Become a multi-skilled Energy Assessor and Home Inspector with potential multiple income streams

On 1st October this year all commercial properties being sold or let and all homes being rented will start legally requiring Energy Assessments carried out by newly qualified Energy Assessors. All larger public buildings will also require Assessments from October which must be renewed every year. These new and permanent environmental laws are due to the EU’s Energy Performance of Buildings Directive which already requires all homes being sold to have an Assessment that forms an important part of the Home Information Packs (HIPs) which became a legal requirement last year. Government was concerned that there would not be enough qualified Domestic Energy Assessors last year and another original requirement in the Packs, the Home Condition Report, was made optional because of a lack of Home Inspectors.

There is now a similar concern that there may not be enough qualified Commercial Energy Assessors to carry out the new Assessments from October and still not enough Home Inspectors if Government announces Home Condition Reports are to become compulsory again, as we expect it to do this year. There are less than 1,000 certified Inspectors (as of June 2008) and Government has estimated 7,500 will be needed. A shortage of further qualified Assessors for Public Buildings is another concern.

Exceptional career opportunities are being created by these ‘green’ permanent environmental laws. In the year from this October it is estimated that Assessors will need to carry out Energy Assessments on 3.1 million properties:

1.8 million rented properties*
200,000 commercial properties*
1.1 million properties for sale

In a normal year some 2 million domestic properties are marketed for sale and would need Assessments (see graphic below) but only 1.1 million has been allowed in this estimate of 3.1 million in case the housing market downturn continues into next year. To carry out all this work thousands of trained Assessors will be required and if Home Condition Reports are made mandatory, as we expect, thousands more trained Home Inspectors will be needed as well.

We believe these new professionals need to be ‘multi-skilled’ because of the many opportunities created by the new laws and we are therefore providing a unique, ground-breaking training course that leads to all the qualifications needed to carry out this work, which should result in multiple income stream opportunities.

Our course is for people with no previous surveying experience and most people can train around any current job and their lifestyle as it consists mainly of 8 separately bookable one-week modules leading to a series of qualifications from the Government-appointed Awarding Body for the Built Environment (ABBE). Training is provided at our national network of ABBE Approved Assessment Centres at Tolworth near London and in central Bristol, Birmingham and Manchester. The Course qualifications are:

• Home Inspector (DipHI)
- ABBE Diploma in Home Inspection


• Domestic Energy Assessor (DipDEA)
- ABBE Diploma in Domestic Energy Assessment


• Commercial Energy Assessor (DipNDEA)
- ABBE Non-Domestic Energy Assessor Level 3


• Flood Risk Assessor

We are pioneering the Flood Risk Assessor training and expect it to lead to another income earning opportunity carrying out flood risk assessments and also assessing actual flood damage. We are working with ABBE to create a new qualification for this role and the flood risk assessment industry is very interested in our qualifying Home Inspectors carrying out this vitally important work.

Homes marketed in the last five years
(Figures shown in millions and rounded off to nearest 100,000. Based on Office of National Statistics' sales figures with 28% projection for failed sales as estimated by Department of Communities and Local Government.)

* ‘1.8 million rental transactions’ – Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in House of Lords. ’200,000 commercial properties’ – CLG website – RIA of EPBD Article 7 (1) Non-dwellings.