When do you need a commercial EPC?

The trigger points

Government guidance states that you must have an EPC when you are "selling a property, renting out a property, building a new property", and that "you can be fined if you do not get an EPC when you need one" (gov.uk). For commercial property in practice that means a certificate is needed when a building or unit is marketed for sale or to let, and when it is newly constructed.

Validity: check before you buy another one

• An EPC "is valid for 10 years", so a certificate lodged within the last decade may still be usable for a new letting or sale.
• Search the national register for the address before instructing an assessor. Landlords pay for duplicate certificates more often than they should.
• A valid certificate is not the same as a compliant one. A ten year old F-rated certificate is valid, and it is also a MEES problem: see the MEES guide.
• Where the building has been materially altered or the services replaced, a new assessment is likely to produce a different, and often better, rating even though the old certificate is technically still valid.

Buildings outside the requirement

Not every building needs a certificate. Government guidance gives "industrial sites, workshops and non-residential agricultural buildings that do not use a lot of energy" as examples of buildings that do not require an EPC. Whether a specific building falls inside or outside that description is a judgement call, and it is one worth putting to a qualified assessor rather than deciding yourself, because getting it wrong on a letting has consequences under the minimum standard rules.

The practical sequence for a landlord

1. Search the register for the address before doing anything else.
2. If a valid certificate exists, check the rating against the minimum standard, not just the expiry date.
3. If the rating is below the standard, decide between improvement works and a registrable exemption, and start early: works take longer than deals allow.
4. If no certificate exists, instruct an accredited non-domestic assessor, supplying plans and access details to keep the fee down.
5. Check the certificate is lodged on the register after the assessment, since that is what makes it exist for everyone else.
6. Diary the expiry, and the expiry of any exemption you register.

This page summarises published government guidance and is not legal advice. Whether a particular building requires an EPC, and whether a particular tenancy is in scope of the minimum standard, are questions to confirm with a qualified assessor or your professional adviser.