domestic energy assessors

The Energy Performance Certificate contains information about the carbon emissions and energy efficiency of a building. With effect from 1 October 2008, landlords of all rental properties would require to produce an EPC to prospective tenant. However, you do not have to produce an EPC to the existing tenant if they signed the contract before the 1^st of October 2008.

 

From April 6, 2008, buildings rented out having a floor area over 10,000 sq meters required the certificate. From 1 October 2008, the EPC will be the requirement of the other commercial buildings, which are ready to let. These certificates are a product of the governments much publicized Home Information Packs or HIPs.

 

In rental property, the EPC does not have to be renewed whenever the property is on offer at the rental market. However, after every 10 years the EPC has to be renewed by the landlord.

 

 

The Energy Performance Certificate graphic closely resembles the certificates that are provided at present with the domestic appliances like washing machines and refrigerators. The certificate is important for informing the tenants about the energy performance of a building.

 

A recommendation report is attached to every EPC accompanying suggestion and advice for the owner on making improvement to save both money as well as energy. Energy efficiency and fuel costs are an integral part of the investment that interests’ the landlords.

 

 

If you are a landlord, it is of prime importance that you provide an EPC for the accommodation that you are renting out. If there are, any agents acting on your behalf then make sure that they abide by the regulations. Before entering into a contract for letting the building, you should provide the EPC.

 

There will be an energy efficiency and carbon emission rating provided in the EPC. If the building is very inefficient, the rating will be G, whereas if building is very energy efficient, the rating will be A.  

 

The energy efficiency of one building is easily comparable to the energy efficiency of another building of the same type. This is because the certificates are produced using standard methods coupled with standard assumptions about energy usage. The certificate produces an estimate of the carbon emissions and fuel costs for lighting, hot water and heating, current and potential energy use. However, the actual energy depends on the behaviour of the occupants of the respective building.

 

The reference information that you will find in the EPC includes the type of property of the landlord like the house or flat; the date of the certificate; and the unique reference number as it has been stored in the central register. The certificate also contains the energy assessor details like the name of the assessor, the company name, the accreditation number and the contact details. Only the qualified Domestic Energy Assessors (DEA’s) are authorized to provide the EPC. 

 

However, being a landlord, you must have a valid Energy Performance Certificate of the property otherwise you might have to pay fines.

 

 

The energy performance certificate need not be produced by the landlord in the following cases:

 

-         If the prospective tenant does not have enough funds to rent the property  

-         The landlord is not fully prepared to rent the property to the prospective tenant

-         In case, the landlord rents the house by rooms under tenancy agreement with shared bathrooms or kitchens.

 

 

The market rate is around £75 per one Energy Performance Certificate however if you've got more than one property you may be able to negotiate a better price per property with an independent DEA. Also, for larger properties the rate would obviously be more.