Commercial EPC & MEES, worked out for the people who have to act on it.
One place for the rules, the free tools, and a data-backed picture of exactly where your buildings stand.
Three in four commercial buildings in England and Wales sit below EPC B. 44,159 are already F or G, unlettable without a registered exemption, now, not on some future deadline. A further 74,738 are over 1,000 m² and below B, the group the 2031 standard is aimed at. Together, that is 115,948 properties with a live problem.
Written by the people who do the work, and built on all 998,164 commercial certificates on the public register.
Where the commercial stock sits
998,164 unique properties, current band
I have one building
Find its certificate on the register, see the band, the floor area and the expiry date, and which standard you are held to.
Find my EPC →I hold a portfolio
Paste your postcodes. We read the band, floor area and expiry off the register for every building and rank the portfolio by exposure.
Build the heat-map →Why the advice you've had so far hasn't been much use
Survey quality on commercial EPCs varies enormously. Some assessors know the building type; a lot don't – and it shows up as unknown constructions, untested inputs, and cautious defaults standing in for evidence nobody supplied.
What comes back is usually a generic measures list, not a plan – pulled from a database rather than sequenced against your lease events, your plant's actual condition, or what you could realistically do at the next void.
And none of it accounts for what's actually happening in the building day to day: ageing M&E, plant failures, comfort complaints. Those are the problems your tenants feel first, long before a rating changes – which is why this isn't only a landlord problem. Poor data and generic recommendations leave occupiers living with the operational fallout while owners carry the compliance risk.
What changed in 2026, and what it means for you
Two of the three dates the industry has been planning around no longer exist.
EPC C by 2027
The interim standard has been withdrawn. Budgets and service-charge consultations built around it are built on a requirement that will not arrive.
EPC B by 2031 – over 1,000 m² only
Targeted rather than universal. Smaller buildings stay at the E minimum, so the first question is your floor area, not your band.
EPC E, including existing leases
The 2023 change caught buildings already let, mid-term, with no transaction to trigger it. It is the rule most often missed, and the one that already applies to you.
The two groups already exposed
Not every commercial building has a problem – but two clear groups do. Counting the 2,949 that fall into both only once, that is 115,948 properties.
44,159 rated F or G
Below the standard that has applied since April 2023. Letting them without a registered exemption is already unlawful – this is not a future deadline.
29,533 of these have an expired certificate too: a public failing rating, no current evidence to the contrary, and usually a building still in occupation.
Check your position →74,738 over 1,000 m² and below B
The cohort the 2031 standard is aimed at. Five years sounds distant; it is roughly one lease cycle, and most routes to B depend on a void or a plant replacement you cannot schedule at will.
The real deadline is the last lease event before 2031 at which the work can practically be done.
Work back from your dates →Start with what your certificate assumed
The cheapest lever on most commercial buildings is not a contractor.
A non-domestic EPC is a model, not a measurement. Where an assessor could not see a construction and nobody produced the paperwork, the conventions require a cautious default – an uninsulated wall of unknown build-up, an untested air permeability figure, no credit for controls that were never demonstrated.
Those defaults are frequently wrong, and they are wrong in a specific, fixable way.
Three kinds of input
| Input | Established how | Fixable without works? |
|---|---|---|
| Air permeability | Assumed | Yes – if a test certificate exists |
| Wall construction | Assumed | Yes – with the refurbishment record |
| Controls strategy | Assumed | Yes – with BMS documentation |
| Glazing | Observed | Sometimes |
| Floor area | Measured | No – already real |
Illustrative pattern from the sample plan. See it in full →
Seven free tools, no sign-up
Answers first. Decide afterwards whether you want an assessor involved.
Find your commercial EPC
Search the public register by postcode and see every certificate on your building – rating, score and inspection date.
Open →MEES risk check
Answer four questions and find out which standard applies to your building and whether you are exposed.
Open →Seven-year payback calculator
Test a measure against the statutory threshold that decides whether you are required to install it.
