Commercial EPC checker
Quick answer
Enter the date the EPC was lodged, its rating and the floor area. The checker shows when the certificate runs out (10 years after lodgement), whether the rating meets the MEES minimum of E today, and whether the proposed EPC B standard for let buildings over 1,000 m² from 2031 would catch it. It works in your browser and looks nothing up.
Find the certificate first on GOV.UK’s Find an energy certificate service: the lodgement date and the rating are on it. The guide to finding a commercial EPC on the register walks through the search.
Your result
- Valid until (about)
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- Certificate
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- MEES today
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- EPC B 2031 (proposed)
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Enter the details to see the result.
Send these detailsThe checker works only from what you enter. It does not read the register, store anything or give legal advice, and the rules it applies are those for England and Wales.
Valid until
A commercial EPC lasts 10 years from the date it is lodged on the register. GOV.UK puts it simply: “All EPCs are valid for 10 years.” For MEES, regulation 22 treats an EPC as valid if it was entered on the register no more than 10 years before the date it is relied on, and no other EPC for the property has been entered since. A newer certificate therefore replaces an older one even if the older one had years to run. The checker adds 10 years to the date you enter; the register entry shows the exact valid-until date.
MEES today
The minimum for letting a non-domestic building is EPC E. Since 1 April 2023 a landlord must not continue to let a building rated F or G unless an exemption applies (regulation 27), so a sitting tenant is no shelter. E or better meets the minimum today, although E itself leaves no margin if a later assessment comes out lower.
An F or G building with a registered exemption can be let while the exemption lasts. Most exemptions last 5 years, after which the landlord must try again to improve the rating before registering another. A building that is not let has no MEES duty, although a sale or a letting still needs a valid EPC. Some lettings are outside MEES altogether: most tenancies of six months or less, and tenancies of 99 years or more (regulation 20). MEES compliance sets out the rules and the exemptions in full.
When the EPC has expired
MEES tests the rating on a valid EPC. Government guidance says that once an EPC reaches the ten-year point and expires, there is no automatic requirement to produce a new one: a new EPC is needed the next time the property is sold, let or modified. Its worked example is a building on a twenty-year lease with an F-rated EPC from 2012, which was not caught by the continuing-letting rule on 1 April 2023 because the EPC had expired in 2022.
That changes at the next event. Re-letting, to the same tenant or a new one, or selling means a new EPC, and for a letting the new certificate has to show E or better unless an exemption is registered. The guide to how long a commercial EPC is valid has the detail.
EPC B 2031 (proposed)
In its interim response of 18 June 2026 the government said that from 2031 it is proposed that private rented buildings over 1,000 square metres in England and Wales will need to reach EPC B, where cost effective. Buildings below 1,000 square metres are intended to stay on the current minimum of E, and the interim EPC C milestone for 2027 will not be taken forward. Nothing changes until secondary legislation passes through Parliament, so the flag is there for planning only. EPC B 2031 explained follows the proposal.
What the checker cannot tell you
It does not read the register, so it cannot see a newer certificate, check that the EPC covers the right unit, or tell you whether a letting is in scope. In a multi-let building, where there is an EPC for the whole building and one for the space being let, the guidance says the relevant EPC is the one for the space being let. Managing agents tracking a portfolio can rank buildings by exposure as the guide for managing agents describes.
What to do next
If the result shows an expired EPC, a rating below E or a 2031 flag, the usual next step is a new assessment. Send these details copies the result into the form below, and you can request quotes from accredited assessors through it or through the quote page. Landlords weighing their options can read the guide for landlords, and the MEES penalty calculator shows what letting below E can cost.
England and Wales only
MEES and the EPC rules shown here apply in England and Wales. Buildings in Scotland and Northern Ireland are subject to separate requirements, and Scottish certificates are held on a separate register. See commercial EPCs in Scotland.
Guides on this topic
Sources
- Energy Performance Certificates for your business premises, GOV.UK, checked 23 October 2026.
- Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property) (England and Wales) Regulations 2015, regulations 20, 22 and 27, legislation.gov.uk, checked 23 October 2026.
- Non-domestic private rented property: minimum energy efficiency standard, landlord guidance, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, GOV.UK, last updated 5 May 2026, checked 23 October 2026.
- The Non-Domestic Private Rented Property Minimum Standard: guidance for landlords and enforcement authorities (February 2017), GOV.UK, checked 23 October 2026.
- MEES in the non-domestic private rented sector: interim response, DESNZ, GOV.UK, updated 18 June 2026, checked 23 October 2026.
- Find an energy certificate, GOV.UK, checked 23 October 2026.
- A guide to Energy Performance Certificates for the construction, sale and let of non-dwellings, MHCLG, GOV.UK, checked 23 October 2026.