Virtually all businesses are involved in some way with property. Some are owning and occupying property for commercial purposes whilst others rent but still occupy for commercial purposes. Some businesses can be classified as property owners where they specifically own to let. Others can be involved in the construction of commercial property for sale.
So virtually all businesses will be involved in the new regulations which are to be implemented starting in April 2008 and which have been enacted in England as a result of the Energy Performance of Buildings European Directive approved in January 2003. This has resulted in the “Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) Regulations 2007”.
Basically, this means that whenever a building is constructed, rented or sold, an Energy Performance Certificate must now be issued by “the relevant person”. The relevant person means:-
a) In relation to a building which is to be sold, the seller.
b) In relation to a building which is to be rented out, the prospective landlord.
c) In relation to a building where construction work is being carried out, the person responsible for carrying out the construction work.
d) In relation to an air conditioning system, the person who has control of the operation of the system.
The Certificates will have to be issued by suitably approved and authorised experts and will grade the building they inspect from “A” very efficient to “G” very inefficient. It is thought this will have a number of advantages because Certificates will allow a potential buyer, tenant, or occupier to assess the efficiency of carbon emissions and heating or cooling efficiency for energy costs. However, the basic aim is to improve the energy efficiency of buildings by reducing carbon emissions and heat loss as an environmental protection measure. The timetable for implementation of the regulations for commercial properties is as follows:-
Certificate required for the sale, rent or construction of buildings over 10,000 sq. metres – 6th April 2008.
Certificate required for the sale, rent or construction of buildings over 2,500 sq. metres – 1st July 2008
Certificate required for the sale, rent or construction of all remaining commercial buildings over 50 sq. metres – 1st October 2008
For public buildings over 1,000 sq. metres, an Energy Certificate must be displayed from the 1st October 2008.
Domestic dwellings do not escape the regulations as an Energy Performance Certificate is required when a building is constructed, sold or rented out. Where a Home Information Pack is produced in connection with the sale of a house, the Energy Performance Certificate must be no more than 12 months old when the property is first marketed. A Certificate will normally be valid for 10 years. For dwellings, the time scale for production of Certificates is as follows:-
Certificate required on construction of all dwellings with effect from the 6th April 2008.
Certificate required on the sale or rent of all remaining dwellings – 1st October 2008.
It should be noted that all remaining dwellings includes local authority housing and holiday accommodation.
Clearly, those business owners who are in a position of having to obtain an Energy Performance Certificate should start to take action now, even though it may be some time before it becomes a requirement. It is anticipated that obtaining the Certificate will be very difficult if left till the last minute because as things stand at the moment, it is not thought that there are sufficient approved persons authorised for the issue of such Certificates. At Bradshaw Bennett, we have retained the services of Bureau Veritas who employ experienced engineers and carbon consultants who can conduct all the preparatory work for your organisation which will be transformed into actual Certificates to avoid any unnecessary disruption. This is not something that can be ignored as stringent penalties for non compliance are proposed. These are bad enough for dwellings, but for commercial property, they are significantly higher.
To discuss, obtain more detail or arrange for a meeting to assess the impact of these new regulations, please telephone our Commercial Director Andy Bray on 01625 505870.
