EPC's - Hulley comments
19.08.08
Energy Performance Certificates become compulsory for all buildings in just a matter of weeks, yet still the industry appears to be either unprepared or unaware of the impact they are going to have.
At a time when the property industry most needs support, EPCs and their accompanying recommendations reports are about to heap further downward pressure on the market and add unnecessary costs and complexity for those professionals involved in producing them.
Even now, before they become a legal requirement for all buildings being leased, sold or modified, there is already a growing backlog due to a shortage of accredited energy assessors. Not because there are too few people with the skills and experience needed, but because engineers must undergo costly additional training before they become officially accredited assessors with one of the relevant schemes.
On October 1, demand for EPCs will soar and that backlog will inevitably get larger – slowing down a market which is already struggling.
Yet this problem could be very simply eased – at least in the short term. Look, for example, to Scotland. Here too there are backlogs and delays for EPCs, but at least the engineers with the skills and experience needed to sign off the reports are being allowed to do so without going through additional training.
By implementing this system in England and Wales, the Government could cut straight through the red tape which threatens to cause these unwanted delays, increasing the number of assessors overnight without calling the validity of the scheme into doubt.
After all, it is by taking real steps like this that the Government is most likely to effect a sea change in attitudes towards energy use which they claim they want for the whole of the UK.
