Estate agents have been reminded they will be susceptible to fines if they do not revise marketing material to include energy performance certificates.
With effect from 6 April, the person or company responsible for a marketing a building must display the front page of an EPC with marketing media.
Since October 2008 the regulations for providing EPCs have been mandatory for all commercial properties, but the fine liability has been with the client, and not the selling agent.
The penalty for failing to provide the certificate 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.
Stuart Holton, a chartered surveyor and EPC assessor at Aitchison Raffety, said: “This will have a major effect on commercial agents, with most of them presumably taking the decision to refuse to market properties where EPCs have not been at least ordered.”
He added: “Most owners of properties which are being marketed have already obtained EPCs and so there is now likely to be a rush from the remaining few to get everything in place before the deadline. Agents will also have to change marketing material to ensure that the required information is displayed.”
