UK Offence Report

Purposes for which certificates and recommendation reports may be disclosed

regulation 10(1) of The Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008

This offence was read from the text as made, and no revised version was available, so a later revocation could not be ruled out. Check the current text at legislation.gov.uk.

What the provision says

1 Where any person has in his possession or control

a document to which this regulation applies, it is an offence for that person to disclose, or permit the disclosure of, the document or any information derived from it except in the circumstances specified in paragraph (2).

Text as made, from legislation.gov.uk. © Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.

Who it binds, and what has to be proved

Binds
a person
Conduct
breaching the provision
Fault element
Strict liability
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove that the conduct happened. This is a strict liability offence as drafted: the provision uses no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence, so there is no need to show that a person meant to do it, knew about it, or was careless.

Intention, knowledge and carelessness are irrelevant to guilt. They may still matter a great deal to sentence.

The provision states no defence, so the prosecution bears the burden on every element of the offence.

Classifier’s reasoning: no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence in the offence or its provision.

What would breach regulation 10(1)?

These are illustrations, not law. They are generated from the provision’s own words to show the shape of the offence. Whether any particular conduct is caught depends on the full text, on any amendment since, and on the facts.

  1. On these words it is an offence to disclose, or permit the disclosure of, the document or any information derived from it except in the circumstances specified in paragraph (2).
  2. Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Standard scale
Level 5
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

in Northern Ireland a reference to a level is construed as referring to the standard scale as it currently stands (Fines and Penalties (NI) Order 1984 art.5(3)), not as it stood when the instrument was made.

Sentencing

Offences of this kind are usually sentenced under the guidelines below. This is a mapping by subject, not a finding about this provision, and the links go to a search of the Sentencing Council’s own site.

Prosecution figures

No published per-offence figure was found for this provision, and it could not be matched to a Ministry of Justice offence code. Offences created by statutory instrument very largely do not have one. Absence of a figure is not evidence that the offence is unused.

Status and lifecycle

Current status
Status not determined
Made
10 April 2008
In force from
30 June 2008
Extent
Not stated

How this was established: read from the text as made; no revised version available, so later revocation could not be ruled out.

What the instrument is for

(This note is not part of the Regulations) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations implement in Northern Ireland Articles 7 (energy performance certificate), 9 (inspection of air-conditioning systems) and 10 (independent experts) of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, O.J. No L1, 4.1.20043 (“the Directive”) which lays down requirements for the production of energy performance certificates when buildings are constructed, sold or rented out, display of display energy certificates in large public buildings providing a public service, and regular inspections of air-conditioning systems. Part 2 of these Regulations implements Articles 7(1) and (2) of the Directive, and requires the production of energy performance certificates when buildings are constructed, sold or rented out. In particular, regulation 5 requires sellers and prospective landlords to make available energy performance certificates to prospective buyers and tenants at the earliest opportunity. The proposed timetable for energy performance certificates is as follows: Commencement Date Sale 30 June 2008 Dwellings New builds 30 September 2008 Rental 30 December 2008 Sale 30 December 2008 Buildings other than Dwellings New builds 30 September 2008 Rental 30 December 2008 Regulation 6 requires a person responsible for having construction work carried out, when a building is constructed or modified, to make available an energy performance certificate to the owner of the building not more than five days after the work has been completed. Regulation 7 requires that energy performance certificates shall be accompanied by recommendation reports for the improvement of the energy performance of the building. Regulation 8 sets out the minimum requirements for energy performance certificates. In particular, certificates shall be no more than 10 years old. Regulation 9 makes provision for a copy of a valid energy performance certificate to be made available or for a valid energy performance certificate to be made available electronically, with the consent of the intended recipient. Regulation 10 imposes restrictions on the circumstances in which certificates and recommendation reports may be disclosed, and creates an offence for unlawful disclosure. Part 3 implements Article 7(3) of the Directive. In particular, where large buildings are occupied by public authorities and by institutions providing public services to a large number of persons a display energy certificate must be displayed, and an advisory report containing recommendations for the improvement of the energy performance of the building must be obtained (regulation 11). Regulation 12 sets out the minimum requirements for display energy certificates. In particular, certificates shall be no more than 12 months old. Regulation 13 sets out that the operational rating is not required in the display energy certificate displayed by an occupier who has been in occupation for less than 15 months and the asset rating is not required in the display energy certificate displayed by an occupier who entered into occupation of the building before 31st December 2008. Part 4 implements Article 9 of the Directive. In particular, where this Part applies the person who has control of the operation of an air-conditioning system shall ensure the system is inspected at regular intervals not exceeding 5 years (regulation 15). Regulations 16, 17 and 18 set out the minimum requirements for air-conditioning inspection reports, the keeping of the inspection reports and changes of the person in control of the operation of the air-conditioning system. Part 5 implements Article 10 of the Directive. Energy assessors who produce energy performance certificates, display energy certificates or who inspect air-conditioning systems shall be members of an accreditation scheme approved by the Department (regulation 19). Regulation 20 imposes a duty on an energy assessor to make any related party disclosures. Regulation 21 imposes a duty of care on energy assessors and regulation 22 makes provision for the copying of documents. Part 6 deals with the register of documents and establishes the duties relating to disclosure of the documents held on the register. Part 7 deals with enforcement and makes provision for enforcement by way of civil penalties. Regulation 31 imposes a duty on the enforcement authority to enforce the duties relating to certificates and air-conditioning inspections and regulation 33 empowers the enforcement authority to issue penalty charge notices for any breach. Regulation 34 and regulations 36 through to 38 establish the rights of the person who has been given a penalty charge notice. Regulation 40 creates offences relating to enforcement officers. Part 8 deals with miscellaneous matters. Regulation 41 binds the Crown. Regulation 42 imposes a general duty to cooperate with and allow reasonable access to any person who is under a duty relating to certificates or inspections. Regulation 43 amends the Building Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000. In addition to various consequential amendments, the amended paragraph 5(d) and new paragraph 5(g) of regulation A11 of the Building Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000 revokes the requirement to produce an energy rating notice for new dwellings and replaces it with a requirement to produce an energy performance certificate. A Regulatory Impact Assessment has been prepared. Copies can be obtained on request from Building Standards Branch, Department of Finance and Personnel, 10th Floor River House, 48 High Street, Belfast BT1 2AW. Alternatively, it may be downloaded from www.buildingregulationsni.gov.uk.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

Other offences in the same instrument

How this was identified as an offence

Everything above rests on the judgement that this provision creates a criminal offence, rather than mentioning one. That judgement is made by rule, from the words of the provision, and this is the rule that made it — with a confidence of 0.90.

Basis
the provision says “it is an offence”; the provision says an offence is committed “if” something happens
Confidence
0.90 of 1.00

A provision that states a penalty for an offence created elsewhere can read very like one that creates an offence, and the rules can mistake the one for the other. If the text quoted above sets a penalty for something made an offence by another provision, treat the classification on this page with that in mind, and read the instrument.

Check the source