☎ 0208 819 2166        ✐ epc@london-epc.co.uk

Book your SAP Assessment – Call us on 0208 8192166

Why London EPC?

London-EPC is a name you can trust!

We have carried out 1000’s of SAP Assessment up and down the country

All our assessors are qualified and highly trained

We run additional monthly training sessions with all our assessors to keep them up to date with the latest industry insight.

SAP assessments can be turned around within 72 hours

We appreciate that sometimes our customers have urgent requirements – we do our best to fit in with your deadlines and can typically turn around a SAP assessments within 3 days of the booking.

    Fill in your details below

    * All required fields.

    What is a SAP assessment?

    A SAP assessment (sometimes referred to as a SAP Survey or SAP EPC) is a measure of energy efficiency. It differs somewhat from a standard EPC in terms of how it’s calculated, what it’s used for, and what it’s required for.

    Building regulations for all new residential dwellings since 2012 require a SAP assessment.

    The output from the SAP assessment is a score from 1-100+ given to a building to reflect the annual energy cost and efficiency. This is based on:

    • The fabric and structure of the building
    • Heating and hot water systems
    • Lighting elements
    • Any renewable technologies or forms of microgeneration

    The ranking works with 0 representing the most inefficient building, and 100 representing one with zero energy costs. If a building has a SAP score over 100, it means that the property is creating more energy than it uses, and is therefore a net exporter of energy.

    SAP assessments take into account a lot of variables not present in a standard EPC, including a lot of area-specific differences that, when compared, help to present a more accurate assessment.

    A SAP assessment is made up of several parts. There’s a predicted element, which is provided at the design stage, an EPC element required before completion of the building, as well as a SAP worksheet report and SAP data input report.

    Unlike a standalone EPC, a SAP calculation does not require a visitation to the property. This may seem counter-intuitive since a SAP report is a much more in-depth measure of efficiency, but in fact the amount of substantiating evidence for property works is generally enough that the SAP can be done without an assessor ever having to attend.

    The assessment itself includes 4 main stages.

    How a SAP assessment is carried out

    SAP Stage One: Design (Draft Stage)

    The assessor uses plans provided by the architect/designer to prepare initial figures for the floor area of the property (including individual rooms); basic dimensions and of the building, including all windows and external doors; identify areas of heat loss, across the floors, walls and roofing.

    This allows the assessor to calculate the thermal performance of the building, and come up with U values for each element. This is the first and most fundamental part of a SAP assessment.

    The assessor then uses the SAP software to determine if the building will comply with building regulations for energy efficiency. We always recommend that a SAP is first carried out at this stage of the process since recommendations can then be given to the architect if the property requires redesign to comply with regulations.

    SAP Stage Two: Design (Final Stage)

    This stage is essentially a finalisation of the first stage, after the property design has gone through as many changes as necessary in order to satisfy the SAP requirements and been signed off by the assessor, client and architect. The data is then finalised and submitted, to produce a Predicted Energy Assessment report.

    SAP Stage Three: Build (Draft Stage)

    This is the point at which the SAP assessor will require an air pressure test. The client or architect will be required to provide to the SAP assessor, though many SAP specialists will be able to advise on local air pressure technicians. It’s important to make sure that your SAP assessor is aware of any variations in the result of the air pressure test from the specification.

    There are some buildings which will not require an air pressure test. These include smaller sites of less than 2 or fewer buildings, where a value of 15 m3/(h.m2) can be assumed without a test being carried out. If you’re doing a standalone design, therefore, you’re able to skip the air pressure test.

    At this point, there is a chance that the air pressure test may cause the building to fail building regulations. In this case, your SAP assessor should be able to advise you on remedial action to rectify the situation and bring you back up to spec.

    The other thing that your SAP assessor is likely to do at this stage is to check that the building is registered on the Government central database of national property addresses. While it is up to the client to arrange for the property to be added to this register, it’s important that it’s done as it’s necessary to finalise the assessment.

    SAP Stage Four: Build (Final Stage)

    Once the construction is complete, the assessor creates an EPC certificate. This is a legal requirement and will be accessible on a public register. It’s also necessary for building regulations to issue the completion certificate.

    Additional documents required by building control and provided by your SAP assessor are the SAP worksheet report and SAP data input report.

    What is required for a SAP assessment?

    There are 4 bits of information that are always required when completing a SAP assessment:

    • Full address and postcode
    • Floorplans
    • Elevation drawings for each elevation
    • Sectional drawings

    In some cases though, further information is required to complete the SAP assessment including the following:

    • Construction
    • Windows, roof lights, and doors
    • Accredited details
    • Ventilation
    • Heating system
    • Cooling system
    • Hot water system
    • Renewable energy systems
    • Lighting