Good and Bad EPCs
Nowadays, it is common knowledge that a commercial EPC can be obtained for as little £250. However is getting one of these ‘bargain basement’ EPC’s worthwhile?
The assessor conducting one of these cheaper EPC’s may be a newly qualified person who does not understand the construction of a site, this person may not have the level of experience and skills needed to be able to effectively research the construction of the site and hence may opt to use default values in the EPC assessing tool. Further more, at this price, the chance that a site visit will be conducted is somewhat unlikely.
The consequence of this is an automatic lower level rating, making your building appear a worse performer than it actually is.
To achieve an EPC with the most accurate rating, you should ask to see the credentials of the person conducting the assessment, do they have demonstrable experience in dealing with buildings of your type? Also ask the assessor where they think they will have to use default values and why, the lower the amount of default values used will generally give you a higher EPC rating and yield some useful insights into the efficiency of your building.
Bear in mind that the cost of actually conducting a site visit and properly completing a full EPC assessment report using an experienced professional will most likely be more than £250, unless the cost is subsidised.
What does it matter? I only need an EPC to meet legislation, I won’t be penalised for a poor rating EPC will I?
Well not yet, but you most likely will in the near future if the government decides to use EPC ratings as a multiplying factor on rates for example.
So why spend £250 now on a potential ‘default value’ EPC and have to do it again later when you could just get a properly conducted EPC in the first instance. WM Energy can offer you an EPC that is still competitively priced but will give you peace of mind going forward.
WM Energy has a team of experienced surveyors and engineers who are fully qualified to conduct EPC’s, why not call us now to book yours.For further information contact Harvey James on 0207 378 5800 or contact us by email.
