About EPCs

In 2002 the European Union passed a directive on the Energy Performance of Buildings. The EU were concerned to reduce energy consumption across a range of buildings across Europe, including residential properties.

The EU Directive requires member states to take five main actions to promote energy efficiency. These include a requirement that Energy Performance Certificates are produced whenever a building is constructed, let or sold.

The Directive became law in 2003, and member states had until January 2006 to implement the law in to domestic legislation. The UK is lagging behind its neighbours in the implementation of the Directive, and here the requirement that a residential property cannot be sold until an Energy Performance Certificate is in place became law only on 1 June 2007 as part of the Government's Home Information Pack legislation.

The Government's original intention was that the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) would form part of a more comprehensive "seller's survey" (or Home Condition Report). In 2006 the government announced that the Home Condition Report would no longer form a mandatory part of the Home Information Pack, and instead announced that the EPC would instead be a "required" document for inclusion in the pack.

Each EPC is produced electronically using a standardised assessment procedure (RDSAP). This model was introduced specifically to enable EPCs to be produced on a consistent basis across a range of properties.

The EPC itself contains a rating of A to G as well as a score out of 100. An "A" rated property is the most energy efficient, and a "G" rated property is the least efficient. As well as giving a score for the property, the certificate will also give a series of recommendations for how the property could be made more energy efficient, as well as giving a potential score if all of those recommendations were implemented.

At present an EPC is required only when a residential property is sold. It is however planned to extend the requirements to produce EPCs to property that is being rented (in 2008) and to commercial property a short time later.

Whilst the UK's Home Information Pack regulations make it necessary for a new EPC to be produced on each sale, an Energy Performance Certificate is in fact valid for a period of ten years.