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Energy performance certificates: property legislation update

05 November 2007

Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) tell you how energy efficient a home is and the impact it has on the environment. A ranking is given on a scale of A-G for the energy efficiency rating and for the environmental impact rating. The most efficient homes, which should have the lowest fuel bills, and homes with less carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, would be ranked A twice.

The legislation for Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) was laid in Parliament in March 2007, and will be phased in as follows:

DATE	MEASURES
6 April 2008	EPCs are required on construction for all dwellings. EPCs required for the construction, sale or rent of buildings other than dwellings with a floor space area over 10,000 m2.
1 July 2008	EPCs required for the construction, sale or rent of buildings other than dwellings with a floor space area over 2,500 m2.
1 October 2008	EPCs required on the sale or rent of all remaining dwellings. EPCs required on the construction, sale or rent of all remaining buildings other than dwellings. Display certificates required for all public buildings >1,000 m2.
4 January 2008	First inspection of all existing air-conditioning systems over 250 kW must have occured by this date *.
4 January 2011	First inspection of all existing air-conditioning systems over 12kW must have occured by this date *.

* a system first put into service on or after 1 Janurary 2008 must have a first inspection within 5 years of it first being put into service