Opening the drawer
From a property's Overview tab, open the Energy performance certificate drawer from either place:
The Key facts card - select Edit (or Add, if no rating is recorded yet) next to EPC rating.
The Pre-Listing Checklist card - select Complete next to the EPC rating row.
An EPC expired or EPC due alert on the Dashboard - select Resolve to open the property with the drawer already open.
Both open the same drawer, showing the property's address and a status badge: No rating recorded, Rating recorded, or Exempt from EPC.
When an EPC has expired
If a property's EPC has passed its Valid until date, an Expired badge appears next to EPC rating on the Key facts card and in its quick-edit row, so it is clear at a glance that a new certificate is needed. This does not apply to a property marked exempt. The expiry used is the date recorded on the property's EPC certificate, or, if none has been recorded yet, the default ten-year date worked out from the issue date.
Marking a property exempt
Check This property is exempt from needing an EPC if the property does not need one - a listed building or a temporary structure, for example. While checked:
A note explains that the pre-listing checklist will not require a rating while this stays checked.
You can record a Reason for exemption.
The rating and certificate fields below are no longer required to save.
Retrieving a certificate from the national register
Select Retrieve certificate to search the national EPC register using the property's postcode, shown above the button.
If exactly one certificate is found, it is linked to the property automatically and fills in the ratings below. Linking also records the certificate on the property as an EPC certificate, with its expiry date.
If more than one is found, a scrollable list of matching addresses appears - each row shows the address and the certificate's registration date. Select the row for this property to link that certificate.
If none are found, a message says so and nothing is linked.
Retrieving again clears the previous search results and closes any open certificate preview, so you are always looking at your latest search.
Previewing and saving the certificate image
Right after a certificate has been retrieved - and for as long as none of its fields have been changed by hand since - two extra actions appear:
Preview EPC opens the certificate image in a dialog. A placeholder shows while it loads, and a message explains if it fails to load. Download, in the dialog, saves a copy.
Add to property media uploads the same certificate image to the property's media library, tagged as an EPC and captioned "EPC certificate", so it appears alongside the property's other photos and floor plans. See "How do I view and reorder a property's photos and floor plans?" for the media library itself.
Both actions fetch the certificate image fresh each time, since the certificate linked to a property can change independently of what is on screen - from another tab, or another user.
Editing a rating or certificate field by hand hides Preview EPC and Add to property media again, since they act on the certificate you just retrieved specifically.
Entering ratings by hand
You do not have to retrieve a certificate - you can fill in what you already know, or correct what the register returned:
Energy efficiency rating - the current score (1-100) and, optionally, its potential score, each shown with the EPC band (A-G) worked out from the score. A chart plots the current score against the potential score.
Environmental impact rating - the same current and potential scores, without a band chart.
Certificate details - UPRN, certificate reference, issue date, Valid until, and the certificate's document URLs.
Valid until is the date the EPC expires. It is filled in for you as ten years after the issue date, less a day, which is how the national register works it out, and it moves when you change the issue date. You can change it if the certificate says otherwise. It must be after the issue date, and it cannot be changed while the property is marked exempt.
Unless the property is marked exempt, a current energy efficiency score, a certificate reference and an issue date are all required to save.
Saving
Select Save ratings to save your changes to the property. Cancel, or closing the drawer, discards them.
Saving also records the expiry date on the property's EPC certificate, creating one if the property has none for this certificate reference. An EPC certificate for a different, earlier reference is left as it is, so the property keeps its history. If the ratings save but the expiry date does not, a message says so and the drawer stays open so you can save again.
If something goes wrong
If retrieving from the register, loading a certificate preview, or saving fails, a message explains what happened. Try again, and if it persists, use Contact us in the Help centre menu, inside the profile menu.