The Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012

Made: 17th December 2012

Laid before Parliament: 19th December 2012

Coming into force: 9th January 2013

The Secretary of State is a Minister designated for the purposes of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 in relation to measures relating to the environment.

The Secretary of State makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 and by section 74 of the Energy Act 2011 .

PART 1 — Introductory

Citation, application, extent and commencement

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• (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012.

• (2) Subject to regulation 5 and any other exemptions in these Regulations, and notwithstanding section 4 of the Building Act 1984 , these Regulations apply to all buildings including buildings which are exempt from building regulations by virtue of that section.

• (3) These Regulations extend to England and Wales.

• (4) These Regulations shall come into force on 9th January 2013.

Interpretation

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• (1) In these Regulations—

• “Green Deal Framework Regulations” means the Green Deal Framework (Disclosure, Acknowledgment, Redress etc.) Regulations 2012;

• “accreditation scheme” means a scheme approved by the Secretary of State in accordance with—regulation 22; ......

• “air-conditioning system” means a combination of all the components required to provide a form of air treatment in which the temperature is controlled or can be lowered, and includes systems which combine such air treatment with the control of ventilation, humidity and air cleanliness;

• “asset rating” means an energy performance indicator determined from the amount of energy estimated to meet the different needs associated with a standardised use of a building;

• ...

• “building” means a roofed construction having walls, for which energy is used to condition the indoor climate , and (other than in regulations 9(4) and 11) reference to a building includes reference to a building unit in that building ;

• “building envelope” means the integrated elements of a building which separate its interior from the outdoor environment;

• “building unit” means a section, floor or apartment within a building which is designed or altered to be used separately;

• “bulk access data” means any data entered onto a register as required by regulation 27(2) , (3) or (4B) ;

• “display energy certificate” means a certificate which— complies with regulation 15; orin the case of a certificate issued in respect of an excluded building under regulation 15A, complies with regulation 15A(2);

• “dwelling” means a building or part of a building occupied or intended to be occupied as a separate dwelling;

• “energy assessor” means an individual who is a member of an accreditation scheme;

• “energy efficiency improvement” has the meaning given in section 2(4) of the Energy Act 2011;

• “energy from renewable sources” means energy from renewable non-fossil sources, namely wind, solar, aerothermal, geothermal, hydrothermal and ocean energy, hydropower, biomass, landfill gas, sewage treatment plant gas and biogases;

• “energy performance” in relation to a building means the calculated or measured amount of energy needed to meet the energy demand associated with a typical use of the building, which includes, inter alia, energy used for heating, cooling, ventilation, hot water and lighting;

• “energy performance certificate” means a certificate which—in the case of a certificate entered on the register before 9th January 2013 complied with the requirements of regulation 11(1) of the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007 ;in the case of a certificate entered on the register on or after 9th January 2013 complies with the requirements of regulation 9(1) of these Regulations; ...in the case of a certificate issued in respect of an excluded building under regulation 9A, complies with the requirements of regulation 9A(2) of these Regulations; or in the case of a certificate entered on the register before 6th April 2016 complies with the requirements of regulation 29 of the Building Regulations 2010;

• “excluded building” means a building owned, occupied or used by or for the purposes of—the Security Service, the Secret Intelligence Service or the Government Communications Headquarters;any of the armed forces;the Royal Family;a prison;a contracted out prison within the meaning of the Criminal Justice Act 1991; ora young offender institution;

• “general access data” means information that is required by these Regulations to be included in an energy performance certificate, a display energy certificate, an inspection report, or a recommendation report;

• “green deal disclosure obligations” means the obligations to provide an energy performance certificate in section 12 of the Energy Act 2011 and Part 7 of the Green Deal Framework Regulations;

• “green deal information” means the information about a green deal plan that is required by regulation 9(1)(ea) to be included in an energy performance certificate for a green deal property;

• “green deal plan” means an energy plan which is a green deal plan in accordance with section 1(3) of the Energy Act 2011;

• “green deal property” has the meaning given in section 12(5)(b) of the Energy Act 2011;

• “green deal relevant person” means a person who is authorised as—a green deal provider; ora green deal assessor certification body,in accordance with Part 2 of the Green Deal Framework Regulations;.

