A commercial or non-domestic EPC does the same job as the residential one, rating a building from A to G and listing what would improve it, but almost everything else about it is different: the method, the qualification needed to produce it, the price, and how the rules bite on a lease.
The short version
Different assessor qualification from a domestic EPC. Three levels of assessment depending on how complex the building services are. Valid ten years. A minimum of E already applies to letting commercial premises, with limited registered exemptions.
When a commercial building needs one
- Marketing a commercial property for sale or to let.
- Granting a new lease, or renewing an existing one.
- On completion of a new build or a material conversion.
- When an existing certificate expires and the premises are still let.
Some buildings fall outside it: places of worship, temporary buildings intended for under two years, industrial sites and workshops with low energy demand for conditioning the space, and stand-alone buildings under fifty square metres. Shell-and-core units with no heating or cooling installed are a common grey area worth checking before marketing.
The three levels
Non-domestic assessments are graded by the complexity of the building's services, and the assessor must hold the matching qualification.
- Level 3: the simplest, and the majority of high-street units. Heating and cooling by straightforward systems, no mechanical ventilation of any complexity. A shop, a small office, a takeaway.
- Level 4: buildings with more involved services, such as central air conditioning or mechanical ventilation with heat recovery. Larger offices, some retail.
- Level 5: dynamic simulation modelling, for buildings whose services cannot be represented by the simpler method. Large, complex or bespoke premises.
Price follows both level and floor area. A Level 3 assessment of a small unit typically starts around £100 to £150; larger or more complex buildings run into several hundred and beyond. Nobody can quote one accurately without knowing the floor area and what the plant room contains.
The minimum standard, and what it means for a lease
The minimum energy efficiency standard applies to commercial property as well as homes. Since April 2023 it has been unlawful to continue letting a non-domestic property rated F or G, not merely to grant a new lease of one, unless a valid exemption is registered on the PRS Exemptions Register. Enforcement sits with local authorities and the penalties for commercial premises are substantially higher than the domestic equivalent, calculated by rateable value.
Government has consulted on raising the commercial minimum in stages towards a B rating during the 2030s. It is not law, but any lease being granted now on a building rated D or E is being granted into a tightening standard, and both sides usually want to know where they stand.
Who commissions it, and where it bites in a lease
The landlord or the seller commissions the certificate, because the duty falls on whoever markets the property. In practice a tenant should ask to see it before signing, for two reasons. A poor rating signals running costs the tenant will pay. And where a lease has a full repairing obligation, improvement works driven by a tightening standard can become a live argument about who funds them.
That is a separate question from condition, and the two are often confused. A schedule of condition annexed to the lease caps what a tenant can be asked to put right at the end of it. An EPC says nothing about condition and offers no such protection. A tenant taking a tired unit wants both documents, for different reasons.
We do not do these, and here is who does
Non-domestic assessment needs a Non-Domestic Energy Assessor qualification at the right level, which is a different accreditation from the domestic one. We hold neither today, and the domestic arm is the one we are building first, so a commercial EPC is not a service we will offer in the near term.
For one, look for an NDEA accredited at the level your building needs. Several national providers cover Lincolnshire, and the government's find-an-assessor service lists them by postcode. Ask which level they are qualified to and confirm it matches the building before booking, because a Level 3 assessor cannot lodge a certificate for a Level 4 building.
What we do offer commercially
The factual record rather than the energy rating: a schedule of condition before the lease is signed, interim inspections during the term, an exit record at the end, and vacant property visits on the interval your insurer sets. See what a schedule of condition costs.
Written by The Surveyor Co, a trading name of LW Renovation Group Ltd, Lincoln. This guide describes how records are written and read; it is not legal advice. Where a deposit scheme, lease or insurer sets a rule, that rule wins.