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How to find a commercial EPC on the register

Updated 19 October 2026 · SEO Dons Editorial

Where is the commercial EPC register?

Commercial EPCs for England and Wales are held on the government's central register, which you search through GOV.UK's Find an energy certificate service. It covers homes, business properties and public buildings in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. As well as EPCs, it holds display energy certificates (DECs) for public buildings, and air-conditioning inspection certificates and reports.

The register is a legal requirement. The Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012 require the Secretary of State to keep registers from which EPCs, DECs, inspection reports and recommendation reports can be produced, and an assessor must lodge the data before handing the certificate over. Data stays on the register for at least 20 years, so older and expired certificates can still appear in a search. Property in Scotland is on a different service.

How do you search for a commercial EPC?

  1. Go to Find an energy certificate on GOV.UK and select Start now.
  2. When asked what type of property the certificate is for, choose "A non-domestic property". The service describes this as a commercial, industrial or public building.
  3. Search by postcode, by street name and town, or by certificate number. The certificate number is five groups of four digits; the service gives 9002-3775-9101-5482-3149 as an example of the format.
  4. From the results, open the certificate for the right address and unit.

Each result shows the address, the type of certificate or report, and the date it is valid until. A commercial EPC and its recommendation report appear as separate entries, labelled CEPC and CEPC-RR. A multi-let building can produce a long list at one postcode, so match the unit number or floor, not just the street.

What should you check on the certificate?

  • The valid-until date. An EPC is valid for 10 years from lodgement, and only while no newer EPC for the building has been lodged. The certificate also gives the date of issue. How long a commercial EPC is valid covers the rules in detail, and the commercial EPC checker works out the MEES position from the date and rating.
  • The energy rating. The certificate gives a rating from A to G, with the building's energy performance shown as a carbon dioxide based index. In England and Wales, a valid EPC below E brings the MEES letting rules into play for a landlord.
  • The address and extent. Check that the certificate covers the space being sold or let. For a non-residential building, certification of a unit can be based on a common certification of the whole building where the block has a common heating system, so a whole-building EPC is the right one in some cases and not in others.
  • The assessor and scheme. The certificate names the accredited energy assessor and their accreditation scheme. If something on it looks wrong, government guidance says to contact the assessor first and then the scheme. See what to do if a commercial EPC looks wrong.
  • Other certificates for the property. More than one EPC can be stored for a building over the years. Only the most recent one in date counts.

What is in the recommendation report?

The recommendation report sits alongside the certificate and lists cost-effective ways to improve the building. By law it must include measures that could be carried out as part of a major renovation, measures for individual building elements that do not need a major renovation, where to get more detailed information, and the steps to put the recommendations into effect. Government guidance says the recommendations are grouped by payback: short term (less than 3 years), medium term (3 to 7 years), long term (more than 7 years), and other recommendations based on the assessor's knowledge.

There is no statutory requirement to carry out the measures. For a landlord with an F or G rating, though, the report is the natural starting point for planning works. It stays valid for ten years from the date of the EPC it belongs to. There is more on reading it in the EPC recommendation report explained.

What if no EPC is found?

An empty search does not always mean there is no certificate. Work through the likely reasons.

  • The address is recorded differently. Try the street name and town search instead of the postcode, and look for the building name or unit number in the list.
  • The owner has opted out. The owner or occupier can notify the register keeper that a building's data is not to be disclosed, and the certificate will then not appear in an address search. It can still be found by its certificate number, because the opt-out does not apply to a request that includes the report reference number.
  • The building is in Scotland. Scottish certificates are on a separate register.
  • There has never been one. The building may never have been sold, let, built or modified in a way that needed an EPC, or it may be exempt.

If there is no valid EPC and you are about to sell or let, the regulations require one to be commissioned before the building is put on the market. All reasonable efforts must then be made to obtain it within 7 days of first marketing, with a further 21 days allowed if that is not possible. The guide to whether you need a commercial EPC sets out the triggers and exemptions. If you do need one, you can request quotes from accredited assessors through the form on this page.

Can you use a copy from the register for a sale or letting?

Yes, as long as it is valid. Government guidance says a copy of an EPC can be accessed online and downloaded from the central register using the certificate reference number, and anyone holding an EPC can check that it is genuine by looking up that number. Lost or mislaid reports can be replaced the same way.

When you sell or let, the valid EPC must reach prospective buyers or tenants at the earliest opportunity, and no later than when you first give them written information about the building or when they view it. If you are not sure whether the building needs one at all, start with do I need a commercial EPC?

Sources

Common questions

Can I look up the EPC for a building I do not own?

Usually, yes. Government guidance says data on the central register is publicly available and can be searched by postcode or certificate number. The exception is where the owner has opted out, in which case an address search will not show it but a search by certificate number still will.

Why does the register show several EPCs for one building?

Data stays on the register for at least 20 years, so older certificates remain listed, and a multi-let building can have separate EPCs for different units as well as one for the whole building. Only the most recent EPC for the same building or unit that is still within its 10 years is valid.

Can an EPC on the register be corrected?

Not by editing it. Government guidance says EPCs cannot be altered once registered, although a disputed EPC can be annotated by the accreditation scheme to show it is under investigation. If the information is found to be wrong, a new report is issued.

How do I find a commercial EPC for a building in Scotland?

Scotland has its own register, separate from the GOV.UK service. The GOV.UK Find an energy certificate page links to the Scottish service for properties in Scotland.

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