“However, the changes also now present small building owners with additional obligations and compliance challenges.”
What do the changes mean?
If you have a single office space or multiple spaces in the same building with a combined area of over 1,000 sqm, you will need to check your disclosure obligations and ascertain whether you need a National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS) rating and a Building Energy Efficiency Certificate (BEEC).
The kinds of buildings and areas of buildings that are disclosure affected are identified in the Building Energy Efficiency Disclosure (Disclosure Affected Buildings) Determination 2016.
The following kinds of buildings are exempt from the disclosure requirements:
- new buildings where a certificate of occupancy (or equivalent) has either not yet been issued or was issued less than two years earlier
- buildings that have completed a major refurbishment for which a certificate of occupancy (or equivalent) was issued less than two years earlier. For a major refurbishment where no certificate of occupancy was issued, you need to apply for an exemption
- strata-titled buildings
- mixed use buildings where total office space comprises less than 75% of the building by net lettable area (or gross lettable area if net lettable area is unavailable).
What is required?
A NABERS rating and BEEC conducted by an accredited assessor is required for office spaces 1,000 sqm and above.
A NABERS rating provides a building a star rating performance and can be conducted at any time. It does not need a sales or leasing event to trigger the need to have your building assessed.
A BEEC is a final certificate that incorporates the NABERS rating and Tenancy Lighting Assessment which is a lighting calculation of the wattage per square meter of the general office lighting.
Visit the CBD website or call them on 1800 06 07 02 to understand your obligations based on your unique property.