant must not be responsible for the energy costs in order for an EPC not to be necessary. Please see the Glossary for the full definition of a Furnished Holiday Let.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An EPC is not required for an individual room when rented out, as it is not a building or a building unit designed or altered for separate use. The whole building will require an EPC if sold or rented out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n DCLG is unable to provide specific advice regarding whether any of these exemptions may apply to specific properties. Specialist advice relevant to the circumstances should be sought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are no other exemptions from the EPC obligations although there may be some transactions which do not qualify as a sale or renting out (see Section 2, Transactions not considered a sale or rent<\/a>). If in doubt, legal advice should be sought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In general terms the EPC provided or made available should reflect the accommodation being sold or rented out. Some buildings will have multiple tenancies, differing lease agreements, various sub-letting arrangements and different uses (for example, a mixed use building containing office space and residential accommodation). This can affect the areas for which an EPC is needed. Any building unit which is sold or rented out must have a valid EPC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An EPC can be produced for the whole building or any building unit, which is designed or altered for separate use. A building unit designed or altered for separate use could be indicated by the accommodation having its own access, separate provision of heating and ventilation or shared heating and ventilation, but with the ability by the occupier to independently control those services. An example might be a self-contained flat in a building.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Why an EPC is required? An EPC is intended to provide prospective buyers and tenants of a building with correct information about the energy performance of the building and practical advice on improving such performance. An EPC provides an energy efficiency rating (related to running costs) for a building based on the performance potential of… Continue reading EPC obligations<\/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":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mhclg-guidance-domestic-epc","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingaccreditationltd.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135","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=135"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingaccreditationltd.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":136,"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingaccreditationltd.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135\/revisions\/136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingaccreditationltd.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingaccreditationltd.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingaccreditationltd.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Situations where an EPC is not required<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Production of EPCs<\/h3>\n\n\n\n