2016 No. 395
European Communities

The Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016

Made
Coming into operation
The Department of Finance1, being a Department designated2 for the purposes of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 19723 in relation to measures relating to the environment and in exercise of the powers conferred by section 2(2) of the said Act, hereby makes the following Regulations:

Citation and commencement1.

These Regulations may be cited as the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016 and shall come into operation on 1st December 2016.

Interpretation2.

In these Regulations “the principal Regulations” means the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 20084.

Amendment of the principal Regulations3.

The principal Regulations shall be amended as provided in regulations 4 to 8.

Amendment of Part 1 (Introductory)4.

In regulation 2(1) (Interpretation)—

(a)

for the definition of “asset rating” substitute—

““asset rating” means an energy performance indicator determined from the amount of energy estimated to meet the different needs associated with a standardised use of a building, calculated and expressed in accordance with the national calculation methodology;”;

(b)

after the definition of “energy assessor” insert—

““energy performance” in relation to a building means the calculated or measured amount of energy needed to meet the energy demand associated with a typical use of the building, which includes, inter alia, energy used for heating, cooling, ventilation, hot water and lighting;”;

(c)

after the definition of “major renovation” insert—

““national calculation methodology” means—

(a)

for the calculation and expression of asset ratings—

  1. (i)

    in relation to dwellings at construction completion; the Government’s Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) for Energy Rating of Dwellings;

  2. (ii)

    in relation to dwellings on sale or rent; the Government’s Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) or Reduced Data SAP (RdSAP) for Energy Rating of Dwellings; and

  3. (iii)

    in relation to a building other than a dwelling;

    1. (aa)

      the Simplified Building Energy Model (SBEM); or

    2. (bb)

      a Dynamic Simulation Model (DSM); and

(b)

for the calculation and expression of operational ratings; the Government methodology for the production of Operational Ratings, Display Energy Certificates and Advisory Reports,

that is implemented with Government approved software;”; and

(d)

for the definition of “operational rating” substitute—

““operational rating” means an energy performance indicator determined from the amount of energy consumed during the occupation of a building over a period of 12 months (unless regulation 13(3) applies), ending not earlier than 3 months before the nominated date, and calculated and expressed in accordance with the national calculation methodology;”.

Amendment of Part 2 (Duties to produce energy performance certificates)5.

(1)

In regulation 5A (Energy performance indicator on marketing) in paragraph (3) after “Department” insert—

“to provide an indication of the energy efficiency of a building or building unit, calculated using the national calculation methodology and expressed on a scale of A+ to G (or A to G in the case of a building that is a dwelling), with G representing the least energy efficient rating”.

(2)

In regulation 8(1) (Energy performance certificates)—

(a)

in sub-paragraph (b) for “state” substitute “show”; and

(b)

in sub-paragraph (c) for “and benchmarks” substitute “or other benchmarks in order to make it possible to compare and assess the energy performance of the building”.

Amendment of Part 3 (Display energy certificates)6.

In regulation 12 (Display energy certificates)—

(a)

in sub-paragraph (b) for “express” substitute “show”;

(b)

in sub-paragraph (c) for “expressed” substitute “shown”; and

(c)

in sub-paragraph (d) for “and benchmarks” substitute “or other benchmarks in order to make it possible to compare and assess the energy performance of the building”.

Amendment of Part 4 (Inspection of air conditioning systems)7.

(1)

In regulation 15 (Inspection of air conditioning systems)—

(a)

in paragraph (1) for “the system is” substitute “that accessible parts of the system are”; and

(b)

in paragraph (2) after “The first inspection of” insert “the accessible parts of”.

(2)

In regulation 16 (Inspection reports)—

(a)

in paragraph (1) after “system” insert “under regulation 15,”;

(b)

in paragraph (2) for “possible improvements to” substitute “cost-effective improvement to the energy performance of”; and

(c)

in paragraph (3)(aa) for “certificate” substitute “inspection report”.

Amendment of Part 5 (Energy assessors)8.

In regulation 19(3) (Accreditation schemes)—

(a)

for sub-paragraph (c) substitute—

“(c)

for requiring members of the scheme to prepare—

(i)

energy performance certificates and recommendation reports;

(ii)

display energy certificates and advisory reports; and

(iii)

inspection reports,

using the standard format for each type of document as approved by the Department.”; and

(b)

in sub-paragraph (g) after “recommendation reports,” insert “inspection reports,”.

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of Finance on 9th November 2016

Desi McDonnell
A senior officer of the
Department of Finance
EXPLANATORY NOTE
(This note is not part of the Regulations)
These Regulations amend the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008 (“the principal Regulations”)5. The principal Regulations implement in part, Directive 2010/31/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 May 2010 on the energy performance of buildings (recast)6(“the Directive”).

Regulation 4 of these regulations amends the definitions of “asset rating” and “operational rating”. New definitions are provided for “energy performance”, to reflect the wording in Article 2(4) of the Directive, and “national calculation methodology”, to suitably define the Government’s methodology for the energy assessment of buildings in accordance with Article 3 and Annex I of the Directive.

Regulations 5 and 6 clarify that reference values provided on energy performance certificates and display energy certificates are to make it possible to compare and assess the energy performance of the building in accordance with Article 11(1) of the Directive.

Regulation 7(1) amends regulation 15 of the principal Regulations which requires certain air-conditioning systems to be inspected periodically. The amendment requires “accessible parts of the system” to be inspected to more closely reflect the wording in Article 15 of the Directive.

Regulation 7(2) amends regulation 16(2) of the principal Regulations to reflect the wording in Article 16 of the Directive; notably that the advice should provide cost effective recommendations.

Regulation 8 amends regulation 19 of the principal Regulations to ensure that inspection reports shall be carried out by members of accreditation schemes in accordance with Articles 17 and 18.

An impact assessment has not been produced for these Regulations as no, or minimal, impact on the public, private or voluntary sectors is foreseen in relation to the provisions of these Regulations.

Information on the national calculation methodology may be obtained as follows:

(a)

The Government’s Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) for the Energy Rating of Dwellings: 2009 Edition: www.bre.co.uk/filelibrary/SAP/2009/SAP-2009_9.90.pdf

(b)

The Government’s Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) for the Energy Rating of Dwellings: 2012 Edition (includes Appendix S on Reduced Data SAP (RdSAP): www.bre.co.uk/filelibrary/SAP/2012/SAP-2012_9.92.pdf

(c)

The Simplified Building Energy Model (SBEM): iSBEM version 4.1.e:www.ncm.bre.co.uk

(d)

The Government’s methodology for the production of Operational Ratings Display Energy Certificates and Advisory Reports:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/government-methodology-for-producting-operational-ratings-display-energy-certificates-and-advisory-reports