Commercial buildings, with a total floor area >2000m2, are required, in terms of section 19(1)(b) of the National Energy Act, to obtain and display, at the building’s main entrance, Energy Performance Certificates (“EPC’s”).
This requires these buildings to be registered on the South African National Energy Development Institute (“SANEDI”) portal, on or before 2 August 2024, and completion and display of the EPC by December 2025.
SANEDI’s website can be viewed here for more information.
Here is an extract from the above in this regard:“
On the 8th of December 2020 it became mandatory for accounting officers and building owners to display and submit an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) for their building, with an effective end date of December 2022. Failure to publicly display the EPC is in contravention of the Act (Act No. 34 of 2008) (Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, 2020: 3).
Energy Performance Certificates for buildings indicates how much energy is being used to operate a building. The energy performance of the building is based on measured energy consumption and is compared to the maximum energy consumption provided for in SANS 10400 XA:2021.According to the Regulation, all specified data used to determine the EPC and a certified electronic copy of the EPC must be submitted to the South African National Energy Development Institute (SANEDI) and will be uploaded to the National Building Energy Performance Register (NBEPR). The energy performance of a building is measured in terms of kilowatt-hours per square metre of net floor area, per annum (kWh/m2/pa) in accordance with SANS 1544:2014.”
EPC’s must be issued by SANAS accredited institutions, a list of currently accredited institutions can be found here.
Landlords, property owners, property managers and, yes, trustees of commercial community schemes should take heed of these requirements.
COC’s[CvH3] , municipal accounts, building plans etc., will all assist in reducing time and costs when preparing for the EPC.