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The Cost of EPC's
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
The True Cost of a Commercial Property Energy Performance Certificate
We have all heard the sayings, you pay your money and you take your choice, you only get what you pay for, pay peanuts and you get monkeys, the list goes on.
The bottom line is though that they all have an element of truth, I know that in the past I bought that mp3 player for all the features it offered at a price that was less than a Sunday newspaper and today it sits in a drawer at the back of my desk because it is completely useless and the firm that supplied it no longer exists. Definitely a case of being tempted by price.
The same can be said for commercial property energy performance certificates, we have seen a number of companies purporting to offer a commercial epc on a property for a ridiculously low price. By the same token we have seen a number of landlords, agents and solicitors contacting us after the event asking if these certificates are valid as they seem to be full of simple errors which results in the wrong rating being awarded and asking us what they can do to rectify the problem.
As with any new industry it will attract a few people who are less than competent and others who see an opportunity to advertise their service but are in fact only agents, they themselves are not qualified and therefore take no responsibility for the eventual certificate.
Here at CEAUK we are all qualified to undertake, assess and compile commercial property energy performance certification of commercial buildings. We do not use outside agents, we do not use data gatherers, all our staff are qualified to either Level 3 or Level 4 and we have strict quality controls in place to ensure that the certificates we produce are accurate.
Not only is every building we assess measured on site and sketched we also note its construction and to ensure that our assessments are the most accurate we photograph the building from various angles and research the building construction using a variety of techniques. Once we have completed that element of our research we then concentrate on the HVAC systems again photographing and detailing every aspect of system. Then we research and review the lighting together with any new technologies used to manage the buildings environment.
Once we have those elements in place (and more) then we can proceed to enter the data into the computers for the production of the epc. It may well be time consuming but its going to be right.
This makes sense to us, do the job properly and do it once, that way costs are kept down and our clients will more than likely return to ask our advice again. In the meantime I am going to find that mp3 player at the back of the drawer and put it in the bin, it has served a purpose to remind me that price is not everything when it comes to quality.
For details on the geographical areas that CEAUK covers and to book your commercial property energy certificate contact us today on 0870 770 8747. Labels: CEAUK, commercial property energy assessment, commercial property energy assessment costs, CPEA, energy assessment costs, non domestic epc, selling or leasing commercial property
The New Year -2010
The New Year has seen weather that for a while seemed really quite nice – after all it is not every year we get snow that is that deep, you only had to look at the news reports to see and appreciate how much disruption the bad weather was causing.
It did not stop us though, where other companies failed to attend because of the bad weather we found that we were being called on to complete energy assessments and get them registered as soon as we could in order to prevent sales and leases from stalling in the due diligence process.
This really is to compliment those here at CEAUK who really pulled out all the stops to help, Pete’s old Land Rover – all too often the butt of jokes about how uncomfortable and slow it is really came into its own, the office staff who made it in and kept those of us out on surveys informed and when we returned supplied wonderfully hot cups of coffee and tea.
As I look out of the window now I see that the snow is disappearing and I never thought I’d be so happy to see rain – and the weather forecast is for more rain - so its a return to normality.
As the New Year progresses though please remember that we are hearing about how Trading Standards are now being encouraged to identify commercial properties that are being marketed without an energy performance certificate with a view to fining the property owners.
Don’t be caught out – contact CEAUK today on 0870 770 8747 or use this link
to contact us to discuss your requirements.
And finally a Happy and Prosperous New Year to all our existing clients and we look forward to continuing to working with you this year and welcoming more new clients.Labels: commercial epc, commercial property auction, commercial property energy assesment, Grade II listed commercial property energy assessors, New Year, save money on a commercial epc
HAVE A HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR
CEAUK would like to take this opportunity to wish all their clients a Happy and Prosperous New Year.
It has certainly been a year to remember, we have seen the company grow and we have had the opportunity to welcome new colleagues and clients to CEAUK - one of the foremost providers of energy performance certificates on commercial property in the North West, Midlands, North and West Wales.
In many areas this has been a difficult year, commercial property owners now know that before they can market their commercial property for sale or lease that they must have an energy performance certificate and it has been our privilege to be able to offer a service that is not only efficient and competitive but also along the way has seen us make many new friends.
For landlords and property owners they have had the combined difficulty of meeting this new legislation together with longer lead in times when it comes to finding a tenant or sale. However in conjunction with CEAUK, solicitors, landlords, pension fund managers, commercial agents and auction houses, have all managed to meet and comply with the legislation in a timely and cost effective manner.
If you haven’t got an energy performance certificate for your commercial property and you are selling it or seeking a new tenant then your New Year Resolution should be to contact CEAUK before the local Trading Standards office contacts you.
In the meantime we are all looking forward to 2010 and what the New Year will bring – and we would like to wish all our existing and future clients a Happy Christmas and Successful and Prosperous New Year. Labels: christmas greetings, commercial property auction, commercial property energy performance certificates, non domestic epc, selling leasing commercial property, trading standards fines
Copenhagen Climate Summit – How does it effect my commercial premises?
Ahead of the summit in Copenhagen there have been calls on the government to ensure that lighting and heating controls become standard across all 1.8m UK commercial properties in the UK within the next ten years. In some instances there are calls for greater improved glazing and heating to further reduce carbon emissions.
In many instances these are seen as costs that landlords can ill afford in these less than buoyant times.
What tends to be overlooked though is that improvements to the heating, lighting and energy comsumption of a building can sometimes be achieved at little cost. Simply switching your lighting from standard fluorescent tubes to more energy efficient lighting can be relatively inexpensive and it can make a considerable saving in the amount of energy used which could have a positive impact on the energy rating of the property.
