Residential Buildings
An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) is required by law for all newly constructed residential buildings or if an existing building is sold or put on the market for rent. The legislation requires that the certificate must be in place before the sale or rental process begins. The earliest opportunity is when the house is marketed or when a person asks to view the house or requests information on the house for sale or rent.
What is an EPC?
An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) identifies the Energy Efficiency of the property. The Certificate gives the building a standard energy and carbon efficiency grade from ‘A’ to ‘G’, where ‘A’ is the most efficient, ‘D’ is an average grade and ‘G’ is the worst. An attached report also comes with an EPC highlighting the findings and suggesting how to improve the Energy Efficiency of your building. An EPC is valid for 10 years but if ammendments are done to the building then a new certificate will be required for either the whole building or a section of the building.
An EPC is valid for 10 years and can therefore be reused in further transactions involving that property up to the end of this period.
Builders and Developers
From 30th September 2008 the relevant person (the builder) of a new building has the same legal duty as the home seller and landlord above. When the building is finished, the builder must obtain an EPC and give this to the new owner of the building and provide a copy to local Building Control within five days of completion. Once Building Control is satisfied that the EPC has been properly produced, it will then be able to issue a final completion certificate.
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