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• Landlord's Responsibility to Provide a Commercial Property Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)

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Commercial Energy Performance Certificate

An EPC informs the tenant about the energy performance of a property. It is a legal requirement for the landlord to provide a commercial EPC prior to your property being marketed. A copy of an EPC must be made available to prospective tenants at all times. A commercial EPC is valid for ten years from the date of issue.

If your commercial property has a total floor area of less than 50 square meters, or falls into the following categories, you will NOT be required to supply an EPC to your tenant:

• Temporary buildings that are intended to be used for less than two years
• Buildings with low energy demand, for example, barns
• Buildings, which are scheduled for demolition
• Places for worship

Energy ratings on an EPC vary from A (most energy sufficient) to G (most energy inefficient). The EPC ratings should be better for newer properties than older buildings. A higher EPC rating could play a big role in making your commercial property more attractive to potential tenants.

There are a number of ways to improve your commercial EPC rating, and to reduce the cost of commissioning the report. For instance, by making sure that the EPC assessor can get easy access to all the parts to be inspected in your commercial property. An example to improve your EPC rating would be to remove any portable heaters from your commercial property, as this could be seen as your property’s primary heat source and would be deemed to be an inefficient way of heating premises.

You will need professional advice if you are looking into a significant improvement of your commercial EPC or commissioning an initial EPC.

Unlike a domestic EPC, obtaining a commercial EPC can be a lengthy process and could take several weeks.

This is because commercial properties come in a wide range of sizes and shapes and different areas (basements, loading bays attics etc). This makes it more difficult for an EPC provider to assess. The certificate will include details of: construction, insulation types, the area of glazing and how each internal space is used, together with equipment used for ventilation, heating and air conditioning.