Discuss EPC on a church - exempt? in the Solar PV Forum | Solar Panels Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net
Churches are not exempt for the purposes of the Feed-in Tariff even though they are normally exempt from EPC's the rules are :
"2.90. A relevant building must also be a building in respect of which an EPC can be issued. If an EPC cannot be issued then the building is not a relevant building and the energy efficiency requirement does not apply. Under the EPB Regulations some properties are exempt from the requirement for an EPC; however if a building can be assessed and receive an EPC then the energy efficiency requirement will apply under the FIT legislation (irrespective of whether an EPB exemption applies or not)."
So although for a normal EPC a church is considered to be 'not a relevant building' the point of this particular clause is that it is possible to assess it.
So, in effect you MUST have an EPC of D or greater for the church , or else accept the lower tariff.
Some modern places of worship of course can meet this criteria.
all of which is wrong, unless the guidelines have changed recently.Thanks for all the replies.
I have been looking into this and it seems its all about 'relevant building'. i.e. a building where energy is used to condition the indoor climate. As mentioned above. A building must be relevant for an EPC to be required. A relevant building must also be a building on which an EPC can be issued. If an EPC cannot be issued then building is not a relevant building and the energy efficiency requirement does not apply.
Our EPC assessor has confirmed that places of worship are exempt because the software used is not designed to cope with these sorts of buildings. i assume all assessors use the same software.
British Gas FIT team have confirmed in writing that a church is exempt.
ok, so Ofgem have updated the guidance in July. This is the relevant section.So you want to elaborate?
3.80. A ”relevant building” is defined in the SLCs29 and must be a roofed construction which has walls, and for which energy is used to condition the indoor climate.
Examples of energy being used to condition the indoor climate include heating and
cooling systems. If any aspect of this definition does not apply to a building to which
the PV installation is wired to provide electricity to then the energy efficiency
requirement does not apply.
3.81. A “relevant building” must also be a building in respect of which an EPC can be
issued. If an EPC cannot be issued then the building is not a relevant building and the
energy efficiency requirement does not apply. Under the Energy Performance of
Buildings (EPB) Regulations some properties are exempt from the requirement for an
EPC; however if a building can be assessed and receive an EPC then the energy
efficiency requirement will apply under FIT legislation (irrespective of whether an EPB
exemption applies or not).
3.82. It is the responsibility of the FIT Generator to prove that an EPC cannot be
obtained for any building that the PV is wired to provide electricity to. One option to
demonstrate this would be for the FIT Generator to provide a document from an EPC
assessor which confirms that it was not possible to obtain an EPC on the building/s
and to clearly state the reasons why.
3.58. Where evidence has not been received by the FIT Licensee to verify that an EPC of level D or above has been achieved at or before the Eligibility Date of the
installation, the lower tariff will apply to the FIT installation, without exception
I'd really be surprised if this statement was sufficient, it looks more like he's saying that because of the standard exemption for churches the building should be exempt - ie he's applying a blanket exemption to churches because of flaws in the software.Our EPC assessor has confirmed that places of worship are exempt because the software used is not designed to cope with these sorts of buildings.
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