Energy performance certificate

An Energy Performance Certificate is a mandatory part of a Home Information Pack. The certificates are commissioned by the seller of the property (or their agent) from an accredited Energy Assessor, who visits the property to collect the relevant data and creates the certificate.

This data includes the date, construction and location of the house and relevant fittings (heating systems, insulation or double glazing, for example).

It will include suggestions to enable homeowners to improve the energy efficiency of the building. If a move is on the horizon, the quickest way to improve the energy rating of your home is to have a new high-efficiency boiler or cavity wall insulation installed.

This is a guaranteed way of jumping one clear band in the energy ratings, say from Band D to Band C, in the process making your home significantly more desirable.

What are SAP ratings?

SAP stands for Standard Assessment Procedure, also known as Energy Ratings. Houses are rated from 0 - 100, 0 being very inefficient and 100 being highly efficient.

SAP ratings are the Government's standard methodology for home energy rating. SAP uses SEDBUK (Seasonal Efficiency of Domestic Boilers in the UK) figures to calculate the energy needed for heating and hot water systems. SAP ratings are used by local authorities and housing improvement programmes to assess the energy efficiency of both new and old housing. The Building Regulations require a SAP assessment to be carried out on all new dwellings. (Source: DEFRA, April 2006)

From April 2007, the Home Information Pack came into force, this will require anybody selling their house to have a log-book of the property and all the controlled services within. A further part of the Home Information Pack is that all properties will require an Energy Rating to be undertaken.