Open →Band & points calculator
Convert an asset rating into a band, and a target band into the points you have to find.
Open →Portfolio heat-map
Paste your postcodes. We read band, floor area and expiry off the register and rank the portfolio by exposure.
Open →Penalty estimator
Put in a rateable value and see the financial exposure at both enforcement tiers.
Open →Deadline planner
Work back from 2031 to the last practical date to start each measure.
Open →A commercial Upgrade Plan, in full
Eleven sections on one building – worked through end to end so you can see the method before you buy anything.
See the sample plan
The points gap to EPC B. Every measure tested against the seven-year rule that decides whether the law compels it. Sequenced against real lease events. Who pays, under the actual lease terms. And an honest verdict that no exemption is available.
The data, by place and by sector
All 319 local authorities in England and Wales, and 24 sectors – built from 998,164 commercial certificates.
Largest commercial markets
Birmingham
77.7% below EPC B · 18,733 properties
See the data →Westminster
66.1% below EPC B · 17,747 properties
See the data →Leeds
74.4% below EPC B · 14,394 properties
See the data →North Yorkshire
78.8% below EPC B · 12,454 properties
See the data →Cornwall
77.2% below EPC B · 11,341 properties
See the data →Somerset
77.1% below EPC B · 9,866 properties
See the data →By sector
Retail & financial services
347,446 properties · 76.8% below EPC B
See the data →Offices & workshops
259,596 properties · 81.3% below EPC B
See the data →Restaurants, cafes & pubs
121,133 properties · 75.0% below EPC B
See the data →Storage & distribution
81,732 properties · 73.4% below EPC B
See the data →General & special industrial
58,372 properties · 81.9% below EPC B
See the data →Education
21,420 properties · 55.7% below EPC B
See the data →The guides
Written by people who do this work, cited to primary sources, dated.
Commercial MEES explained
The standards, who the duty falls on, penalties, exemptions and what to do first.
Read →Exemptions
Six grounds, five years, and the evidence bundle each one needs.
Read →The seven-year payback test
The commercial cost test – and why there is no £3,500 cap.
Read →How commercial EPCs work
Asset ratings, SBEM, and why your bills are not in the calculation.
Read →What upgrades cost
Cost ranges, paybacks and practical windows for twelve measures.
Read →Who actually pays
Service charge, dilapidations, access rights and the split incentive.
Read →Common questions
What is the minimum EPC rating for a commercial property?
E. Since 1 April 2023 it has been unlawful to continue letting a non-domestic property in England and Wales rated F or G without a registered exemption.
Is EPC C by 2027 still coming?
No. That interim requirement has been dropped. The next standard is EPC B in 2031, and it applies only to buildings over 1,000 m².
How do I find my commercial EPC?
Search the register free by postcode with our EPC lookup. No sign-up, no email.
Can my rating improve without doing building work?
Often, yes. Much of a non-domestic rating rests on defaults recorded because no evidence was supplied on the day of the survey. Supplying it replaces the assumption with the real value. How that works.
What are the penalties?
Up to £150,000 per property – 20% of rateable value at the upper tier – plus publication of the breach on a public register.
Turn the certificate you already have into a plan – £49
We find your certificate on the register first. You only pay if we find it.
- Eleven sections on your building, not a template
- Every measure tested against the seven-year rule that decides whether the law compels it
- Sequenced against your lease events, and an honest verdict on whether an exemption applies
- Credited against the assessment fee if you go on to commission one
Talk to an assessor
Two ways in. Book a survey if you already know you need one, or send the question if you are working out whether you do.
Book a survey
Request an assessment from an evenEco assessor. Already have an EPC? A re-assessment may still be due if it is over ten years old or the building has changed.
- evenEco energy assessors
- We confirm within one working day
- An accurate EPC and a costed upgrade strategy
Talk to us
Not sure which applies to your building? Send us the question and we will come back within one working day.