The Building & Engineering Services Association (B&ES), whose members carry out such inspections, fear that the government will simply abolish the requirement in its blitz on red tape.
By law, as part of the energy efficiency regulations, all air conditioning systems in buildings with a cooling capacity of more than 12kW should have been inspected 鈥� but fewer than 5% actually have been, according to B&ES head of technical and safety Bob Towse. This means that the vast majority of such systems have been in breach of the law for at least two years.
鈥淎part from the potential legal penalties, building owners and managers are missing out on the energy efficiency benefits that are flagged up by the inspections,鈥� said Mr Towse.
All air conditioning systems put in place on or after 1 January 2008 should have been inspected within five years of installation, with older systems over 250kW output inspected by January 2009, and other systems above 12kW inspected by January 2011.
鈥淰ery few building owners are even aware of their legal responsibility, while local authorities 鈥� who are charged with enforcing this law 鈥� are not doing a great job of it,鈥� Mr Towse pointed out.
Mandatory air conditioning inspections were brought in under the implementation of the European Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), with 鈥榗ompulsory lodgement鈥� of the reports through the government鈥檚 non-domestic energy performance certificate register being introduced two years ago. However, the government has since doubled the cost of lodgement, and B&ES says that there have been problems with the software imposed on certification bodies by the Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC).
鈥淚t is complex, time-consuming and not at all user-friendly,鈥� said Mr Towse. 鈥淭he assessors are contractors trying to make a living in a tough economic environment, so they will not be encouraged by being forced to use 鈥榞litchy鈥� software and to pay more for the privilege.鈥�
B&ES has also pointed to other anomalies in the system, including the fact that fines for non-compliance can be less than the amount paid for an inspection 鈥� the maximum penalty is just 拢300. Insurance companies are also reported to be offering policies to cover building owners and operators who might be caught out by the scheme.
鈥淯nder compulsory lodgement, it should be easier to trace buildings that are failing to comply with their legal obligations, but there is little evidence that this is being done 鈥� and local authorities do not appear to have the expertise, resources and/or inclination properly to take on the challenge,鈥� Mr Towse said.
鈥淗owever, if the regime is allowed to die, so will a central pillar of the country鈥檚 strategy to reduce energy waste in buildings 鈥� and to help businesses cut their running costs.鈥�
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