Guiding You Through Scottish EPC Regulations
From September 2016, owners of commercial buildings in Scotland have been required to produce an energy performance Action Plan when selling or leasing property.
Guidance notes on the Energy Performance of Non-domestic Buildings (Scotland) Regulations 2016 were published and they are now available on the Building Standards section of the Scottish Government's website found here.
The legislation which differs to the England and Wales counterpart came into effect on 1 September 2016 and the guide titled, "Improving Energy Performance and Emissions in existing Non-Domestic Buildings” can be found here. It aims to explain the roles, responsibilities and required actions arising from the new legislation.
The regulations apply to the owners of larger buildings – those over 1,000 m² and their application is triggered by the sale of a building or by rental to a new tenant. The building owner (prior to sale or letting) will be required to produce an Action Plan which identifies emissions and energy improvement targets and what building improvement work will be required.
Under a sale, new owners will inherit the Action Plan and the responsibility to improve the building passes to the new owner. The Action Plan can be reviewed and amended to change some of the provisions. Under a new lease, tenants may want to negotiate improvements before agreeing the lease but the costs and responsibilities will remain with the building owner.
The building owner has two options:
Improve their building within a reasonable timescale
Defer improvements by reporting annual energy use via Display Energy Certificates (DECs)
Owners can either carry out the improvements within three and half years or defer the improvements by reporting annual operational energy use via DECs. The levels of improvements are however, relatively modest and are subjected to payback tests of 7 years (or 15 years in the case of new boilers).
The information will be recorded by registered “section 63 advisors” and the Action Plan and DEC documents will be available on the Scottish EPC Register.
The following situations will allow exemption from the legislation:
Further information and FAQs can be found here.
