Essex Domestic Energy Assessor

I am an Accredited Domestic Energy Assessor who is a property professional focusing on the carbon footprint of a residential property. Since there is no longer any scientific doubt about global warming and the impact our use of energy has upon the environment, the government have taken the initiative to help homeowners to understand what they can do to conserve energy and reduce CO2 emissions.

In practice this means that all domestic properties now require an Energy Performance Certificate to be provided to prospective buyers when a property is marketed for sale. Although the requirement for a Home Information Pack has recently been suspended by the coalition Government the EPC remains a Mandatory requirement.

Landlords are also required to provide an Energy Performance Certificate when they rent out a home. The EPC must be made available free of charge to prospective tenants at the earliest opportunity and be included within the Tenancy Agreement.

The Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), provides information on the energy efficiency, heating costs and carbon emissions of the property. All EPC's must be produced by accredited (Licensed) Domestic Energy Assessors (DEA's) or Home Inspectors and in order to join an accreditation scheme all Energy Assessors and Home Inspectors must first gain an approved qualification.

The Energy Performance Certificate shows the buildings performance rated in terms of energy use per square meter of floor area, energy efficiency based on fuel costs and the environmental impact based on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Standardised assumptions about occupancy, heating patterns and geographical location allow for the certificate to be used for comparative purposes enabling one home to be fairly compared with another. Along with general information about the EPC the certificate also gives guidance and recommendations for improving the buildings performance rating.

The inspection takes approximately one hour depending on the size of the property. Only in exceptional circumstances will more time be required.

Identification of the age, construction, materials, services provided and available and measurements form the basis for the inspection of the building, therefore the DEA will require access to the exterior of the property, all rooms in the house plus any cellars, lofts or rooms-in-the-roof. During the asessment the DEA undertakes a methodical visual inspection of all relevant parts of the property, takes measurements and notes. The DEA needs to see the boiler and any gas or electricity meters, he will also sort the homeowners permission to take photographs to support the information recorded about the property.

Once all the information about the property has been collated the DEA then enters this into a government approved software package and an Energy Performance Certificate is produced and the details lodged on the Landmark Register.

NHER Accreditation Scheme - Membership Number NHER002630