Inteb, the low energy and sustainability services provider is urging coffee shop owners to get their legally required air conditioning certification in place.

Any air conditioning system with an output of over 12kW must, by law, be regularly inspected by a trained energy assessor, so that certification can be produced to show that the operator of the system is complying with European Directive legislation.

All air conditioning systems in place on or after 1 January 2008 should have been inspected within five years of installation. Older systems with an output over 250kW should have been inspected by January 2009, while others, above 12kW, were required to have been inspected by January 2011.

Under Section 43 (1) D of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), you can be fined £300 per system, per day, if you are found to have non-compliant air conditioning systems.  If you are compliant, you will have been issued with TM44 certification as evidence of your inspection.

To date, Trading Standards Officers have been shown to have put little effort behind TM44 checks.  Only 5-10 per cent of qualifying properties are said to be compliant.  This is all about to change, as leading accreditation body, Sterling, has flagged up the lack of activity by Trading Standard Officers to the Department for Communities and Local Government.

THE DCLG has responded by saying that action could be taken against Local Authorities and Trading Standard Officers who are proved to be electing not to enforce the regulations. Local Authorities could be proved to be in breach of their statutory duty and at risk of judicial review.

Sterling has also instigated a Freedom of Information request and asked Local Authorities to report back on their actions to enforce the regulations to date, providing statistical evidence of inspections and enforcements. The spotlight is being turned on the lack of activity to date, even though £7.2m was provided to Local Authorities to enforce the TM44 legislation.

Simultaneously, the National Association of Air Conditioning Energy Assessors (NAACEA) is encouraging members and non-members to report non-compliant businesses and sites. A facility has been set up by NAACEA, so that whistleblowing is simplified.

This is likely to result in a big increase in Trading Standards activity, meaning that even business owners unaware of their legal duties in relation to air conditioning could be fined.

Inteb’s compliance manager, Amy Field (pictured), who deals with all energy compliance areas covered by the sustainability and low energy solutions provider, says: “We recognise that many businesses have no idea that they are supposed to have TM44 certification for their air conditioning system, but ignorance is no defence. We would urge businesses to get in touch and request an inspection, so that they can be compliant before any inspection by Trading Standards Officers. The alternative could be a very heavy fine, as TSOs respond to the threats placed upon them, by launching into a phase of active enforcement of the law.”

To assess whether an inspection is needed and to organise certification businesses can contact Inteb on 01772 970210.