We are not suggesting for a minute that by effecting such a change will suddenly find you a tenant or achieve a sale of the property ; but it may just make a prospective tenant / purchaser think twice about your property and the fact that the running costs are less than other properties under consideration, which in turn will provide the new tenant / owner with greater profits and may achieve an earlier deal for you.
Every commercial energy performance certificate completed on commercial properties will have a supplemental recommendations report (if it does not - then question whether you have a valid report). This recommendations report provides a range of suggestions as to how the energy efficiency of a building can be improved. It will encompass all aspects of the buildings use of energy and whilst some of the recommendations may take some considerable time to be cost effective there are, as mentioned, other more cost effective recommendations that can be implemented almost immediately.
Some landlords / property owners perceive this as a problem. What is the point of paying for an epc that identifies where savings can be made but then requires another epc that will rate the property with the improved energy efficiency actions taken. Here at CEAUK we are able to produce an epc for a commercial property with suggested recommendations and once some or all of the recommendations have been implemented produce the epc showing the improved rating.
To ensure that you are best placed to find a tenant or sell your commercial property then contact us today on 0870 770 8747 to see how we can help you.
Labels: commercial energy performance certificate, commercial property, energy assessment costs, energy efficiency
How do I benefit from an EPC?
Did you know that commercial property accounts for almost 20% of the carbon emissions and energy consumption in the UK and it was for that reason that the government decided to act and introduce non domestic energy performance certificates as part of an EU Directive.
Here at CEAUK we are continually asked by landlords and agents if they need energy performance certificates and what is their benefit.
The simple answer to the first part of this question is – Yes, if you have a commercial property for sale or lease then you will need an energy performance certificate, there are exceptions, for example a stand alone building of less than 50m2 will not require an epc and there are others, telephone and ask CEAUK which buildings are exempt is the best solution if you are unsure.
The second part of the question relating to the benefit of an epc is relatively easy to answer but in these difficult times is one that landlords and property owners find hard to come to terms with as it just seems as though it is adding to their costs. The energy performance certificate once produced will provide the owner and potential purchaser with a simple colour bar chart indicating how energy efficient the property is. More importantly each energy performance certificate comes with a Recommendations Report and this is the bit that can help landlords and property owners. In fact if you are presented with an energy performance certificate without a Recommendations Report then you should ask to see the Recommendations Report.
To ascertain why the Recommendations Report is valuable you have to consider the effort that the assessor has to undertake to assess the building. It is not merely looking at the heating and lighting of the building to establish a value but the experienced assessor also has to research the building fabric itself and what improvements have been made, the assessor will need to know what happens in every part of the building as the activity has an impact on the energy consumption. It is a combination of all these factors that determine how energy efficient a building is. The danger is that by using an inexperienced, unqualified or under qualified assessor then the assessment is simply a waste of money.
The Recommendations Report will list ways that the energy performance of a building can be enhanced thus reducing on-going energy costs, making the building more attractive to potential investors, tenants and purchasers. It is truly amazing how little sometimes needs to be spent to improve the energy efficiency of a building and something as cost effective as replacing standard fluorescent tubes with more energy efficient lighting can result in some considerable savings on the running costs of a building. In certain instances we have discussed improvements with property owners prior to completing the survey to advise how they could improve the rating on the property and we find that as the Commercial EPC is valid for ten years (there are, as usual, exceptions) then this aspect is greatly appreciated by our clients.
You can contact CEAUK on 0870 770 8747 to discuss your requirements.
Labels: commercial energy performance certificates, commercial epc, commercial property energy assesment, energy efficiency, energy performance certificate, energy savings, less than 50m2
How to save money on a Commercial EPC
Since legislation was introduced requiring any commercial property that is to be marketed for lease or sale to have a valid energy performance certificate there has been much confusion. We here at CEAUK have tried to clarify the legislation and we like to think that we provide not just an excellent service but also a highly competitive one.
Recently we were asked to undertake a commercial epc on a property in Manchester and we were told that we would be competing against two other companies in terms of pricing and delivery – basically the client wanted the best price and the quickest turnaround and we decided to provide a quote.
That evening before going home I was just checking through a couple of properties that we had lodged commercial epc’s on in the week and in error I entered the address details of the property that we were about to quote on and found out something that would be of interest to the owners.
The next day we contacted the owners and their agent for this property in Manchester, a few questions about any works that had been done to the property revealed that no works had been undertaken for a number of years. We were then able to advise them a commercial epc had been undertaken and lodged on the premises some two months ago and there was actually no need for another epc.
We were about to quote £455 for this particular assessment, income now lost, on the plus side though – the landlord was impressed with our honesty and gave us another property to assess and it now looks like we are going to be his preferred agent in these matters.
It transpires that despite what we tell everyone about epc’s that there is still some confusion so if this is the case for you then please feel free to either call or e-mail us with your query or request for a quotation.
In this instance the landlord thought that because the property was withdrawn and then placed back on the market then a new epc would be required. As there had been no works done to the property in between times then no epc was required as one already existed. Why hadn't he gone back to the original epc suppliers to ask for a price? - they had charged him in excess of £650 which he thought was excessive.
By the way the other two companies that were invited to quote, according to the landlord one came in at £425 and the other at £565 but neither had picked up on the fact that an epc already existed.
We might not be the cheapest but we are the fairest. Labels: commercial energy performance certificate, commercial epc, commercial property energy assesment, save money on a commercial epc, selling or leasing commercial property
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