How to get an Energy Performance Certificate

Getting an EPC is a legal requirement if you're selling or renting. But it's also relatively simple and cheap to get one if you know how. Here's everything you need to know about how to get an energy performance certificate.

Ruth Jackson-Kirby Personal Finance & Property Journalist

Getting an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) is essential if you want to sell or rent your home. To get an EPC Certificate you need to have your property assessed then the certificate is drawn up. Here’s everything you need to know about how to get an EPC.

What is an Energy Performance Certificate?

An Energy Performance Certificate shows potential buyers or tenants how energy efficient your property is. To get an EPC a qualified energy assessor will visit your home and carry out some tests to rank it’s energy efficiency from A to G taking into account the performance of everything from your boiler to your loft insulation and include recommendations on how to improve the rating.

The most energy efficient homes get an A ranking while the least get a G rating. Most homes in the UK are rated D on their EPC, according to the Government. A colour coded system makes it easy to understand your EPC – it looks similar to the energy efficiency stickers you see on new appliances such as your fridge. See below an example EPC report.

For more information on EPCs, how they work and whether you need one read our complete guide to EPCs: Do I need one for selling my house.

How to get an energy performance certificate?

Getting an Energy Performance Certificate is a straightforward process. You need to contact an accredited domestic energy assessor who will come to your property and perform a visual inspection.

Your Energy Performance Certificate has to be completed by a qualified and accredited domestic energy assessor. You can use our EPC service to get and compare instant quotes from local Domestic Energy Assessors.

The assessor will study and photograph several different elements of your home to calculate the EPC rating including any insulation, the heating system, windows and lighting.

After they have visited the property, the assessor will leave and draw up your Energy Performance Certificate before emailing you a copy.

Your estate agent may offer to arrange the EPC assessment for you. While this is convenient you may pay more than you need to. It may be cheaper to get an energy performance certificate yourself. You can get instant quotes from Domestic Energy Assessors in your local area now via our site.

What information is included on an EPC?

Your Energy Performance Certificate will let you know how energy efficient your home is, how it compares to other homes and what you can do to improve its green credentials.

Your EPC will cover:

• The energy efficiency rating. This will give your home a rank of A to G for both its current energy efficiency and its potential rating if you follow the recommendations included in the EPC.
• A breakdown of the property’s energy performance. This will list everything from your walls to your hot water to your lighting giving each one an energy efficiency rating.
• The environmental impact of the property. This is a separate A-G rating based on your homes CO2 emissions. The higher the rating the less impact the property is having on the environment.
• Recommendations to improve the EPC rating. A list of ways you can improve the property’s energy efficiency including estimated costs, what it would save and what rating your home may have if the recommendation is carried out.
• Estimated energy costs. A table shows an estimate of your current energy costs and what your costs could potentially be if you improve the property’s energy efficiency.

The government have an example EPC that explains each section set out below. You can also find out more with our complete guide to energy performance certificates.

Do I need an EPC?

Yes, if you are selling your home, renting out a property or building a property in England, Wales or Northern Ireland you will need an EPC in most cases. It must be available for potential buyers or tenants to look at, so you need to get it organised as soon as you decide to market the property. If an EPC isn’t available, you could be fined.

There are, however, some building that don’t require an EPC. These include:

• Holiday accommodation. It if is used for less than four months a year.
• Rarely used residential buildings. If used for less than four months a year.
• Industrial sites. This includes workshops.
• Buildings that will be demolished.
• Temporary buildings. If they will be used for less than two years.
• Small buildings. If it is a stand-alone building with less than 50 sqm of floor space.
• Places of worship.

Listed buildings may be exempt from needing an EPC, although the government says ‘you should get advice from your local authority conservation officer if the work would alter the building’s character’. You’re unlikely to know what work is proposed until you’ve had an EPC carried out, so it’s probably a good idea to speak to your local authority in advance if you’re thinking of proceeding with selling a Listed building without one.

How to get a copy of my EPC certificate

An EPC is valid for 10 years. So, you may not need to get a new one drawn up for your property if it has already been assessed in the past decade. Simply check the government register for an existing EPC and print it off.

If you live in England, Wales and Northern Ireland you can check the government’s EPC database to see if your property already has an EPC. In Scotland you can check the Scottish EPC register.

When should I get an energy performance certificate?

You need an EPC to sell or rent out a property. It must be available for prospective owners or tenants to view within seven days of the property going on the market.

It is a legal requirement to have an EPC in England, Wales and Northern Ireland since 2008. Scotland added the legislation in 2009. If you don’t have one when you are marketing a property you could face a fine of up to £5,000.

That means you need to get an Energy Performance Certificate as soon as you start preparing to put your property on the market. It typically takes around 10 days to get an EPC.

Need an EPC quickly? Get instant quotes from Domestic Energy Assessors in your local area now.

Has my property already got an EPC?

Energy Performance Certificates became a legal requirement in 2008. So, any property sold or rented out since then will have had an EPC. This means there is a good chance your property has already got an EPC.

