Notice of approval of the methodologies for expressing the energy performance of buildings in England and Wales
Updated 17 May 2024
Applies to England and Wales
© Crown copyright 2024
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/methodologies-for-expressing-the-energy-performance-of-buildings-in-england-and-wales-notice-of-approval/notice-of-approval-of-the-methodologies-for-expressing-the-energy-performance-of-buildings-in-england-and-wales
Introduction
This notice of approval sets out the national calculation methodology for expressing the energy performance of buildings, as approved in accordance with Regulation 24 of the Building Regulations 2010 (SI 2010/2214), for the purposes of the Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012 (SI 2012/3118).
The notice of approval which sets out the approved national calculation methodologies for calculating the energy performance of buildings in England for the purposes of regulation 25 of the Buildings Regulations 2010 is issued as a separate document.
The notice of approval which sets out the approved national calculation methodologies for calculating the energy performance for certain buildings in Wales for the purposes of regulation 7A of the Energy Performance of Buildings Regulations 2012 is issued as a separate document.
This document does not apply to national calculation methodologies for expressing the energy performance of buildings in Northern Ireland and Scotland. Buildings in Northern Ireland and Scotland are subject to separate regulatory requirements and are not covered or referred to in this document.
Notice of Approval
Take notice that the Secretary of State, under regulation 24 of the Building Regulations 2010, hereby approves the methodologies for calculating and the means of expressing the asset ratings required by 9(1)(a) and the operational ratings required by Regulation 15(1)(a) of the Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012. In regulation 24 of the Building Regulations 2010:
- ‘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 the building and
- ‘operational rating’ means an energy performance indicator determined from the amount of energy consumed during the occupation of a building over a period of time and the energy demand associated with a typical use of the building over that period.
This notice of approval takes effect on 17 May 2024 and is valid until withdrawn by the Secretary of State or superseded.
The approved methodologies for expressing the energy performance of buildings are:
- For new dwellings in England: the Government’s Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) for the Energy Rating of Dwellings, 10.2 edition
- For existing dwellings in England and Wales: the Government’s Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) for the Energy Rating of Dwellings, 2012 edition
- For all buildings other than dwellings in England: the National Calculation Methodology (NCM) for buildings other than dwellings in England 2021 version
- For existing buildings other than dwellings in Wales: the National Calculation Methodology (NCM) for buildings other than dwellings in Wales 2022 version
- The Government’s method for calculating the Operational Rating for buildings
Signed by authority of the Secretary of State
John Palmer
An Assistant Secretary in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
17 May 2024
Notes on the approved methodologies
This notice should be read in conjunction with the approved software packages and interfaces for calculating the asset and operational ratings of buildings, which implement these methodologies. The current approved software packages and interfaces are available online. The approved software packages and interfaces are revised from time to time to include new versions, or new versions of existing ones, as they are approved.
Expressing the energy performance of dwellings
For dwellings on sale or rent
Where an energy certificate is required on sale or rent under Regulation 6 of the Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012 (“the 2012 Regulations”), for the purposes of Regulation 9 of the 2012 Regulations the energy performance of a dwelling shall be expressed using the Standard Assessment Procedure or the Reduced Standard Assessment Procedure. The Reduced Standard Assessment Procedure is an adaptation of the Standard Assessment Procedure 2012 for use in the energy assessment of existing dwellings where, during a site survey of the building, the complete data set required by SAP is not easily accessible.
For dwellings at construction completion
Where an energy certificate is required on construction under Regulation 7A of the 2012 Regulations, for the purposes of Regulation 9 of the 2012 Regulations the energy performance of a dwelling shall be expressed using the Standard Assessment Procedure.
Expressing the energy performance of buildings which are not dwellings
For the purposes of Regulations 6 (energy performance certificates on sale and rent), 7A (energy performance certificates on construction) and 9 (energy performance certificates) of the Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012 the energy performance of a building which is not a dwelling shall be calculated using an approved implementation of the National Calculation Methodology for buildings other than dwellings, i.e., SBEM version 6.1 or an approved DSM.
For the purposes of Regulation 15 (display energy certificates) of the Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012 the operational rating of a building shall be expressed using the method for calculating the operational rating or an approved software application of the method for calculating the operational rating.
Approval of commercial software calculation tools
Applications may be made for approval of software packages to form part of the methodology for the calculation of the energy performance of buildings, such as:
- software applications of SAP
- software interfaces for SBEM
- Dynamic Simulation Models (DSMs)
- software applications of the method for calculating the Operational Rating for buildings
To be approved, the software tool must be validated against a set of published criteria to ensure it operates in a manner and to a standard consistent with the approved methodologies.
The criteria for approval, and the procedures for applying for approval, may be obtained from:
Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
Energy Performance of Buildings Division
2 Marsham Street
London, SW1P 4DF
Email enquiries: EPBsoftware@levellingup.gov.uk