• “inspection report” means a report— issued by an energy assessor in accordance with regulation 19(1); orin the case of a report issued in respect of an excluded building, issued by an energy assessor in accordance with regulation 19A(2);

• “keeper of the register” means the Secretary of State, or the person keeping a register on the Secretary of State's behalf;

• “nominated date”, in relation to a display energy certificate, means a date no later than three months after the end of the period over which the operational rating is calculated, which is nominated by the energy assessor who issued the certificate;

• “operational rating” means an energy performance indicator determined from the amount of energy consumed during the occupation of a building over a period of time and the energy demand associated with a typical use of the building over that period;

• “payment period” has the meaning given in regulation 2(1) of the Green Deal Framework Regulations;

• “penalty charge notice” means a notice given pursuant to regulation 36;

• ...

• “register” means a register required to be maintained under regulation 27;

• “relevant person” (other than in the phrase “green deal relevant person”) means—in relation to a building which is to be sold, the seller;in relation to a building which is to be rented out, the prospective landlord;in relation to an air-conditioning system, the person who has control of the operation of the system; andin relation to a building which is constructed, the person who carries out the construction;

• “report reference number” means the unique number assigned by the keeper of the register to each energy performance certificate issued by an energy assessor under regulation 9 or display energy certificate issued by an energy assessor under regulation 15;

• “total useful floor area” means the gross floor area as measured in accordance with the guidance issued from time to time by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors or by any body replacing that Institution.

Meaning of “prospective buyer or tenant”

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A person becomes a prospective buyer or tenant in relation to a building when he or she—

• (a) requests any information about the building from the relevant person or the relevant person's agent for the purpose of deciding whether to buy or rent the building;

• (b) makes a request to view the building for the purpose of deciding whether to buy or rent the building; or

• (c) makes an offer, whether oral or written, to buy or rent the building.

Recommendation reports

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• (1) In these Regulations, a “recommendation report” means recommendations made by an energy assessor for the cost-effective improvement of the energy performance of a building ....

• (2) A recommendation report made on or after 9th January 2013 must include—

• (a) recommended cost-effective measures that could be carried out in connection with a major renovation of the building envelope or technical building systems;

• (b) recommended cost-effective measures for individual building elements that could be carried out without the necessity for a major renovation of the building envelope or technical building systems;

• (c) an indication as to how the owner or tenant can obtain more detailed information about improving the energy efficiency of the building, including more detailed information about the cost-effectiveness of the recommendations; and

• (d) information on the steps to be taken to implement the recommendations.

• (3) Any cost-effective measure which the energy assessor recommends must be technically feasible for the building to which the recommendation report relates.

• (4) A recommendation report made on or after 9th January 2013 ceases to be valid at the end of the following periods—

• (a) for a report which is included in an energy performance certificate, ten years from the date of that certificate;

• (b) for a report which is required to be held in respect of the building under regulation 14(3)(a)—

• (i) where the total useful floor area of the building is over 1,000m², seven years from the nominated date applying to the report; and

• (ii) in the case of any other building, ten years from the nominated date applying to the report ....

• (5) In this regulation—

• (a) “building element” means a controlled service or fitting or a thermal element within the meaning of those expressions in regulation 2(1) and (3) respectively of the Building Regulations 2010.

• (b) “major renovation” means the renovation of a building where more than 25% of the surface area of the building envelope undergoes renovation; and

• (c) “technical building systems” means technical equipment for the heating, cooling, ventilation, hot water, lighting (or for any combination thereof) of a building ....

PART 2 — Duties relating to Energy Performance Certificates

Application of Part 2

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• (1) This Part does not apply to—

• (a) buildings officially protected as part of a designated environment or because of their special architectural or historical merit, in so far as compliance with certain minimum energy performance requirements would unacceptably alter their character or appearance;

• (b) buildings used as places of worship and for religious activities;

• (c) temporary buildings with a time of use of two years or less;

• (d) industrial sites, workshops and non-residential agricultural buildings with low energy demand;

• (e) non-residential agricultural buildings which are in use by a sector covered by a national sectoral agreement on energy performance;

• (f) residential buildings which are used or intended to be used—

• (i) for less than four months of the year, or

• (ii) for a limited annual time of use and with an expected energy consumption of less than 25% of what would be the result of all-year use; and

• (g) stand-alone buildings with a total useful floor area of less than 50m².

• (2) Nothing in this Part requires an energy performance certificate to be given or made available to a prospective buyer or tenant at any time before the construction of the building has been completed.

Energy performance certificates on sale and rent

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• (1) Subject to regulation 8, this regulation applies where a building is to be sold or rented out.

