EPC's Compulsory for Commercial Property

Under the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007 (as amended), there is a requirement for Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) to be issued by an accredited assessor (subject to some exceptions noted below) on the construction, sale or renting out of non-dwellings and the implementation timetable is as follows:

6 April 2008 - where there is a total useful floor area over 10,000 sq. metres
1 July 2008 - where the area is over 2,500 sq. metres
1 October 2008 - for all the remaining buildings within the scope of the Regulations.

EPCs are NOT required for:
-places of worship,
-temporary buildings with a planned use of less than 2 years,
-certain types of building with low energy demand including, industrial sites, workshops and
-non-residential agricultural buildings
-stand-alone non-residential buildings with a total useful floor are of less than 50sq. metres.
The Regulations specify the point at which (subject to some limited exceptions) certificates are to be made available

For non-residential property EPCs have a validity of 10 years.

There is also a requirement in the Regulations for there to be inspections of air-conditioning systems. This applies from 1 January 2008 and is implemented as follows:

If the system is put into service after 1 January 2008, the first inspection must take place within five years of the system being put into service.
If the system is in service before 1 January 2008, the date of the first inspection depends on the output of the system:
systems with an output of more than 250 kW must be inspected before 4 January 2009;
systems with an output of more than 12 kW must be inspected before 4 January 2011.Finally, from 1 October 2008, occupiers of certain buildings will be required to show a Display Energy Certificate (DEC) in a prominent place. The requirement to display a DEC only applies to buildings with a total useful floor area over 1,000 square metres occupied by public authorities and by institutions providing public services to a large number of persons and therefore frequently visited by those persons.
Circular 02/07: The Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and inspections) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007 (www.practicallaw.com/4-253-3952) states that public museums and swimming pools will fall into the latter category of buildings required to display a DEC, but hotels and retail outlets will not. According to Circular 02/07, further guidance on establishing whether a building requires a DEC will be published shortly.