Penalties for not having an EPC

Local weights and measures authorities (usually through their trading standards officers) are responsible for enforcing the requirement to have an EPC on sale or let of a building. Failure to make available an EPC as required by the regulations means the relevant person (i.e. seller or landlord) or a person acting on their behalf (i.e. estate or letting agent) may be liable to a civil penalty charge notice.

Trading standards officers may act on complaints or undertake investigations. The trading standards officer may request that a copy of the EPC is provided to them. If requested a copy of the EPC this information must be provided within 7 days of the request or be liable again to a penalty charge notice for failing to do so. A copy of an EPC can be requested at any time up to 6 months after the last day for compliance with when the duty was to make it available.

The penalty for failing to make an EPC available to any prospective buyer or tenant when selling or renting a non-dwelling is fixed, in most cases, at 12.5% of the rateable value of the building, with a default penalty of £750 where the formula cannot be applied. The range of penalties under this formula are set with a minimum of £500 and capped at a maximum of £5,000.

A further penalty can be issued for failure to provide a copy of the EPC when requested to an officer of an enforcement authority within 7 days. This is fixed at £200.

If a penalty charge notice is issued but a person believes it should not have been issued then they can request a review. If they are not satisfied with the outcome of the review an appeal may be made to the county court within 28 days after the notice confirming the penalty charge notice has been received from the local authority.

It is the duty of every person with an interest in, or in occupation of, the building to cooperate with any seller or prospective landlord as far as is necessary to enable them to comply with any duty under the regulations to make available an EPC, and allow access to any energy assessor they appoint.

Situations where an EPC may be unobtainable in time

The relevant person will not be liable to a penalty charge notice in a sale or rental:

• where a request for an EPC has been made the person who is to provide the EPC has made the request for an EPC as soon as possible after he became subject to this requirement and despite all reasonable efforts and enquiries, a valid EPC is not in the possession or control of the seller or prospective landlord

The EPC should nonetheless be made available to prospective buyers or tenants as soon as the seller or prospective landlord has it or in the case of rental buildings:

• where a prospective tenant was seeking to rent the building in an emergency requiring his urgent relocation
• the landlord did not have in his possession a valid EPC at the time of letting
• there was insufficient time for the prospective landlord to be reasonably expected to have obtained an EPC before letting the building; and
• the landlord has given a valid EPC to the tenant as soon as reasonably practicable after letting the building