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RdSAP 9 vs RdSAP 10

Not a certificate change: an input change. The house is the same; what the assessor is allowed to assume about it is not.

Changed inputs, RdSAP 9 to RdSAP 10
InputRdSAP 9 (to Jun 2025)RdSAP 10 (from 15 Jun 2025)
WindowsGlazing area assumed from the property's age bandEach window measured and recorded Elmhurst RdSAP 10
VentilationCoarse defaultsMechanical and natural ventilation modelled in detail Elmhurst RdSAP 10
AirtightnessNot enterableAir pressure test results can be entered Elmhurst RdSAP 10
Room in roofSimplified treatmentAdditional data collected on site Elmhurst RdSAP 10
Undocumented featuresOften credited via age-band assumptionsFall back to conservative defaults without evidence
Survey timeShorter walk-roundLonger: more measurement and evidence collection Elmhurst RdSAP 10
Methodology maintained by BRE for government BRE.

The same-house example, worked in words

Take the 1930s semi with cavity walls filled in the 1990s, paperwork long gone. Under RdSAP 9, the age band and a visual once-over could credit the insulation, and glazing was assumed typical for the era. Under RdSAP 10 the assessor measures the actual windows (larger single-aspect glazing than the age-band average: points down), and the undocumented cavity fill drops to a conservative default (points down again). Same bricks, lower number. Reverse the story for a documented, genuinely improved house: measured reality beats a stingy assumption, and the score rises.

Does my RdSAP 9 certificate remain valid?

Yes. Certificates are valid for 10 years under the methodology that produced them; nothing about the version change voids existing EPCs Elmhurst RdSAP 10. The practical consequence is only at renewal, which is exactly why renewal timing is now a decision: see should I renew my EPC now, the fuller RdSAP 10 page, and what the assessor does on site.

Lodgement recordPrepared and verified by Oliver Wakefield-Smith, Digital SignetLast verified 2 August 2026Primary sources cited on this page: 2View the source register