EPCs for Commercial Buildings

6.3 Protecting Energy Performance Certificate Information

The information in an EPC is about a building and is provided to the relevant person (usually the landlord or owner of the building) by the energy assessor. Access to the EPC in the register is via the report reference number on the certificate. Anyone in possession of the report reference number can access the EPC. A seller or prospective landlord or those acting on their behalf may disclose the EPC or information from it to other parties.

The Regulations, however, protect the EPC and the underlying information from unauthorised disclosure to a third party eg by a company using the EPC without permission to market their products. Inappropriate use of that information is liable on conviction to a fine. The EPC, recommendation report and any information derived from them can only be disclosed in the following situations:

• by an owner or tenant, or those acting on their behalf
• for the purposes of assisting prospective buyers or tenants make decisions on whether to buy or rent your building
• to accreditation schemes in fulfilling their accreditation functions
• to enforcement bodies as part of their duties in enforcing the new Regulations
• to the Secretary of State for monitoring the application, compliance and enforcement of the new Regulations and for statistical or research purposes
• in complying with obligations under the Regulations or under the law relating to Home Information Packs
• for the purposes of preventing or detecting crime, apprehending or prosecuting offenders, establishing, exercising or defending legal rights or complying with a court order.