The EPC should be in place prior to the marketing of the property as applicants who request sight of the EPC must have this provided without delay. Vendors, landlords, assignors or their instructed property agent whose properties do not have a valid EPC in place, risk being reported to their local Trading Standards and the Office of Fair Trading.

The penalty for failing to provide a prospective purchaser or tenant with an EPC is fixed, for commercial properties this is in most cases at 12.5% of the rateable value of the building, with a default penalty of £750 when the formula cannot be applied. The penalties range from a minimum of £500 to a capped maximum of £5,000. For residential properties the penalty is £200.

Responsibility for enforcement in newly built properties falls within the remit of Building Control, whilst Trading Standards oversees the enforcement of certificates of existing buildings. To be specific, an EPC must be provided to a prospective purchaser or tenant, no later than:
a) Any written information about the building is provided in response to a request for information.
b) When a viewing/inspection of the building is conducted.

Please click here to view the latest proposed changes to EPC Regulation compliance to come into force 6th April 2012