Our Law Services
Commercial Property EPC's: The unwanted addition
As we should all know Energy Performance Certificates were required on the construction, sale or letting of the majority of commercial buildings with effect from 1st October.
By way of reminder:-
- No EPC is required for a surrender of a lease, sales under compulsory purchase schemes, lease renewals or extensions and the sale of shares in a company that owns property;
- If you have reasonable grounds to believe that a prospective buyer has no means to proceed with the transaction then there is no obligation to provide an EPC;
- In the case of auctions, the EPC does not need to be included in the catalogue. However, should a floor plan or a description of the room sizes be included, then the asset rating from the EPC is required to be shown. In all cases a full copy of the EPC is needed in the information pack that is provided to prospective purchasers;
- If you are selling a building that has communal areas, you have a choice as to whether to order an EPC for the whole building or whether to order EPC’s for each unit and a separate one for the communal areas;
- As long as you have no intention of having fixed services i.e. heating, air conditioning etc and there is no ability to include fixed services to condition the indoor climate, then an EPC will not be required. However, should this change, and the property is fitted out with fixed services then an EPC will be needed;
- An EPC is required before a Building Completion Certificate can be issued;