‘Domestic Energy Assessors’ or DEAs are qualified professionals responsible for generating Energy Performance Certificates. The production of Energy Performance Certificates is divided into 2 stages. The first stage is a site survey, where assessors survey the house owned by the client. The second stage pertains to the computer processing carried out by the DEA for producing the certificate. The details in this article are provided by Belfast-based Domestic Energy Assessors operating from this site.
Site Survey
In this stage, the surveyor begins with a comprehensive examination of the home’s exterior. Photographs will be taken to provide concrete proof of the structure’s shape. The goal is to prove whether the client’s house is a flat, or a semi-detached, mid-terrace, or detached property. The property’s front elevation will also be photographed for this purpose.
This is followed by the photography of the property’s rear elevation. In case the home’s rear garden houses an oil boiler, photographs of the boiler will be taken by the DEA to as visual evidence of its details. The oil tank will be photographed as well.
Photographs of the wall thermostat, thermostatic radiator valves, heating programmer, and the radiators will be taken by the DEA inside the property. In case the property uses a gas heating system and not an oil heating system, photographs of the boiler will be taken again by the DEA to record its details.
In case the property includes a roof space section, photographs of the house’s loft insulation and its depth will be taken by the assessor. Other details, such as whether the wall is a timber frame, stone, or brick wall, and its width will be recorded. The insulation used in the wall will also be noted by the DEA, whether it uses internal insulation or cavity wall insulation.
Within the house, details like the windows and the glass used will be photographed. The glass’ thickness will also be recorded along with information on whether the window frames have been made using timber or PVC. The lighting arrangements will also be checked and a count of every low-energy light bulb used in the property will be recorded.
Processing the Data
Moving on to the second stage, the DEA will input the findings and data gathered from the survey into a specialized computer software known as RdSAP which is a development from the Standard Assessment Procedure. All DEAs use a special cloud software program, which eliminates the need to have individual copies on each system. The DEA will enter the information gathered from the survey with the help of the user-interface system to generate an Energy Performance Certificate.
Home save energy efficiency ratings are made on a scale ranging between 0-100 by the EPC. A low number indicates poor performance. The EPC Register of Northern Ireland stores the EPC details electronically in its Energy Performance Certificate database. All certificates once issued are valid for a period of ten years.
