Last updated: 05/01/21, 13:30
The health and wellbeing of our members, colleagues and the wider community remains our top priority in the midst of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
Elmhurst is the largest EPC accreditation business in the UK and we have the size, resources and processes in place to ensure that members can continue working, fully supported by our technical support teams.
Please do keep well and do not take risks.
We have created a list of FAQs which has been kept up to date in line with the most recent updates from government:
The government has announced yet another national lockdown for England in response to a rapid rise in Coronavirus cases across the country (full information available here).
The government's advice on home moving, however, remains the same:
In summary;
The Home Moving guidance that applies in England can be read in full here. Please also read EPC Guidance for Covid-19 which applies in both England and Wales.
The Scottish Government has released new stay at home guidance following its decision to introduce a new national lockdown (full information available here)
However, activities which facilitate a home move can continue. Although Assessors/Surveyors can leave home for their work, the Scottish Government does advise that you should stay as close to home as possible
The full Covid-19 home moving guidance released by Scottish Government, can be accessed here.
Wales is currently at Alert Level 4 which is similar to the stay at home guidance issued by England and Scotland.
People living in Wales can however:
Guidance related specifically to Surveyors/Energy Assessors
Full information is available from the welsh government website.
The document released by the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland, ‘Advice on home moving during Covid-19’, provides guidance on how everyone involved in the home move process must adjust their processes to ensure a safe return to market activity. There is a specific section within this document for Energy Assessors and Surveyors which confirms the following:
The full home moving advice from Northern Ireland's Deaprtment for Communities is available here.
The Environmental Agency for England, NRW for Wales and NIEA for Northern Ireland have agreed the following guidance for Lead Assessors:
ESOS Assessments
Where site visits are not currently possible you can continue to complete the ESOS assessment without a site visit where sufficient energy use data and other information for the selected site is available. In these instances please keep the information and decision documents in you evidence pack. A recommendation could be that further investigation is necessary for a given site to identify energy savings and these will need to be re-scheduled for completion at an appropriate date.
For Organisations
For organisations who are still required to complete their Phase 2 ESOS commitments they should carry on with this as best they can. If they are unable to complete their ESOS commitments due to Covid19 restrictions then please let the appropriate regulators know as soon as possible.
Any organisation that has received an ESOS Enforcement Notice will still be expected to comply with the Enforcement Notice or inform the appropriate Regulator why they will be unable to comply.
Contact details are provided below.
England: Environmental Agency - ESOS-enforcement@environmental-agency.gov.uk
Northern Ireland: NIEA - ipri@daera-ni.gov.uk
Wales: NRW - GHGHelp@naturalresourceswales.gov.uk
Scotland: SEPA are currently reviewing this guidance.
Yes. An EPC for an existing building can only be lodged after an onsite visit and this continues to be part of the Scheme Operating Requirements (SOR) and Framework documents set out by government. Under established rules there is some small dispensation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland for domestic properties that are very similar, which is likely to be used for social housing providers; the full rules and details can be found in the ‘CLG Sampling Guidance doc, in the My Documents section of Access Elmhurst.
Yes. You should continue to submit evidence for all audit requests, however if you are unable to respond to a request by the due date (due to self-isolation or other mitigating circumstances), then please let the support team know at the earliest opportunity and we will do what we can to make alternative arrangements. We will endeavour to be as pragmatic as possible.
In light of the tightening restrictions we will not be running any classroom based coures during this time. We will be rescheduling all courses impacted by this recent change and will also be in touch with those who had previously booked on.
Online training is still available to book via our Training calendar and the Elmhurst Marketplace.
Should you have any queries about training please email: training@elmhurstenergy.co.uk
Elmhurst will maintain its normal billing and credit control processes meaning that those who pay by direct debit get 45 days to pay. If you have temporary difficulties in paying your bill you should contact us at the earliest opportunity and we should be able to make arrangements to help you through this difficult period.
We have now fully adjusted to remote working which is good news for members, as our support teams can once again answer your technical queries by phone. With this in mind, we would now encourage members to call rather than email us should they have any technical queries (details below).
As only a limited number of staff are operating from our Head Office in Lutterworth, we would advise members to avoid mailing letters and parcels there. In some cases mail may be returned to the sender causing delays and confusion for all. If practical please call our support teams for advice on the best way to send information.
DEA Support: 01455 883 257
NDEA Support: 01455 883 231
OCDEA Support: 01455 883 236
Accounts: 01455 883 254
Government is responding to the crisis with wide ranging support for businesses: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19/covid-19-support-for-businesses
Financial Support available to members may include;
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