McKinty and Wright Solicitors - Northern Ireland Based Solicitors, Lawyers Belfast.

For most people, one of the first things they will ask a car dealer about a prospective purchase is how many miles to the gallon can they expect to get from a particular model. The purchaser will be keen to know if the shiny piece of metal they see before them will drain their wallet dry. With the price of oil continuing to rise on a daily basis, this question, you would imagine, will be asked more frequently over the coming months. But how many of these same people will have asked about the “miles per gallon” of a property they own or rent?

From the 30 June 2008 this question will become a lot easier to answer: from this date the seller of a property (domestic or commercial) is under a legal duty to provide to a prospective/actual buyer an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC). The EPC will rate the energy performance of the building on a scale from A to G, where A is very efficient and G is very inefficient. The EPC will allow a prospective buyer to see how energy efficient the building is so as to enable them to include the running costs of the building in forming their decision whether or not to buy.

The EPC must be given to the prospective purchaser before the contract for sale has been entered into, and the cost of the EPC is borne by the seller. The EPC is valid for 10 years, so if the building is subsequently sold within 10 years the same EPC can be used again (indeed, there is no limit as to the number of times the EPC can be re-used during its 10 year validity period).

The EPC scheme will be extended on 30 September 2008 to encompass new buildings, whether they are residential or commercial. The builder or the person responsible for construction is responsible for obtaining the EPC and providing it to the owner.

From 30 December 2008 EPCs will be required for buildings (residential or commercial) which are rented. The Landlord of the particular building is under a legal duty to furnish the prospective/actual tenant with a valid EPC before the tenant enters into the letting. There is no need to obtain an EPC for an existing letting. Again, the EPC is valid for 10 years, with no limit to the amount of times it can be re-used during this period.

The EPC should always be accompanied by a recommendation report that lists ways of improving the energy rating of the building. The EPC and the recommendation report do not impose a legal duty on the buildings owner/landlord to implement any of the recommendations contained in them. The information will give the buyer/tenant an insight into how much energy the building will require to render it comfortable to occupy, and thus help with their decision whether or not to buy/rent.

EPCs can only be provided by an accredited energy assessor. The seller/landlord can commission their own EPC or we can put you in contact with an accredited assessor. The assessor will visit your building to carry out the assessment, and will look at, amongst other things, the type of building involved, the materials used to construct it, when it was constructed, the dimensions of the building, the heating systems and windows. This information will then be used to create the EPC which will be recorded on the Northern Ireland register and the assessor will provide the seller/landlord with a copy.

The Department of Finance and Personnel is overseeing the EPC process. They do not set the price of an EPC, but they estimate that an EPC for an ‘average’ house will cost around £100.

If you own a building and will never sell it or rent it out, EPCs will have no effect on you. They only become necessary when a building is being sold (from 30 June 2008), being rented (from 30 December 2008) or when a new build is completed (from 30 September 2008). After these dates, the sale or letting of a relevant building must be preceded by the furnishing of an EPC to the buyer/tenant as appropriate.