For properties in England, Wales and Northern Ireland you can check whether a property has an existing and valid EPC at Gov.uk using a postcode, street name and town, or certificate number. If you need help you can call 020 3829 0748 Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm.

In Scotland you can search the Scottish EPC Register by report reference number or postcode.

However, an EPC is only valid for 10 years so more and more EPCs will now have expired meaning you could have to get a new EPC even if your property has already been assessed for one.

I’ve improved my house, do I need an EPC?

If your property has a pre-existing EPC, make sure you check when it was done and whether any works have been completed on the property since. A low EPC can affect how easy it is to sell or rent out your home. If work has been done to improve your home’s energy efficiency it is well worth getting a new EPC that reflects its improved rating and putting your home in an even better light to prospective buyers.

I’m renting my house, do I need an EPC?

If you are renting out your home government regulations require all rental properties to have an EPC rating of E or higher before being let to tenants. The government has also committed to look at a long term trajectory to improve the energy performance standards of privately rented homes in England and Wales, with the aim for as many of them as possible to be upgraded to EPC Band C by 2030, where practical, cost-effective and affordable. But that is still currently a proposal. See our Renting out your home ultimate guide for more on Landlord responsibilities.

How to prepare for an EPC

From making your home accessible to gathering the right paperwork, there are several things you can do to prepare for an EPC.

Ensure the domestic energy assessor can access the following areas of the property:

• The outside of the property
• The boiler
• The loft
• The hot water cylinder
• All rooms
• The gas meter
• The electricity meter

Gather EPC paperwork your energy assessor may need:

• Documents for extensions or loft conversions. Have the Building Regulations Completion Certificate to hand if possible and the dates for when the work was done.
• Information on insulation. If you’ve added any insulation to the property have any paperwork to hand.
• FENSA certificates. If you’ve had windows fitted in the past 15 years have the FENSA certificate available.
• Paperwork for external insulation. If you’ve had cavity wall insulation, then rendered or repointed the external walls having the warranty or certificate for the work to hand will help the assessor.
• Information on renewable energy sources. Anyone whose had solar panels or a wind turbine installed should make sure they are working and have the installation paperwork to hand.

Check out our guide for the other 11 key documents you need to sell your house.

Things you can do to improve your home’s potential EPC rating:

• Get your boiler serviced
• Install low-energy lightbulbs
• Seal draughty gaps around doors and windows
• Insulate your hot water tank

Organise your EPC. Get instant quotes from Domestic Energy Assessors in your local area.

What happens in an EPC assessment?

What happens in an EPC assessment is a domestic energy assessor will come to the property and perform a visual inspection. They will look at a range of different elements of your home to assess its energy efficiency.

For an EPC, the domestic energy assessor will look at:

• The building. They will make a note of the age and size of the building as well as what it has been constructed from.
• The heating system. They will inspect the boiler and heating controls.
• Insulation. They will check for cavity wall insulation and loft insulation.
• The windows. They will look at what the frames are made from and whether they are single or double glazed.
• Lighting. They will check whether you are using energy saving or low energy light bulbs.
• Secondary energy sources. They will look for solar panels, wind turbines or heat pumps.

Once your assessor has looked at the property they will go away and do their calculations to provide you with an EPC rating for the property. This will appear on your Energy Performance Certificate along with the assessors advice for how you could improve the building’s energy efficiency.

Get instant quotes from Domestic Energy Assessors in your local area.

How is the EPC calculated?

In order to calculate the EPC on a property a qualified Domestic Energy Assessor will visit the property and inspect it. They will score various aspects of the building based on how energy efficient they are and what condition they are in.

The assessor will be looking at where there is potential for a building to lose heat or energy, checking the insulation levels, looking at how efficient your heating system is and whether you are using energy efficient products such as light bulbs.

Every area of the inspection will be given a score. These are then all added together to give the property an overall score that is then converted into an EPC rating. A property that has the maximum energy efficiency score will be rated A whereas the worst buildings will get a G rating.

How long does it take to get an EPC certificate?

It should take around 10 days to get an EPC certificate. Once you have received several EPC quotes and chosen who you want to go with you should be able to book an assessment within the week.

On the day, the domestic energy assessor should take around an hour to complete their inspection. But this could be longer or shorter depending on the size of your property.

After that it should take from a couple of hours to a few days for them to write up your energy performance certificate and send it to you. Check how long this part will take before you book your assessment to ensure you don’t face unexpected delays.

How much does an EPC cost?

An EPC is essential if you are selling or renting out a property. You can expect your EPC to cost between £60 and £120.

The price you’ll pay will vary depending on the size of the building, its location, the type of property and the individual charges of the Domestic Energy Assessor you choose to use. You can find out more in our complete guide to EPC certificate costs.

There are two ways you can reduce the cost of your EPC. Firstly, don’t automatically opt for the service offered by your estate agent. It is likely to be more expensive than if you arrange your EPC yourself. Secondly, shop around and get several quotes from local companies before you book your EPC assessment. You can do this in one easy step on our free tool: Get instant quotes from Domestic Energy Assessors in your local area.

Frequently Asked Questions