From 20 September 2020, all new and existing EPCs for domestic and commercial buildings in the UK, other than Scotland, will be lodged and stored in the new central register developed and maintained by The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG). Landmark, which used to manage the EPC register, will cease to perform this function.

There are some significant changes in the new register:

1. EPCs are now live on the government website, and can be searched via their property addresses or unique certificate numbers. The link to the EPC Register is located at https://find-energy-certificate.digital.communities.gov.uk/
2. New EPCs will only exist in the web viewer format, therefore they are not designed for printing out and local storage. Although there is a print function on the live register, the print out files are in an untidy web format. The old EPCs issued prior to 20^th September came as well-designed PDF files.
3. For Building Control purposes, clients will need to email BCOs the web links to their EPCs rather than send them EPCs in PDF format.

Other than the above changes, major content of EPCs stays roughly the same. The existing EPCs ratings will remain intact. The underlying rationale for these changes made by the Government seems to be better reporting of EPCs, which can guide future policies in terms of energy efficiency in the building sector.

Innervision Design Ltd can advise architects, developers and house buildings on a variety of energy efficiency issues. We have undertaken SAP and SBEM modelling for thousands of projects. We look forward to receiving your calls and emails. Please feel free to get in touch for a friendly discussion and some initial advice. For more information, please visit our website: https://www.innervision-design.co.uk/sap-calculations-and-epc.php.