• (2) The relevant person shall make available free of charge a valid energy performance certificate to any prospective buyer or tenant—

• (a) at the earliest opportunity; and

• (b) in any event no later than whichever is the earlier of—

• (i) in the case of a person who requests information about the building, the time at which the relevant person first makes available any information in writing about the building to the person; or

• (ii) in the case of a person who makes a request to view the building, the time at which the person views the building.

• (3) Paragraph (2) does not apply if the relevant person believes on reasonable grounds that the prospective buyer or tenant—

• (a) is unlikely to have sufficient means to buy or rent the building;

• (b) is not genuinely interested in buying or renting a building of a general description which applies to the building; or

• (c) is not a person to whom the relevant person is likely to be prepared to sell or rent out the building.

• (4) Nothing in paragraph (3) authorises the doing of anything which constitutes an unlawful act of discrimination.

• (5) The relevant person must ensure that a valid energy performance certificate has been given free of charge to the person who ultimately becomes the buyer or tenant.

Energy performance certificates on marketing

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• (1) Subject to regulation 8, this regulation applies where—

• (a) a building is to be sold or rented out; and

• (b) no valid energy performance certificate is available for that building.

• (2) Before the building is put on the market, the relevant person must secure that an energy performance certificate is commissioned for the building.

• (3) Before marketing the building, a person acting on behalf of the relevant person must be satisfied that an energy performance certificate has been commissioned for the building.

• (4) The relevant person and a person acting on behalf of the relevant person must use all reasonable efforts to secure that a valid energy performance certificate is obtained for the building before the end of a period of 7 days starting with the day on which the building was first put on the market.

• (5) Where any person subject to the duty in paragraph (4) is unable, despite using all reasonable efforts, to secure that a valid energy performance certificate is obtained for the building before the end of the 7 day period specified in that paragraph, the person shall secure that the certificate is obtained before the end of the period of 21 days immediately following the 7 day period.

• (6) In this regulation—

• (a) “the market” means the property market in England and Wales;

• (b) a building is put on the market when the fact that it is or may become available for sale or rent is, with the intention of marketing the building, first made public in England and Wales by or on behalf of the relevant person;

• (c) a fact is made public when it is advertised or otherwise communicated (in whatever form and by whatever means) to the public or to a section of the public;

• (d) an energy performance certificate is commissioned when a request is made—

• (i) which is properly addressed to an energy assessor who is accredited to produce energy performance certificates for the category of building in question, and

• (ii) which is in such form, contains all such information and is accompanied by such payment or undertaking to make such payment as is usually necessary to obtain a certificate.

Buildings to be demolished

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• (1) Regulations 6 and 7 do not apply in relation to a dwelling which is to be sold or rented out where the relevant person can demonstrate that—

• (a) the dwelling is suitable for demolition;

• (b) the resulting site is suitable for redevelopment;

• (c) all the relevant planning permissions, listed building consents and conservation area consents exist in relation to the demolition; and

• (d) in relation to the redevelopment—

• (i) either outline planning permission or planning permission exists, or both; and

• (ii) where relevant, listed building consent exists.

• (2) Regulation 6 does not apply in relation to any prospective buyer or tenant of a building other than a dwelling which is to be sold or rented out where—

• (a) the relevant person can demonstrate that—

• (i) the building is to be sold or rented out with vacant possession;

• (ii) the building is suitable for demolition; and

• (iii) the resulting site is suitable for redevelopment; and

• (b) the relevant person believes on reasonable grounds that the prospective buyer or tenant intends to demolish the building.

• (3) Regulation 7 does not apply in relation to a building other than a dwelling which is to be sold or rented out where the relevant person can demonstrate that—

• (a) the building is to be sold or rented out with vacant possession;

• (b) the building is suitable for demolition;

• (c) the resulting site is suitable for redevelopment;

• (d) all the relevant planning permissions, listed building consents and conservation area consents exist in relation to the demolition; and

• (e) in relation to the development—

• (i) either outline planning permission or planning permission exists, or both; and

• (ii) where relevant, listed building consent exists.

Energy performance certificates

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• (1) Subject to paragraph (6), an energy performance certificate entered on the register on or after 9th January 2013 must—

• (a) show the asset rating of the building, calculated and expressed in accordance with the methodology approved by the Secretary of State under regulation 24 of the Building Regulations 2010;

• (b) include a reference value in order to make it possible to compare and assess the energy performance of the building;