Using data gatherers

In certain circumstances, data gatherers working under the supervision of the energy assessor can assist with producing EPCs for larger and more complex buildings and portfolios of buildings. However, the energy assessor must be in a position to verify the data and to supervise how and by whom it is collected.

The department has provided accreditation schemes with the following advice on the use of data gatherers:

There is no justification for using data gatherers on level three buildings, because the scale and complexity of level three buildings is not sufficient to justify their use on them.

The use of data gatherers on level three buildings is not permitted.

For level four and five buildings the energy assessor must:

• visit the and inspect all buildings for which they issue an EPC to ensure they can verify any data provided and be sure that it is appropriate for the building before the EPC is lodged on the central register. This also enables the non-domestic energy assessor to provide the building owner or landlord with the outcome
• record all the assistants used and the provenance of all data that has been used to produce the EPC
• provide evidence of supervision of the process. One way of demonstrating this would be via the use of ISO9001 procedures
• demonstrate the suitability of any assistants used - the energy assessors are responsible for ensuring that any assistants used are fit and proper and suitably qualified, for example by being a level three energy assessor or through membership of a recognised professional body. The energy assessor must be able to provide evidence to support an assistant’s suitability to do the work

The energy assessor must be able to demonstrate that the contractual arrangements of any assistants allow sufficient supervision and quality control by the energy assessor.

Employing assistants from the same company as the energy assessor would be one way of demonstrating this.

Remote lodgement business models, which is the practice of an energy assessor lodging a certificate which has been produced from data that has not been collected or verified in the manner described above by the energy assessor is not acceptable.

The definitions of level three and level four buildings and level five buildings, which are defined as those buildings for which the dynamic simulation model is used to carry out the assessment, are attached at Annex B.