A very common question is “my build is reaching completion, how do we get the EPC?”
Well firstly congratulations on getting to the final stage! Before the EPC is lodged, we need to make sure everything is in order. There are a couple of key things to address straight away….
- Let your assessor know if anything has changed since the design specification or your last contact
- Make sure you have had/arranged an air permeability test
All new builds must be tested for air permeability. When the design stage SAP calculations were carried out the assessor would have set a target to reach, this is normally around 5m3/hm2 (7m3/hm2 in Scotland) but can vary depending on the build and services.
Build Energy can help you arrange an air test so just get in touch with us.
In the meantime your SAP assessor will send you paperwork to be signed and returned. We need this to provide evidence when the EPC is audited by MHCLG. This will include:
- A specification document summarising the design stage details
- Confirmation of thermal bridging scheme – any ACD/ECDs must be signed and returned
- MCS certificate or proof of installation for renewables
- Air test certificate
- U-value calculations – these can be obtained through your insulation company (many have online calculators) or provide us a detailed build-up and we can calculate them for you
- Full address of the new dwelling – we may need to register this with Landmark which can take up to 48 hours
Once we have received all the paperwork we are ready to lodge and issue the EPC.
PV and Feed in Tariffs
If you are installing photovoltaics (PV) you will need to supply various documentation to your chosen energy supplier including MCS certificates and an EPC.
This can be a rather ‘chicken and egg’ scenario, as your assessor cannot issue the EPC until the build is complete – and you will of course be in a mad rush to claim the best FiT before they change.
We appreciate this situation can occur so we will work with you as best we can to speed up the process. In these situations it is all the more important to keep your assessor very much informed, as early as possible.
Need help completing on your scheme?
Call us for a chat on 0330 055 34 05 or email be@buildenergy.co.uk.
