Air conditioning over 12kW must be inspected every five years, updated guidance says
Revised government guidance for building owners, landlords and tenants explains how several small units can add up to the threshold, who is responsible for the inspection and what happens without a report.
Anyone who controls an air conditioning system with an effective rated output of more than 12kW in England or Wales must have it inspected by an accredited energy assessor at least every five years. Failing to have a report can lead to a £300 penalty charge notice.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government updated its guide to the rules on Thursday. It says the revision removes outdated material, gives the 12kW threshold and five-year cycle more prominence, and clarifies how to treat multiple units and buildings, mechanical ventilation, Level 4 reports and when systems need separate reports. The requirements themselves come from the Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012.
Small units can still add up
The threshold applies to the system, not each unit. One or more units in a single building under the control of one person count as one system, so a building full of small units can still need an inspection. The guide's example is a hotel with 50 rooms, each cooled at 3kW, where the hotel chain controls every unit and a single report covers 270kW of cooling: 150kW in the rooms and 120kW in the reception areas and restaurants.
Separate buildings are a different matter. Standalone systems in different buildings cannot be added together to get over 12kW, so on a site with four buildings whose systems are rated at 15kW, 6kW, 20kW and 28kW, three separate reports are needed and the 6kW building is exempt. Buildings can only share a report where they share plant.
Use does not matter either. There is no exemption for systems that are not there for occupants' comfort, so cooling for server rooms and storage areas can also be inspected.
Mechanical ventilation that serves an air-conditioned space must be included in the inspection even if it provides no cooling itself, and any such system means the report has to be lodged at Level 4. That covers air handling and heat recovery systems.
Finding out if a system is in scope
The output is often shown on a unit's rating plate, in the operating manual, on the manufacturer's website or in a maintenance contractor's records. Where there is more than one unit, the ratings may need adding together. As a rough guide, the department puts the floor area likely to need 12kW of cooling at about 200 square metres of general office space, 100 square metres of office with high levels of IT equipment, 250 square metres of shop floor with average display lighting, or 150 square metres of shop floor with heavy display lighting and illuminated cabinets. Densely occupied rooms such as large meeting rooms can pass 12kW on a relatively small floor area.
Owners, landlords and tenants
The duty falls on the person who controls the technical functioning of the system, which the guidance says is not someone who only adjusts the temperature. That is usually the owner, even if day-to-day operation is contracted out. Where the occupier takes total responsibility for the building and its services, as under a full repairing and insuring lease, it is the occupier. A tenant who installs its own units is responsible for those.
In the guide's five-storey office example, the landlord needs a report for the 150kW central system and a tenant on two floors needs a separate one for the 110kW system it put in.
The first inspection must happen within five years of the system first being put into service. The most recent report has to be kept and passed on to whoever takes over control of the system. If a new operator is not given one, the system must be inspected within three months of the handover.
Reports, checks and penalties
A report is only valid once the assessor has lodged it on the Energy Performance of Buildings Register, which gives it a reference number. Owners can download a copy from the register and use its search to check that an assessor belongs to an accreditation scheme. There is no legal requirement to act on a report's recommendations.
Trading Standards officers enforce the rules. They can ask to see a report, which must be produced within seven days, and can do so up to six months after the final compliance date. On top of the £300 penalty for having no report, there is a separate £200 penalty for failing to produce one when asked. A penalty notice can be reviewed, and then appealed to the county court within 28 days of the notice being confirmed. When a building is sold or let, buyers and tenants are likely to ask for the report.
