Conservation of fuel and power
Renovating or replacing Thermal elements
Where an individual thermal element is to be renovated and amounts to over 50% of the surface of the thermal element itself needs to be renovated the entire element will still need to comply with what it set out in L1 (a) (i) (Limiting heat again and loss through thermal elements and other areas of the fabric of the building)
Energy Performance improvement as a consequence – regulation 28
With an already existing building that has a floor space that can be used which is over 1000m2 where any work being carried out is either an extension, the increase in capacity of fixed building services will need to have an energy assessment to get an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC).
Certificates for Energy Performance
This section applies to both new constructions and alterations to existing properties where fixed services (heating, hot water, mechanical ventilation or air conditioning) needs to be provided or extended.
When the above applies, whoever is carrying out the work will also need to provide an (EPC) to the owner and inform the local authority that work has been undertaken and provide them with a registration number for the EPC. This must be provided no later than 5 days after the work has been completed.
The EPC should state:
. The asset rating of the property.
. Include the legal standard benchmark or reference value.
. Be issued by a certified energy assessor that is qualified to produce a certificate for the works that have been undertaken.
. The issuer must also produce a recommendation report of improvements that could be undertaken in the property.
. The issuer must also be valid, and the certificate and recommendations must also be valid too.
. The certificate also needs to state a reference number that was entered on to the register for the data set that was used to produce the certificate.
. The address of the property (unless it is a portable property in which case the registered owners address need to be stated).
. An estimation of the buildings total usable floor space.
. The energy assessors name.
. The energy assessors’ employers address (if self-employed, their trading name and address needs to be stated).
. The date and issue of the certificate.
. The name of the assessors’ accreditation scheme to which they are a member.
. In some cases, certification for several units can be based on just one unit if they are all the same or very similar and all use the same construction methods and materials.
. In the case of flats or multiple units within the same building, certification is excluded if they all share a common heating system.
. When a property features some dwellings and some non-dwelling areas, certification for the non-dwelling sections can be based on a common certificate for all the non-dwelling areas.
. Where you have multiple, single dwellings that are all based on the same design size, construction methods, quality of energy performance and materials. Certification can be granted by an energy assessor providing they confirm that this compliance will be guaranteed.
. In respect to the validity of a certificate, it can only be classed as valid if it was entered on to the register not more than 10 years prior to the date it became available and that it has not been replaced by a newer certificate. It must also not contain any personal identifiable identification.
Recommendation reports for regulation 29A
The report must include:
. Any reasonable cost improvements to fixed building services that can be made to a property that run-in conjunction with other major works.
. Any improvements that can be made to individual building elements that can be dine without the need for major renovation.
. Information on how the property owner can access more in-depth knowledge on how they can improve their buildings energy efficiency and for details on the cost of the recommendations.
. Details on what’s involved in implementing the recommended steps.
The issuer of the recommendations must also ensure that any improvements that they recommend are actually realistic.
