EPC Case Study: Retail Unit in Catford

This client contacted us needing an EPC for their small retail unit in Catford. The unit is only around 30m² with a toilet and shop floor.

What does London EPC charge for retail EPC certificates?

For any retail unit under 100 and all on a single floor, we charge £120+VAT. This covers any commercial unit inside the M25, with a small excess for travel if we need to travel further out.

Heating and water

Arriving at the property in Catford, we see a simple mid-terrace shop with a flat roof. The only external walls are at the front and rear; clearly there is no external wall or cavity insulation as these are standard 9 inch brick walls. The roof also has no insulation as far as we can tell, which will again negatively impact the EPC.

The lighting is always going to be crucial for a commercial spaces and retail units, because the lights are going to be on pretty much all day everyday in your typical shop. The good news is that these lights were all LED, which improves the rating significantly on this type of commercial property.

Construction and lighting

There is no fixed heating in the retail unit, and because the space is retail, we therefore have to enter the worst case scenario in to the EPC software for the heating, which is an electric room heater. If the space was a workshop or a warehouse, it could be entered as an unheated space in the software because heating is not considered a necessity for that kind of space. However under these circumstances the lack of fixed heating system in the retail unit had a negative effect on the final EPC score.

There is also an electric water heater at the rear – these small units are actually great for smaller spaces like this. They don’t take up much room, and they are also quite efficient because they don’t store much hot water in them, instead only supplying hot water when required. This limits the heat loss and helps bring up the EPC.

Retail EPC in Catford: Final Rating

The retail unit was very simple to enter into the software. It had some good things going for it – namely the hot water and the lighting – but also some not so good points in terms of the heating and insulation. The final EPC rating was a D. This was mostly due to the lighting. Indeed, if the property had halogen lighting or another inefficient system, the rating would have been much lower, and perhaps even unrentable as per the MEES regulations.