During the survey our accredited accessor will;
- Survey the outside of the property to access the building construction and any signs of additional insulation that may have been added, such as cavity foam injection.
- Establish whether walls are external, party walls and/or walls sheltered from outside.
- Determine and record the type of gas and electricity meters serving the property.
- Take floor plan measurements for all floor levels, splitting this where necessary for extensions and conservatories.
- Take floor to ceiling height measurements for all floor levels.
- Take measurements for all windows in the property that are relevant to the calculations, and determine their type and age.
- Determine and record the type of heating and DHS services the property has, including the heating controls.
- Determine and record the number of extract fans or other means of ventilation the property has.
- Measure and record the loft insulation thickness and insulation type in the loft if accessible.
- Record the number of light bulbs present and their type.
- Determine and record the number of showers and their type.
- Record all necessary information concerning extensions, conservatories and loft conversions if applicable.
- Determine and record any energy saving features where applicable, such as solar PV panels, heat pumps, wind turbines and waste water recovery systems.
- Take photographic evidence of all recorded data where possible.
The process is usually complete within around 1 hour, but may take longer for larger and more complex properties.
Pre Survey Tips
- If possible, ensure low energy bulbs are fitted to all light fittings. A 250W incandescent bulb consumes 250W of energy or 0.25kWh of energy. By comparison, an alternative low energy bulb of equal performance consumes only 25-30W or 0.025-0.03kWh.
- To record loft insulation thickness, our accessor must be able to measure this or there must be documentary evidence available detailing the insulation thickness. If no evidence is available and the insulation is inaccessible either due to no loft access or the loft boarded over, this will need to be recorded as insulation thickness ‘unknown’ which can have a detrimental effect on the energy calculation.
- For older non double glazed front doors, we recommend adding a draft proofing strip to the bottom.
- For older single glazed windows, we recommend adding draft proofing strips.
- For older hot water tanks that have loose fit insulation jackets, the EPC rating can be improved by replacing this either with a thicker jacket or adding an additional jacket to increase thickness. This is not necessary for more modern how water tanks with modern factory installed insulation that has superior thermal resistance.
- If the property has cavity walls that have had cavity injection foam retrofitted, then it is essential that this can been clearly seen, usually by holes in the external brickwork that have been filled with cement. If, for any reason, they are not visible, then it is essential to provide any documentary evidence that this work was carried out, as this can make a significant difference to the EPC calculation.
- We recommend gathering as much documentary evidence as possible regarding install dates for double glazing, building completion dates for extensions, as this can often result in an improved calculation compared to using the software default values.
- Wherever possible, we would aim to record with photographic evidence the model of boilers, hot water cylinders and energy saving features such as waste water recovery systems. Sometimes this is not possible, and in these instances, we would ask for any documentary evidence of the models installed, as this can often lead to a more favourable calculation than using the software default values.