Out-Law News 1 min. read

Proposed changes to energy performance building certificates delayed


Changes to the law covering energy performance certificates (EPCs) will come into force on 6 April 2012, the Government has said. The changes, which the Government had intended to implement this year, mean that sellers and landlords will have to make sure that an EPC is either available or has been commissioned before a property is marketed for sale or rent.  

EPCs give information on how energy efficient a building is. They also contain recommendations on how to reduce that building's energy use and carbon dioxide emissions. An EPC consists of two pages, accompanied by four pages of recommendations.

Where an EPC has been commissioned but is not yet available, the seller or landlord will have to use all reasonable efforts to obtain the certificate within seven days of placing the property on the market. However, it will have an additional 21 days in which to do so if it cannot obtain a certificate within the initial 7 day period..

Trading Standards Officers will also have new powers requiring a person acting on behalf of the seller or landlord – for example, an estate agent - to produce evidence to show that an EPC has been commissioned where they are marketing a building without one. This means that estate agents will have to make sure that an EPC exists or has been commissioned before they start marketing the property.

A further change will require EPCs to be attached to the particulars of all commercial and residential properties for sale or rent. This requirement will extend to the first page of the EPC.

It will not be possible to include the energy performance rating in the particulars instead, but, sellers and landlords will be able to omit the address of a building from the copy of the EPC where the address has been left off the written particulars.

There will also be a new statutory requirement to lodge air conditioning inspection reports on a central non-domestic EPC Register.

Allyson Colby, a property law expert with Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said that the changes were designed to improve compliance with the law.

"The Government also plans to make a technical amendment to the current regulations to correct a mistaken belief that the production of an EPC can be delayed until shortly before parties enter into a sale contract or lease," she said.

Further changes to the EPC regime are expected in due course to implement new European requirements. The second European Energy Performance of Buildings Directive must be transposed into national law by July 2012. However, the deadline for bringing the changes into force is not until 2013.

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