What is an Energy Performance Certificate?

The Energy Performance Certificate is a comprehensive energy report, which aims to encourage buyers and sellers to improve the energy efficiency of the property.

The Government has decided that the Energy Performance Certificate must be available, up front in the Home Information Packs (HIP), every time a property is marketed. An EPC is a compulsory part of a HIP Pack which must be supplied by the seller or seller’s agent to any prospective buyer from 1st June 2007.

Dramatic new legislation from EU has had a major impact on Government thinking when it comes to deciding the sort of surveys there should be on all homes for sale…and eventually to rented properties too.

Article 7 of the EU Directive on the energy performance of buildings (2002/91/EC) says that when homes are sold, an Energy Performance Certificate must be made available to the prospective buyer! 

The UK should have ideally complied by this EU directive by January 2006, but no later than January 2009.  Through the introduction of Home Condition Reports that include an Energy Report, from 1 June 2007 the UK will fulfil its legal obligations.

The EPC will rate a home's current energy efficiency using the Government-approved Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP).  A more energy efficient home will have a higher SAP rating, lower fuel bills and lower carbon dioxide emissions. The Energy Report would also provide information on tailored, cost-effective energy efficiency improvements. 

An EPC is the Energy Performance Certificate and will look broadly similar to a certificate on a refrigerator.

Its purpose is to record, in a clear unambiguous format, how energy efficient the home is as a building. Using colour charts, the EPC records the current rating and compares this against a rating at which the owner or tenant should aim to achieve. The certificate will provide a rating from A to G, where A is very efficient and G is very inefficient.

Two ratings are shown. The environmental impact rating is a measure of a home's impact on the environment in terms of carbon dioxide (C02) emissions - the higher the rating, the less impact it has on the environment. The energy-efficiency rating is a measure of a home's overall efficiency. The higher the rating, the more energy-efficient the home is, and the lower the fuel bills are likely to be. Each rating is based on the performance of the building itself and its services (such as heating and lighting), rather than the domestic appliances within it. This is known as an asset rating. The certificate also lists the potential rating of the building if all the cost-effective measures were installed.
The ratings will vary according to the age, location, size and condition of the building.

This is a document that gives homebuyers and sellers an indication (or a rating) of their home’s energy efficiency and carbon emissions. It will give them current average costs for heating, hot water and lighting in the home as well as how to cut costs with energy efficiency measures.
The EPC will provide a summary of the energy performance of the property, in relation to features
of construction, heating and hot water. In addition to the rating given on the certificate, tailored, cost- effective measures will be suggested and the potential energy efficiency of the property if the measures are implemented will be given.

For a detailed example of how a finished and complete Energy Performance Certificate please see our download area.