Section 63 Action Plans Explained
3rd of September, 2019What are Section 63 Action Plans? In Scotland, under certain circumstances, building owners are required to produce a "Section 63 Action Plan". The Action Plan lists actions that are required to be implemented by the building owner to improve energy efficiency. These Actions are a statutory requirement under the The Assessment of Energy Performance of Non-domestic Buildings (Scotland) Regulations 2016. The Action Plan is based on the Energy Performance Certificate and forms an additional report. There are two types of Action Plan: Prescribed Measures Action Plans Alternative Measures Action Plans Prescribed Measures Action Plans When you run the Action Plan software it automatically gives you a list of actions to make up the overall improvement target. This is called a Prescribed Measures Action Plan. The prescribed measures are based on the Scottish Government's list of priorities for improvement of existing buildings. The report is a simple A4 sheet but is difficult for the non-specialist to interpret as it is essentially a list of target numbers expressed in quantities of carbon dioxide and power. Alternative Measures Action Plans However, more feasible or cost effective measures may be available that are alternative ways of meeting the target. When we put forward these alternatives, this is called an Alternative Measures Action Plan. For example the prescribed measures might be cost prohibitive because they are impractical and costly, but alternatives could be identified that cost much less but still meet the overall target. Doing this involves us investigating feasible options, modelling those actions to confirm that the original target will be met by one or a combination of different alternative actions, and finally giving a budget cost for the prescribed and alternative measures to allow us to make a recommendation on the content of the Action Plan. We provide a report to record the process we've went through. There's more work in an Alternative Action Plan but potentially there are significant savings to be made on the works arising if feasible alternatives can be found. Even though there’s a higher initial cost for the survey, we would normally advise clients to consider the Alternative Measures Action Plan as this can often result in significant savings over the cost of prescribed actions. Any Questions? This is a complex area of new legislation with many pitfalls for the unwary layperson. So please feel free to speak with us if you have any questions.
