The Domestic Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) is a document required by UK law to be provided when renting or selling a Domestic Dwelling.

Domestic Dwelling is defined as one that will not be used for commercial purposes such as holiday lettings and office use.

While there is no legal requirement in the UK to provide a Commercial EPC, it may be requested by the client or landlord, and this should always be complied with.

If you do not have a valid Energy Performance Certificate, you could be fined. The state of the property and the type of energy used will determine the fines that are imposed under the Domestic Building Act. Domestic properties without certificates can be given penalties up to £500 for home and for other properties it could go high as £5000.

• You can check on the national database for your EPC certificate.
• You might also be able to contact your EPC provider to see if they have any information about it.
• An EPC is valid for 10 years.

The EPC assessor will undertake either a Domestic or Commercial Energy Performance Assessment which is detailed below.

Domestic - an Initial Domestic Energy Performance Assessment is usually undertaken on a property that has just been purchased or rented for the first time, this check provides confirmation that any heating and cooling systems are working as they should and that any gas appliances have been correctly installed.

Commercial- the EPC assessor visits your commercial premises before you occupy it to complete a Commercial Energy Performance Assessment. This is done to identify any safety and Sustainability risks associated with the premises and make recommendations for how these risks can be reduced.

The assessor also looks into the level of insulations, the type of material used for the windows, lighting etc. Once the assessment is completed, the data gets upload on the national portal which then calculates both the current level of energy efficiency and also the potential efficiency ratings.