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Energy Performance Certificates for Commercial Property Lets
Published March 2008 By Vanessa France
Businesses have just weeks to ensure that they
instruct an energy assessor or inspector to
survey the building, and issue a certificate of its
energy performance.
Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs), which will be required on all newly constructed commercial properties and also on the sale or letting of property over 10,000 sq m, may eventually affect how properties are valued with their certificated “green credentials” establishing new criteria.
On July 1 more commercial property will require them and from October 1 they will be necessary for the sale or letting of all commercial property. The original October 2007 deadline for EPCs was revised following concerns that there would not be enough inspectors.
EPCs record the energy efficiency and environmental impact of a building on a scale from A to G, with A being the most energy efficient and having the least impact through CO2 emissions.
Problems could arise in multi-let properties, for example shopping centres and office blocks and legal advice should be sought if a tenant in a multi-let building decides to sub-let or assigns its premises. It will have an effect on the whole of the building.
Government predictions of the cost of a certificate being in the region of £1,790 may prove to be a significant underestimate for complex commercial premises. The price for an Energy Performance Certificate will be set by the market and not by the Government.
The solution to avoid disputes would lie in the clear drafting of agreements to establish the costs of obtaining an Energy Performance Certificate as a recoverable expenditure.
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