Hips Energy Ltd

The task of a Domestic Energy Assessor is to collate the data required on any domestic property that falls into the category of the Reduced Data Standard Assessment Program (RDSAP). The RDSAP measures the energy efficiency of a property against the national standard.

This national standard is based on a property located within the Thames Valley, for the purposes of the external temperature and daylight, with internal temperatures set at 21°C in the living room and 18°C in all other rooms with heating applied nine hours a day Monday to Friday and 16 hours on Saturday and Sunday.

The Standard Assessment Program (SAP) has been used for some years by Surveyors to gather information on properties, from which a database model has been created of many different dwellings, their construction and energy efficiency.

The RDSAP uses the same database models created with SAP but requires less data to be collected and therefore the assessor does not need to be a fully qualified surveyor and hence the new professional standard Domestic Energy Assessor (DEA) has been created.

Some properties however cannot be surveyed using the RDSAP model and therefore fall outside the scope and remit of the DEA. These properties include:

A flat with an extension.

A self contained flat in a roof area.

A property of multiple-occupancy.

Student accommodation.

These properties require a Simplified Building Energy Model (SBEM) qualified surveyor.

The DEA has a duty of care, at all times, to himself/herself, the client, and must carry out a risk assessment at all times. Any risk deemed too high a risk requires the DEA to terminate the survey at anytime. This might even occur on approaching the property if that approach is considered dangerous in some way.

On approaching the property the DEA will take an external photograph. This identifies the property and ensures he knows which photographs belong to which property when downloading them from the camera. This photograph and the others taken during the survey are essential as proof of visit and are used as an aid memoir at a later date should any queries be raised over the EPC or the recommendations it generates.