EPC Services in Birmingham

What actually happens during the assessment

An EPC is not a survey of the property’s condition and it is not a valuation. It is a standardised record of how the building is built and heated, fed into government software that produces the rating. Nothing is drilled, lifted or taken apart.

I measure the property and record its age and construction — solid wall or cavity, what the roof and floors are made of. I check insulation where it can be seen, which usually means the loft. I record the heating system and its controls, the hot water cylinder if there is one, the glazing, and the proportion of low-energy lighting. Photographs are taken throughout, because my accreditation body audits assessors and the evidence has to be there.

It takes 30 to 45 minutes for most homes. Where something cannot be inspected — a loft with no hatch, a boarded floor — the software applies a default assumption based on the property’s age, and those defaults are usually conservative. That is worth knowing, because it is often the difference between one band and the next.

What the register says about the homes I assess

I hold the national Energy Performance of Buildings Register for Birmingham, Solihull and Redditch — 590,358 certificates lodged since 2012 — aggregated down to neighbourhood level. It is worth a look before you book, because it shows what is typical where you live, and what is typical is usually what the rating turns on.

Three examples of how different neighbouring areas are. In Hall Green, half of all certificates record a construction date of 1930–1949, and the average score of 60.9 against a potential of 81.2 is the widest gap of any area I cover. In Solihull, a filled cavity is the most commonly recorded wall type — true of only a handful of areas on this site — and 4,959 certificates still record a cavity left unfilled, which is a far cheaper fix than anything available on a solid wall. In Selly Oak, rental assessments outnumber marketed sales 8,560 to 5,203.

Each area page carries the same breakdown for that neighbourhood: the band distribution, the average score and its potential, what the walls and heating are recorded as, and the improvements most often recommended there. The full list of areas is here.

How to get the best rating you’re entitled to

This is the part most people don’t know about, and it costs nothing. The assessment can only credit what can be evidenced on the day. If you have had work done and there is paperwork for it, have it ready and the rating reflects it. If there is no evidence, the software assumes the worst case for a building of that age.

Worth digging out before the visit, if you have it:

• Cavity wall or loft insulation certificates, or a guarantee from whoever installed it.
• Boiler installation paperwork or a Gas Safe / building control notice, which fixes the age and efficiency of the system.
• Window certificates (FENSA or CERTASS) showing when the double glazing went in.
• Solar panel paperwork, including the MCS certificate.
• Anything showing a recent extension or conversion met current building regulations.

Access matters too. I need to get into every room, the loft hatch, and wherever the meters and the boiler live. A loft full of boxes with no clear route to the hatch is the single most common reason insulation gets recorded as unknown.

Landlords: where the rules actually stand

Since April 2020 a property in England or Wales cannot be let — or continue to be let — with an EPC rating below band E, unless a valid exemption is registered. That applies to existing tenancies, not only new ones, which catches landlords out.

You will also see a great deal written about band C, and the position is firmer than most sites suggest. The government’s response to the 2025 consultation confirmed a single compliance date of 1 October 2030, applying to all tenancies rather than only new ones, measured against reformed metrics — a fabric performance metric, plus either a heating system or a smart readiness metric. The regulations implementing it have not yet been made, so the detail can still move, but the date and the direction are settled enough to plan around. One date is worth knowing now: an EPC lodged before 1 October 2029 showing band C on the current rating still demonstrates compliance, which makes assessing early the cheaper route. If your property is close to the E boundary it is worth talking about which improvements move the rating most per pound — some of the obvious ones barely shift it.

If the rating comes back low

Every certificate comes with a list of recommended improvements and an estimate of what each would do to the rating. Not all of them are worth doing. Some are expensive and move the number very little; others are cheap and move it more than you would expect. I will go through the list with you and say which is which, whether or not you use me again. A low rating is also not a barrier to selling or letting on its own — below E it is, for letting, but a D or an E is simply a fact about the building that the buyer or tenant is entitled to know.