Commercial EPC for One Office Floor: What Counts?

Start with the floor being marketed

A landlord is marketing the second floor of a four-storey office building. There is already an EPC for the whole address. Can the agent use it? The government's non-domestic EPC guide starts with the accommodation being sold or let, not the street number. A floor or unit designed or altered for separate occupation can be a building part in its own right.

The guide names a floor in an office building as a possible separate part. Independent access and the ability to control heating or ventilation are useful clues. Sharing a kitchen or toilets does not, by itself, settle the question. The lease plan and real layout matter more than the marketing label 'suite' or 'floor'.

Shared plant makes the boundary less obvious

A multi-let building may have common heating, separately controlled zones or entirely independent systems. Those arrangements affect whether a whole-building EPC is suitable for a particular transaction or a certificate for the individual unit is needed. The government guide gives different worked examples for offices and shopping centres; there is no safe rule that every floor always needs its own EPC, or that one building certificate always covers every letting.

Check any existing EPC on the official register and compare its described address and extent with the space being offered. A valid certificate for a different unit is not made relevant by sharing the same postcode. Where the building has been subdivided since the assessment, explain the change before the quote is prepared.

A five-minute information pack avoids the wrong survey

Send the non-domestic assessor a floor plan or marked-up lease plan, approximate area, access arrangements and the existing EPC reference. Note who controls heating, ventilation and cooling, and which spaces are common. If a floor is vacant, arrange access to plant rooms or controls that serve it. These details let the assessor decide the correct assessment boundary and competence level before promising a price or attendance time.

Ask the agent to advertise the rating from the certificate that actually applies. If the correct certificate is not available, commission the assessment before marketing rather than hoping a historic whole-building PDF will do.

• Identify exactly which floor or suite is being let
• Mark shared and exclusive areas on a plan
• Describe fixed heating, ventilation and cooling controls
• Provide existing certificate numbers and subdivision history

Arrange the right commercial EPC

CertifyEPC can help scope a London commercial EPC for a separately let office floor. Send the postcode and plan when enquiring; an accredited non-domestic assessor can confirm whether the existing certificate is suitable or a new assessment is needed.