Commercial EPC Specialists

Our depth of technical knowledge underpins our work. Our EPCs have been used successfully to represent our clients interests in court, as shown here.

Unless an exemption applies, all commercial properties are currently required to have a minimum EPC grade “E” rating in order to let the property where the lease is less than 99 years. Banks are also stipulating this requirement as part of the lending terms on commercial loans.

In 2021, The government proposes a tightening of the MEES regulations to a minimum EPC grade “B” rating for 2030.

Although the exact details and timeline to the legislation is still to be finalised due to impacts of the Covid pandemic, the industry is still expecting there to be tightening of MEES for 2030 and not having a B rating is seen as an issue in the long term for investment companies and banks.

At SEA Consulting, we have a wealth of experience spanning over 40 years in designing refurbishments of commercial property. We are now producing MEES Improvement Reports for landlords and tenants. The reports are designed to give a high level overview of the various options to improvement the EPC rating and the indicative costs involved. 

A green lease clause is a provision included in commercial property leases that encourages or mandates environmentally sustainable practices by both landlords and tenants. These clauses aim to improve the environmental performance of buildings, reduce energy consumption, and minimize the overall carbon footprint. More and more green lease clauses are being inserted into the commercial leases, so what’s the problem?

1. The information used to produce the original EPC is no longer available. In absence of the missing information, a subsequent EPC will almost certainly achieve a worse rating. 
2. The original EPC was done as part of a “New Build”, some of the assumptions used to produce the EPC were optimistic at best.  The EPC rating may be an over estimation of the buildings true performance in order to pass building control.
3. Some EPCs can be incorrect for a number reasons, including miss identification of building elements during the previous survey or internal alterations post survey.

If the original EPC wasn’t performed correctly or cannot replicated without missing information, you may be legally responsible for maintaining an EPC rating that can only be achieved by incurring cost to improve the property. We carry out EPC reviews to ensure both the landlord and tenants are not going to have to pay for unnecessary remedial work. Get in contact to find out how we can help you.

Learn more about the importance of quality EPCs here.

In an era where environmental responsibility is paramount, our focus on sustainability sets us apart. As chartered building services engineers we bring innovation to every project, making your business greener and saving you money. Learn more about how SEA Consulting can help your business on its path to Net Zero here.