What is an EPC?

An EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) is a legal requirement for Homeowners, letting agents, estate agents and landlords selling, renting or building a property and must be conducted before the property is put on the market. The EPC will contain information about the property's energy use and consumption costs as well as recommendations of how to save energy and the tenant's money. The EPC is valid for 10 years at a time on each individual property and if an EPC is not conducted you're at risk of being fined.

In order to carry out an EPC an assessor must be accredited.

Why is an EPC important?

EPC's are important as they will give the Owner/ Tenant a prospective idea of how the property performs when it comes to the consumption of energy. It will also make the Owner/ Tenant aware of how much the property is likely to cost and how environmentally friendly it is. In order to reduce a high EPC rating of a property, advice will be given in the certification.The energy survey to produce an EPC is performed by an assessor who visits the property, examines key items such as insulation, boilers, radiators, double glazed, air conditioning and so on.The assessor then inputs the information into a software program which performs the Properties energy efficiency rating. The ratings are on a sale which ranges from “ A “ (the most efficient) to “ G “ (the least efficient). The house holder (Owner) will have to pay for the survey.