The following infomation has been passed to me by Noel at Scott Winson
I thought I would let you have the following information, should it apply to you.
Energy Performance Certificates
The government has recently introduced legislation to help the UK meet its carbon reduction targets and some parts of this directly affect clients who own commercial property.
The owner of a commercial property that is going to be leased or sold must produce an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) as part of the conveyancing process. Also any public buildings over 1,000m2 must have a Display Energy Certificate (DEC) where visitors can see it.
Legislation now means that air conditioning units with over 250kw output must be assessed every 5 years to ensure that they are working efficiently.
There are certain insurers that are offering a range of products in this area and the market will develop further as businesses become aware of their responsibilities. As Risk Managers as well as Insurance Brokers we look to provide compliance solutions for our clients and add value to our business relationship.
Markets Allianz Engineering
Appointed providers prior to the legislation coming into force and are one of the key players in this field. They provide a good range of products to help clients comply with legislation as well as audits to help reduce energy use. Further information can be found on their informative website: www.allianzengineering.co.uk/energy/
Royal & Sun Alliance Engineering
The other key player and have teamed up with Charterhouse Energy. They provide similar compliance products for existing legislation and also solutions for future legislation (discussed below).
Others HSB are launching a service in partnership with Fisdens on 1st September.
Aviva have an arrangement with Bureau Veritas however finding any coherent information out from them about the services on offer has proved difficult!
Quote Information
If you would like a quotation for this service and provision of a certificate, you will need to provide the following information:
EPC/DEC
Full Address of property
Occupation (i.e. office, warehouse, residential, residential/commercial, retail etc.)
Size in square metres or feet
Number of floors
Type of heating (not essential but helpful)
Air-conditioning Inspections
Itemised plant listing
Upcoming Legislation
The next step is the Carbon Reduction Commitment which will come into force for April 2010. This will cover non-intensive energy users and they will have to pay for each tonne of CO2 that they emit. It will cover larger companies who spend roughly more than £500,000 a year on electricity. RSA and Allianz offer energy audits and advice on reducing consumption to help get companies ready to comply with their requirements.
Costs
RSA have issued some rough price guidelines as follows:
EPC - £500 to £5,000 depending on building size
DEC - £500 first year and £200 years 2-6
Air-conditioning inspections - £1,500 to £6,000 depending on size
Energy Audits: £1,500 to £6,000
This is a simple overview of the legislation and requirements.
We have more information that we can provide and also the Allianz website is a good resource with links to government websites. Scotland has chosen a different route to bring the relevant European directive into law and has slightly different terminology; however for all intents and purposes the requirements for commercial property owners are similar.
Please let me know should you have any further interest in this and we will help you become or continue to be compliant.
Kind regards,
Noel
Noel Preston Manager
Direct: 01444 251 161
Fax: 01444 251 150
Mobile: 07831 604 610
Sutton Winson Limited
Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (reg no. 310883) A UNiBA Partner and Unitas Broker For more information, visit our web site www.suttonwinson.com