Domestic Energy Assessors or DEAs are trained people who produce the Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs). It takes two steps to generate an EPC. The first step involves a survey of the client’s house and the second step requires the feeding of data in the computer system to produce a physical certificate.
Let us see how they do it.
The information for the above article was provided by epc-belfast.net and epc4less.com who provide Energy Performance Certificates in Belfast and surrounding areas.
STEP 1: Site-Visit or Survey of the House
- Exterior: Front Elevation
First of all, the surveyor inspects the house’s exterior. He needs to take photos of the building’s front elevation as proof of its structural shape. Specifically, the assessor is interested in knowing about the type of the house. i.e., whether it is a detached property or a flat, it may also be a mid-terrace or a partly-detached building. The whole idea is to photograph the house from the front side to record its shape.
- Exterior: Rear Elevation
Next, he goes to the rear side of the house and takes photos of the house’s backside. If the surveyor locates an oil boiler in the garden area, it takes pictures from such an angle that both the brand and the manufacturing year are distinctly visible. Besides, he takes a snapshot of the oil tank as well.
- Interior: Heating Instruments
After completing the exterior side inspection, he takes pictures of the interior side instruments like the radiator, heating programmer, thermostat valves, and the thermostatic installation on the walls, if available. The assessor again needs to take pictures of the boiler by recording its brand and manufacturing date if he finds a gas heating system in place of an oil heating system.
- Roof & Walls: Insulation
In case the roof area is available, the surveyor takes pictures of the insulation and records how deep it is. Besides, he must mention whether the wall construction contains bricks, stones, or a timber frame. After recording the wall structure type, the assessor checks the insulation type to determine if it is an internal or cavity wall type insulation.
- Interior: Lighting & Windows
Afterward, the DEA examines the house interior for the types of lights, windows frames, windows glasses, and the glazings used. The illumination includes the number of energy bulbs used in different rooms. The windows framing may be one of two types, ie. Either wooden or PVC frames. Finally, the DEA takes note of glass thickness, window frames, and glazing by taking a few pictures.
STEP 2: Feeding Data in the Computer Software
- Feed data on the cloud
The next step in the EPC procedure is to feed all the data collected during the site-visit in the previous step. The assessor must enter the survey findings into the computer software available on the cloud to generate the Energy Performance Certificate. Since the DEA does not own any such software, he needs to access the cloud through a user interface system.
- Rating Scale & EPC Database
The certificate has an energy efficiency scale of 0-100. The rating mention on the EPC indicates energy performance. A low rating implies poor energy performance.
The national database of EPCs is known as the EPC Record of Northern Ireland. It stores all the EPCs in an electronic format that remains valid for ten years.
