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What is an EPC (Energy Performance Certificate)
By Eveco Solutions
With energy bills rising rapidly you might be considering improving your home with insulation or other energy efficiency measures to help bring them back down. While it might not always be clear what the steps are or what to do, getting an up-to-date energy performance certificate – also known as an EPC – is a great place to start. This blog will help to explain what an EPC is, why it can be helpful, the times that it is a mandatory requirement and some background on the energy assessors that carry them out.
What does an EPC measure?
It’s likely you’ve seen the all too familiar energy rating scale that is used on an EPC but we’ll drill down a little to explain what it means and how the report actually comes to the conclusion of what grade a property is.
The EPC rating goes from A to G, with A being the best grade. The idea of this grading is to give a quick indication of how efficient a property is currently as well as see what the energy rating could potentially be if improvements were carried out.
Is an EPC mandatory?
There are some situations where an EPC on your property is required by law. These are:
- If you are planning to rent a property (EPC must achieve band E as a minimum to be legally rented)
- If you are selling your property
- On construction of a new property
Thankfully, EPC certificates are valid for 10 years so in many cases your property will already have one that is still in date. We always recommend getting a new EPC carried out prior to renting or selling the property however to ensure it is as up to date as possible and taking into account any improvements that may have been made over the years. This means the EPC will have the correct energy rating for the current property situation.
If you are not sure if your property has a current EPC, don’t worry! All EPCs are “lodged” to the public EPC register and can be obtained online here via a simple search – https://find-energy-certificate.service.gov.uk/find-a-certificate/type-of-property
Who carries out EPCs?
EPCs can only be carried out by trained and qualified Domestic Energy Assessors (DEAs). They will carry out a professional survey and collect all the information and pictures that are needed to generate your EPC. Once they have done this, they submit the certificate to the official register. DEAs can work for a variety of schemes known as accreditation bodies who regularly audit the work and EPC certificates they submit to ensure that it is accurate and has been conducted correctly.
Some common accreditation bodies that DEAs are members of are Elmhurst, Stroma and ECMK.
What happens during my EPC assessment visit?
The Energy Assessor will conduct a full inspection of the property both inside and outside. They will need to access all rooms of the property as well as the loft in order to determine the following elements:
- The type of construction of the walls (e.g solid brick or cavity) and level of insulation if it can be determined
- The amount of insulation in the loft (if there is a hatch)
- The type of floor (and level of insulation if it can be determined or evidenced)
- The details of any roof rooms present
- The heating systems and heating controls that may be present
- The floor area of the property
- The number of low energy lightbulbs present
The assessor will also take measurements of the rooms to determine the size of the property and measure the heat loss perimeter. This information is vital in helping to estimate the energy usage of the property and allow for the correct data to be input into the RdSAP software to calculate the rating for the property.
Once your EPC visit has been completed the surveyor will then spend some time submitting the certificate and “lodging” it to the official register via their certification body. They will then send you a copy of the certificate or a link to view it online and the DEA will be on hand to answer any questions you might have about the certificate.
How can I book my EPC?
Simply get in touch with our team via our Contact Page. We’ll be happy to support you by answering any questions you may have and getting your EPC booked in quickly and efficiently with one of our fully trained domestic energy assessors. Our team are also always available via email at info@eveco-solutions.co.uk
We hope that you’ve found this information helpful and now understand a little more about the EPC process. Make sure to check back here on our website regularly for new updates and information around energy efficiency, PAS2030/2035 and ways to improve your home to help save money on energy bills. Further information and useful tips are on our social media pages which can be found below!
We help support our customers throughout the Midlands to provide professional quality energy assessments and insulation work.
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