Energy Performance Certificates

Where can a copy of the proposed form of the Energy Performance Certificate be downloaded?
For a specimen Energy Performance Certificate, click here.

When and how will the register of Energy Assessors be available?
All persons producing Energy Performance Certificates will need to be members of an accreditation scheme. It will be the responsibility of the accreditation schemes to hold registers of Energy Assessors. Proposals for organisations wishing to run accreditation schemes are currently under review, and successful applicants will be appointed by the Secretary of State following the regulations being passed by Parliament.

Will the content of the Energy Performance Certificate be the same for existing homes and new homes?
The content is dictated by the EU Directive, and so will be the same for both. However, clearly some issues will be different (for example, there might be fewer recommended improvements that would be cost effective for a new home). But the look and feel of both will be the same.

Can the Energy Performance Certificate for new homes be in an electronic format? Currently, the Standard Assessment Procedure rating provided to purchasers is done in this way, usually by architects?
Yes, as described above.

Can builders with the necessary qualifications self-certify?
We have advice from the European Commission that it would be acceptable for Energy Performance Certificates to be produced in-house by a builder as long as this is carried out in an 'independent manner'.

These people would still need to be suitably qualified and accredited. We aim to have an audit process built into our accreditation arrangements that includes sample checks to satisfy the independent manner requirement.

Can Energy Performance Certificates be issued against a nominated 'standard house type', if we build to the same specification?
The software that calculates the energy performance rating is likely to require each building to be separately entered, since it is only by doing this that the information becomes building specific for subsequent re-use of certificates, and so on.

The certificate generation will be an electronic exercise for new homes, if the input data is identical for a number of buildings all being certificated at the same time, it ought to be possible to minimise the effort - but this will be an issue for software design, which is being taken forward on a commercial basis by individual companies.

Is the 'Report on a home not physically complete' form needed now that the Home Condition Report is no longer mandatory?
No. This is no longer required, but it can be included in the Pack on a voluntary basis.

Do home builders need to inform people of a prospective change in the site plans etc once a Pack has been issued for a particular plot?
There is no continuing requirement to keep the Pack updated, except in relation to the Predicted Energy Assessment. Where the property is taken off the market, the HIP obligations cease to apply.

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