Does your commercial building need an EPC? Who should carry out the assessment? How do you find them? Our energy assessors have put this guide together to make sure you choose the right person for the job.

Who Can Provide a Commercial EPC?

Only a Non-Domestic Energy Assessor (NDEA) is able to carry out a Commercial EPC. In fact, the actual name of a Commercial EPC is a Non-Domestic EPC. This NDEA will have gone through specific training that teaches them how to calculate Commercial EPC ratings.

We provide quick commercial EPCs across major UK cities, including Liverpool, Manchester and more.

An NDEA is different to a Domestic Energy Assessor (DEA) who can only produce EPCs for dwellings. The two processes are vastly different. The Commercial EPC is much more detailed.

Not only does a NDEA have to be qualified, they need to be a member of a government approved accreditation body. This accreditation makes sure that every assessor works to a code of practice, is insured and has a good track record of creating accurate EPCs. An EPC cannot be uploaded to the central register without going through an accreditation body.

Your NDEA will need to complete a thorough assessment of your building. They will take measurements of each room as well as noting the construction type of all the walls and roofs. They will also need to fully understand your HVAC and hot water systems. The level of detail and accuracy required makes it really important that your chosen assessor is competent.

How to Find a Commercial EPC Assessor

If you're in the North West, give us a call on 01925 699 321. We hold all the qualifications and accreditations to carry out EPCs for businesses.

To get a Commercial EPC on your business premises, you'll need a qualified and accredited NDEA. The government, with the help of their accreditation bodies, keep a register of all accredited NDEAs. This is the fastest way to find your local assessor. Just input your postcode and it will show you your closest EPC assessors.

There are a few things to watch out for on the register. Everyone able to carry out a Commercial EPC is on there. This means that people who work for housing associations or councils who don't take work outside of these organisations are on there. Also, there is no review system on the register. We've heard stories of people waiting for hours for an assessor to turn up and they never show.

To ensure the reputability of a commercial energy assessor, we'd be looking for an assessor that has a custom domain name on their email address. For example, our email is hello@nwepcs.com. There are many examples of assessors using a "gmail.com" or "btinternet.com" email address. If they have a custom domain like "nwepcs.com", you can paste it into a Google search and see their Google profile with all of their reviews. These are likely to be the more reputable providers of Commercial EPCs as they are putting a brand out in to the public domain.

Also, avoid booking your EPC through a panel. A panel is a company that finds lots of customers, subcontracts all the work out to local assessors and either adds a hefty cut or screws the assessor down. These companies usually offer a nationwide service through a sleek website and sometimes offer additional services like Gas Safety Certificates or Electrical Installation Condition Reports (EICR).

What to Look For in a Commercial EPC Assessor

Now you've found a couple of local assessors with at least a few good reviews, you need to check a few things. First is availability, are they available in your time scales? NDEAs are usually booked a week or two in advance, so try not to leave this until the last minute. Some assessors, like ourselves, provide evening and weekend assessments to complete EPCs for our customers when time is limited.

Price is the next factor to consider. There are multiple ways to price for a Commercial Energy Performance Certificate. Some assessors price on a pure per m² basis. Although straightforward, this is not the perfect solution. Larger buildings with less rooms are easier to complete than a small building with more rooms. This is why we've adopted a room based pricing structure. Pricing this way is a fair reflection of the work involved across all building sizes.

Cheapest is not always best. Also consider the experience and reputation of the assessor as well as whether they can work to your time frames.