How to check an EPC is valid
You check the band and the date and stop. A certificate that passes both can still be worthless, because it was never lodged for this property in the first place, and a landlord who never checks holds paperwork that protects nobody.
Last reviewed 10 September 2026 · England
Knowing how to check an EPC is valid means looking past the number printed on the front. Plenty of landlords in England inherit a certificate rather than commission one: it comes with the house on completion day, or it sits in the folder from whoever managed the property before. That certificate can carry a good band and a date years from expiring, and still not count, because nobody has confirmed it belongs to this property at all.
The three checks beyond the band
A valid EPC for a rental property in England needs all three of these, not one.
| Check | What it means |
|---|---|
| Lodged on the register | The certificate shows up on the free government EPC register, not just as a paper copy in a folder |
| Address matches exactly | The certificate is for this specific dwelling, not the building, a different flat, or a previous layout |
| In date and band E or above | Inside its ten-year validity and rated E or better for the letting standard |
Checking the register, not just the paper
Every EPC produced for sale or letting in England has to be lodged on the free government register at find-energy-certificate.service.gov.uk. Search by postcode and the current certificate for the property comes up with its reference number, issue date and band. A certificate that exists only as a PDF or a printout, with nothing matching on the register, is not evidence of anything. Councils and the PRS database check the register entry, not the paper in your hand.
Why the address has to match exactly
The register lists certificates by dwelling, not by building. A converted house split into three flats needs three separate entries, and a certificate produced for the whole building before conversion does not carry over to any one of them. The same problem shows up with a previous owner’s EPC: it might be genuine, still in date, and still worthless to you, because it was assessed for a different layout, a different unit, or an address the postcode search does not resolve to your property. Checking the register confirms the certificate is actually for the flat or house you are letting, the same reason you would check an EICR against the property it claims to cover, not just its date.
What still applies once it is confirmed genuine
Passing all three checks does not end the job. The certificate still runs on its own ten-year clock, and the property still has to meet the minimum band E standard on the day a tenancy starts or renews, whatever the expiry date says. And once that clock does run out, an expired EPC blocks re-marketing the property, not the tenancy already running. A genuine certificate that has simply lapsed needs the same renewal as any other.
What to do now
- Search find-energy-certificate.service.gov.uk by the property’s postcode.
- Confirm the address on the register entry matches the exact dwelling, not the building or a different flat.
- Check the band is E or above and the issue date is within the last ten years.
- If nothing matches, or the entry is for the wrong property, treat it as no certificate and commission a new assessment.
- Keep the reference number and both dates somewhere you will actually check again. CertSorted holds it alongside every other certificate on one screen and reminds you at 90, 60, 30 and 7 days before the ten-year date runs out.
This applies to rental properties in England. EPC rules are set separately in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.