What is an ESOS Enforcement Notice?
If you are reading this, chances are you have recieved an ESOS enforcement notice. The Environment Agency have been issuing ESOS Enforcement Notices to organisations who qualified for the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme but have not lodged compliance by the deadline date.
If you have not heard of ESOS and want to know more, you can visit our ESOS page or contact us directly and we will be happy to help.
Organisations qualifying for ESOS must achieve compliance or they could face a non-compliance penalty of up to £50,000. Qualifying organisation must achieve compliance every four years. The initial Phase 1 deadline was set for the 5th December 2015, the ESOS Phase 2 deadline was 5th December 2019 and the ESOS Phase 3 deadline will be 5th December 2023.
It is the responsibilty of the Environment Agency to enforce the ESOS scheme regulations by ensuring that companies that meet the qualifying criterea either obtain ESOS compliance or face fines or penalties.
The Environment Agency will identify all qualifying companies who have failed to notify the Environment Agency of compliance, and issue Enforcement Notices.
The enforcement notices are not to be taken lightly. If you are in receipt of an enforcement notice, you should act immediately to get compliant. Some of the enforcement notices that we have seen, have given companies a short extended deadline so that they have the opportunity to achieve compliance. However, it must be noted that the Environment Agency has issued fines to organisations who fail to comply.
Why has your business received an ESOS Enforcement Notice?
The Environment Agency has a list of UK businesses that it believes meet the criteria for the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (see our ESOS page for more details). If your company is on that list, the Environment Agency expect you to achieve and lodge your ESOS compliance. If you fail to do this, you are likely to receive an Enforcement Notice.
In 2017, we were contacted by a number of businesses who had received these letters and we expect this to continue.
What to do if you’ve received an ESOS Enforcement Notice from the Environment Agency?
If you find yourself in a position whereby your business has been served with an ESOS Enforcement Notice, you should act quickly to achieve compliance before the deadline stated in the Enforcement Notice (this is different for each company).
In most cases, you will need to appoint an ESOS Lead Assessor who can guide you through the ESOS process and tell you what needs to be done. Please visit our ESOS Lead Assessors page for more information.
Will my business be fined?
In truth, we cannot guarantee that the Environment Agency won’t enforce the fines, after all, ESOS is a mandatory EU directive. However, we would recommend that the best way to avoid the fines, is to achieve and lodge ESOS compliance prior to the deadlines.
For more information, please contact us on 01273 455 664 or email: info@efficiency-direct.co.uk
