DOMESTIC energy assessor Andrew Wood extols the virtues of HIPS packs and the Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs), the latter still being a legal requirement for property sales.

I do find it odd that the only support for these products that I have seen has either come from the politicians pushing the policy or from people with a direct professional interest in the preparation of the reports.

If they are, or were, useful, then it would not have be necessary to make them compulsory. If people want them, they are quite capable of exercising personal choice.

EPCs use standardised assumptions so as to make properties directly comparable while still reflecting the features of individual properties. This means that the report may not accurately reflect the performance of the specific property inspected which, for me, renders it a pointless waste of money.