Who Requires an EPC ?
If you own a property in England or Wales and want to sell or rent it,
as of 1st October 2008 you need an EPC.
When Selling Your Property
The government passed legislation that states anyone wishing to sell their property must have ordered or possess an EPC when the property goes on the market. Your estate agent is required to upload this EPC within 28 days of the sale’s commencement date. There is currently no minimum EPC rating required for the sale of a property, unlike if you intend to rent the property. An EPC is required for the transaction to be completed when selling - therefore this includes transferring a property from a pension fund or passing property to your relatives etc.
When Renting Your Property
If you wish to rent or lease your property you, as the landlord, must ensure that an EPC is available for any potential tenant to look at. As of April 2018, it is unlawful to let a property in the UK with an EPC rating below an 'E' (unless an appropriate exemption is registered). Where the landlord has failed to comply with the Compliance Notice this could lead to a fine up to £2,000 and/or a Publication Penalty. The legislation, Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) can have a major impact on your property portfolio, so feel free to call the team to discuss this in further detail 02033978220.
How is an EPC Inspection carried out?
To conduct a standard residential EPC we must attend the property in question - they cannot be done remotely. The EPC assessor will have to access all rooms – and the loft if possible. You won’t be expected to lift any floorboards or carpets though; it’s designed to be a brief, non-intrusive assessment of your home and completed in under 30 minutes. Therefore, if you have any measures that we will not be able to see whilst at the property, such as: Suspended Floor Insulation, Wall (Cavity or External) Insulation, Loft Insulation or otherwise - We will require evidence of these for them to be included in our assessment. If the evidence is not provided, the software will make assumptions based on the age and construction of the property, which is estimated whilst on site. The assessor will need to take plenty of photos for the data submission and also measurements for the rooms - though this does not equate to a marketing floorplan (these can be ordered sepoarately).
To order your EPC inspection, you can complete the form on our ‘EPC Quote’ link or phone us direct on 0203 397 8220, providing us with contact, property and payment details. We will then send you a confirmation email and text messages (when applicable) with a receipt and tracking link. Our local assessor will then contact you the following working day to make an appointment to visit your property within 3 days of their telephone call. The EPC will then be issued and emailed to you the next working day - You can also access the EPC through the 'Track My Order'link on the website.
SAP EPC - For New Builds and Converted Properties
A SAP EPC is required if a property has been: Newly built, Recently converted or has increased its number of dwellings (i.e. one house made into 2 flats). This is a slightly different process as the person carrying out the works must provide the EPC to complete the Building Regulations. A site visit isn’t required for a SAP EPC, it is a desktop based task completed by our qualified SAP energy assessors. From the SAP Calculation we then use technical calculations and approved software to generate:
Predicted Energy Assessment (PEA) = An unofficial EPC which will be issued during the design stage (if the building isn’t finished)
A full SAP EPC: The EPC issued once the building is complete and ready to be signed off by building control. Once completed, the SAP EPC acts like a standard EPC in thet it is valid for 10 years and can be used for all property transactions.
It is worth noting that we cannot complete just a standard site visit EPC on any new build/ conversion - This will fail an audit and the EPC will not be issued.
To get a quote for a SAP EPC please click here.
