The debate about the validity of energy performance certificates for commercial properties rumbles on as we enter March 2010 – almost 2 years after it became a legislative requirement for the sale or lease of commercial buildings and yet conservative estimates consider that over 75% of the commercial property currently on the market is without a valid epc.
The first thing to ask is why is the legislation being so blatantly ignored? And you don’t have to look too far to find the answer.
The legislation came into effect in April 2008 for some commercial property and by January 1st 2009 the legislation applied to all commercial property that was on the market or coming to market. If we look back at when the economic crisis struck then we can see that the two problems are linked. Taking the landlord or commercial property owners perspective and suddenly finding yourself with a number of voids, having to reduce rents to retain tenants, losing tenants who are going bankrupt and then having to comply with new legislation requiring you to have an energy assessment undertaken at some cost before marketing your property - it is no wonder that landlords and property owners were prepared to take the risk of waiting until a sale or lease is agreed.
This was a new industry and together with those people anxious to carve out a new career and invest in themselves it also attracted the less than honourable individual who saw this as an easy way to earn money.
Soon there were hundreds of assessors out there, some qualified and some not and the industry realised that there were problems.
We also saw the advent of agencies springing up offering fast turnaround and very cheap pricing. In itself there is nothing wrong with this – after all we operate in a market economy and if you can buy a product or service cheaper elsewhere then that is what you can choose to do. However the flaws were starting to appear on various web site forums – it seemed once again that not every energy assessor was qualified to undertake the survey and some “assessors” were not even turning up to survey the property.
Part of the job of the energy assessor is to visit the property, in that way the assessor can better understand the building, its fabric, its HVAC systems and then an accurate assessment can be produced.
The qualified commercial property energy assessor will do a good job, it is the others you have to wary of and if you are using an agency to undertake your energy assessments make sure that the person they send is qualified – don’t be afraid to ask to see their accreditation, they should have it with them.
So the situation in these harsh financial times is that landlords and property owners have been reluctant to have an energy assessment undertaken as they have been afraid of the cost and they are not really convinced that it will be done properly. However by ignoring the problem the property owner and landlord is leaving themselves open to the potential of being fined for non compliance by the local Trading Standards Office, and fines can range for £500 to £5000.
Here at CEAUK we are all qualified to Level 4 and we take pride in the work we do, working in conjunction with a variety of property professionals our reputation is something we work hard to maintain. We operate a fast turnaround policy on assessments, our clients appreciate the service we provide and that ensures the continued sucess of our company.
If you want to be certain that your energy assessment is professionally undertaken, and more importantly is correct, then please contact our offices on 0870 770 8747 or email using the attached form and we will be pleased to assist.
Labels: CEAUK, commercial energy performance certificate, commercial epc, energy performance certificate, Grade II listed commercial property energy assessors, non domestic epc, trading standards fines