What information will the DEC Assessor require? How can I keep costs down?

Your assessor will require the following information about your building to complete the assessment:

  • The name and address of the building including the postcode;

  • Some details about how your building is used and maintained;

  • The Total Useable Floor Area (TUFA) or Gross Internal Area (GIA) of the building;

  • Metered energy consumption (gas & electricity) for a 12 month period*;

  • Measurement of any other energy consumption e.g. oil & solid fuel;

  • The published opening hours of the building;

  • Details relating to on-site renewables and low or zero carbon technologies;

  • Details of any surplus energy exported to the grid.

During the assessment process the assessor will also visit the building. During this visit the assessor will need to visit plant rooms, meters, air conditioning systems and occupied areas to gather evidence for their report. They will also take photographs of your building and the systems installed within it. These photos are only to show features of the building fabric, its layout and how energy is being used so the assessor will avoid including people or sensitive information wherever possible.

All information obtained will be securely stored and only used for the purpose of producing your Display Energy Certificate and Advisory Report. If you have any concerns please discuss these with the assessor who can also let you review photographs taken if required so that you can be reassured these are appropriate. It may also help to arrange for the assessor to visit the building outside normal opening hours when less people will be about.

* This information may come from your own meter readings or energy bills. The information supplied does not have to cover exactly 365 days but information for all fuels needs to cover more or less the same period. Further details can be obtained from the assessor if required.

Keeping Costs Down

Prior to conducting a site visit the assessor will request certain information about the building. You can help reduce the time taken, hence reducing the cost of the assessment, by ensuring the information you provide is accurate and that all the requested information is provided promptly.

In particular, providing the assessor with an acceptable method of confirming the floor area and layout of the building will save the assessor having to measure the building. Accurate scaled floor plans produced by an architect or surveyor annotated with the Gross Internal Area (GIA) are ideal.

Accurate and comprehensive energy data is also very important for an accurate assessment. Many organisations already report annual energy consumption over specific periods. If you have already collated this information for a particular period please discuss how this can be utilised to reduce the duplication of data collection with your assessor. Your assessor can also advise on easy methods of accurately collecting the required information for future assessments.

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