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Any company owning or taking a commercial property should ensure that there is a valid air-conditioning inspection report in place or face the penalty warns commercial property agent Prop-search.
Forming part of the final implementation in England and Wales of the European Directive on Energy Performance of Buildings, air-conditioning inspections are now a legal requirement. They are designed to improve efficiency, reduce electricity consumption, highlight operational improvements and provide opportunities to replace older, over-sized or less efficient systems.
The legislation - TM44 - states that all air-conditioning systems with a rated output over 12kW should now be inspected at regular intervals and not more than five years apart, regardless of building type.
Samantha Jones, a Surveyor at Prop-search, says: “This legislation means that building owners and managers who operate air-conditioning systems have statutory obligations under the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive to ensure that air-conditioning inspections are conducted by qualified and accredited inspectors or face the penalty.”
The primary aim of the inspection report is for it to generate advice for the building user, or owner, to assist in identifying opportunities to save energy and cut operating costs. It is also intended to promote a continuous program of monitoring the buildings energy needs in order to identify any problem areas, and see a reduction in overall energy usage by implementing cost saving measures identified as a result of the monitoring programme.
Compliance of the legislation is enforceable by Trading Standard Officers. Failure to commission, keep or provide an air-conditioning report when required means that businesses may be issued with a penalty charge notice of £300. This is in addition to the cost of then carrying out a compliant assessment.
Samantha Jones adds: “Landlords should ensure that when dilapidations are served on outgoing tenants at lease end that a copy of any report is secured under the claim. This can then be passed to an ingoing tenant.”
For further information regarding the legislation or for a quote please contact the prop-search team on Tel: 01933 223300.