Accounting Officers and Building Owners: Take note of 7 December 2025 as the longstop date for the mandatory display of Energy Performance Certificates

On 8 December 2020, the Regulations for the Mandatory Display and Submission of Energy Performance Certificates for Buildings (“Regulations”) made under section 19(1)(b) of the National Energy Act 34 of 1998 (“National Energy Act”) were published in the Government Gazette and came into effect upon its publication. The primary purpose of these Regulations was to introduce mandatory requirements for the display of energy performance certificates (EPC/s) in non-residential buildings[1]. This means that if the Regulations apply to your building, you should have or ought to, by not later than 7 December 2025, publicly display, at the entrance of your building, the building’s EPC.

*KINDLY TAKE NOTE THE DEADLINE FOR THE MANDATORY DISPLAY OF AN EPC IS EXTENDED TO 7 DECEMBER 2025.

THE EXTENSION ISSUED IS DUE TO THE DEPARTMENT OF MINERAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY’S (“DMRE”) GRANTING A THREE-YEAR EXTENSION ON THE MANDATORY DISPLAY OF ENERGY PERFORMANCE CERTIFICATES (“EPCS”) AS ANNOUNCED IN THE GOVERNMENT GAZETTE VOL 689 NO. 47569.

A second article discussing the amendments to the Regulations will be made available in due course and we will continue to monitor developments in this space.

What is an EPC?

It is a certificate issued by an accredited body in respect of a building in accordance with the South African National Standard SANS 1544: 2014 energy performance certificates for buildings, published by the South African Bureau of Standards in terms of the Standards Act 8 of 2008 that indicates the energy performance of that building[2].

Simply put, all this means is that it is a certificate issued by a South African National Accreditation System (SANAS) accredited inspection body which indicates the energy rating of your building or office park from A to G, with A indicating ‘very efficient’ and G indicating ‘inefficient’.

Who do these Regulations apply to?

There are largely two categories of persons to whom these Regulations apply to, both of which are set out below for your ease of reference. If the questions we have raised below per category are answered in the affirmative, your building’s EPC should be publicly displayed at the entrance of your building by not later than 7 December 2022.

The South African National Energy Development Institute (SANEDI) has published a helpful guideline which is up to date as of May 2022 (“Guideline”) and can easily be found on their website. This Guideline details inter alia the role of an EPC, the information the EPC should contain and a step-by-step process on how to obtain an EPC for your building. According to the Guideline, EPCs will initially indicate energy consumption, but the aim is to focus landowners’ attention on energy efficient practices in their buildings and to contribute to the transition to a low carbon economy[4]. 

What are the implications if you fail to publicly display your energy performance certificate?

According to the Regulations, the failure to display the EPC is an offence in contravention of the National Energy Act. This means that you may be liable on conviction to –

• a fine not exceeding R5 million;
• imprisonment for a period not exceeding 5 years; or
• both such fine and imprisonment.

If you are either selling or purchasing a non-residential building, it is important to note that the owner of the building as of the deadline of 7 December 2022 will be held responsible for the display of the EPC. It is, therefore, recommended that contracting parties consider this when negotiating any transaction dealing with the transfer of a building that meets the requirements we have set out in the table above.   

It is interesting to note that the monitoring of the display of EPCs is to be carried out by the Department of Minerals Resources and Energy (DMRE) or a representative appointed by the DMRE. Where a representative is appointed, the DMRE must notify the building owner.  

Once you have obtained an energy performance certificate, what steps do you need to take to ensure compliance with these Regulations?

In addition to the mandatory display of the EPC, it is important to take the followings steps in order to ensure compliance with the Regulations –

• ensure that you have submitted an electronic copy of your EPC within three months of it’s issue to SANEDI. This can be done by email or by hand delivery.
• take note of the validity of the EPC, as it cannot exceed five years from the date of issue.
• the EPC is valid only for the building that was inspected and cannot be used for other buildings owned.

Where to from here?

The Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA) states that understanding the energy performance of a building is a vital step on the journey to a net zero carbon building[5]. A ‘net zero carbon building’ or sometimes referred to as a ‘zero net carbon building’ is a highly energy-efficient building that produces on-site or procures off-site renewable energy to meet building operations energy consumption annually[6]. The cities of Cape Town, eThekwini, Johannesburg and Tshwane have committed to achieve ultra-efficient buildings powered by renewable energy for all new buildings by 2030 and for existing buildings by 2050. These cities have proposed the following initiatives to achieve their goal by the prescribed date

• the City of Tshwane intends to develop a programme to monitor the energy use of buildings through metered data to support compliance with operational targets, and this may include the broad implementation of EPCs[7];
• in the Draft Green Building Policy: New Buildings by the City of Johannesburg, it appears that the City of Johannesburg will require landowners to submit EPCs annually to the City;
• the City of Cape Town has an EPC compliance initiative as one of the important steps to achieve the Net Zero Carbon Buildings Target by 2030 and the broader city-wide ambition to be carbon neutral by 2050[8]; and
• the eThekwini internal legal department is currently reviewing its draft by-law on energy efficient buildings.

The amendments to Schedule 2 of the Electricity Regulation Act 4 of 2006 to increase the licensing threshold for self-generation facilities from 1MW to 100MW, published in Government Notice 737 in Government Gazette 44989 of 12 August 2021, is significant to the EPC initiatives and the greater goal of moving towards net zero carbon buildings.

The Regulations indicate that other requirements will be imposed on building owners to ensure green buildings in addition to the mandatory display of EPCs.