A lodged EPC cannot be edited directly, and there is no online form for changing the recorded electricity supplier or energy source. The only route is to contact the original assessor with documentary evidence; if they agree an error was made, they cancel the certificate and lodge a corrected version. If they refuse, the accreditation scheme named on the certificate is the next step, or you commission a fresh assessment.
TL;DR:
- Changing an electricity supplier or energy source on an EPC requires contacting the original assessor with specific evidence, as the record is not editable online.
- Disputes over recorded data are best escalated through the assessor’s accreditation scheme, which can require reissuing a corrected certificate without charge if an error is verified.
- A new assessment can be faster and more cost-effective than prolonged disputes, especially if assessor unresponsiveness or property changes make corrections difficult.
- The lack of an edit button on the EPC register stems from technical and data protection challenges, with future HEM updates aiming to reduce errors through better data entry rather than editing.
- Proper preparation, including gathering invoices, certificates, and photos before assessment, can significantly prevent mistakes in recorded energy and fuel details.
Table of Contents
- How can I change my electricity supplier detail on an EPC?
- Contacting the assessor: what your correction request needs
- What if the assessor disagrees or won’t respond?
- Why the register can’t be edited, and what HEM might change
- How long does it take, and what does it cost?
- A working checklist before your next assessment
- The gap between the rule and how people actually behave
- Get the correction or reassessment handled properly
- Sources
How can I change my electricity supplier detail on an EPC?
You cannot change it yourself. The Energy Performance Certificate register is a fixed record once lodged, and neither landlords nor letting agents have write access to it. Government guidance confirms that data on the domestic EPC register is not editable once submitted, which surprises a lot of property owners who assume a quick email will sort it out.
Start by checking exactly what was recorded and by whom. The assessor’s name, membership number, and accreditation scheme appear on the certificate itself, usually near the bottom of page one. That detail matters because you will need it twice: once to contact the assessor directly, and again if you have to escalate.
Common errors worth checking for:
- Heating and fuel type recorded as mains gas when the property actually runs on an electric or heat pump system
- Solar PV ownership or export tariff status marked incorrectly, particularly on properties with a recent solar installation
- Smart meter data or tariff information that was estimated rather than observed on site
Acceptable evidence includes installer certificates, supplier invoices, product specification sheets, dated photographs of the meter or heating unit, and building-control completion certificates where relevant. As HEM’s modular input framework beds in, assessors will increasingly rely on this kind of on-site, documented evidence rather than defaults, so keeping paperwork from day one saves time later.
Pro Tip: Photograph the meter, boiler or inverter nameplate at the point of installation, before it disappears behind a cupboard door. That single photo often settles a dispute an assessor would otherwise have to visit the property to resolve.
Contacting the assessor: what your correction request needs
Write to the assessor rather than phoning, so there’s a dated record of what you sent and when. Your message should cover four things:
- The specific field you believe is wrong (for example, “heating fuel recorded as mains gas, property is all electric”)
- What it should say instead, with a short explanation
- The evidence attached, listed by document name
- The correction you’re asking for: cancellation and reissue of the certificate
Give the assessor a reasonable window before following up. Keep every email and attachment in one folder; if the matter escalates, whoever reviews it will want a clear paper trail rather than a summary from memory.
If the assessor accepts your evidence, they cancel the original EPC and lodge a corrected certificate. Genuine errors are typically corrected without charge, since the mistake was theirs, not yours. This is the outcome most disputes reach, provided the evidence is specific and dated rather than a general complaint that “something looks wrong.”
What if the assessor disagrees or won’t respond?
Every accredited assessor belongs to a government-approved accreditation scheme, and its name and membership number sit on the certificate itself. Schemes are obliged to investigate a formal complaint, and where an error is verified they can require the assessor to reissue the certificate. This is the correct escalation route, not Trading Standards, unless the dispute involves fraud, misrepresentation, or a pattern of misconduct that goes beyond a single factual error.
When raising a complaint, include:
- Copies of all correspondence with the assessor, dated
- The evidence you originally submitted
- A clear statement of what you’re asking the scheme to instruct
Trading Standards becomes relevant only if you suspect deliberate falsification or an assessor operating outside their accreditation, which is rare. For the ordinary case of an incorrect field, the scheme route resolves things faster and without legal cost.
Sometimes it’s simply quicker to commission a new assessment, particularly if you’re mid-sale or mid-let and can’t wait weeks for a dispute to run its course. This is the pragmatic option when the original assessor is unresponsive, the property has changed substantially since the last visit, or you’re managing several units and one query risks turning into several.
Why the register can’t be edited, and what HEM might change
The register works on a lodge-once, replace-if-wrong basis. There’s no edit button because the system was never built with one, and unpicking that raises real technical and data-protection questions.
That’s the practical reality behind the rule. GOV.UK’s own action plan review has looked at allowing updates to lodged data and found the current XML-based register architecture, combined with data-protection considerations, makes a genuine edit function a significant regulatory undertaking rather than a quick fix.
The Home Energy Model consultation sets out modular inputs and four new headline metrics that will eventually replace the current RdSAP-based EPC. HEM’s structure should reduce the guesswork that causes errors in the first place, since assessors will log observed inputs rather than falling back on software defaults. That doesn’t mean the register itself becomes editable when HEM launches. Cancellation and reissue remains the mechanism for now, and property owners should plan around that rather than wait for a feature that isn’t confirmed.
How long does it take, and what does it cost?
A straightforward correction, where the assessor accepts your evidence without argument, typically resolves within a few weeks from first contact to a reissued certificate. Genuine assessor error carries no fee.
Where things slow down:
- Accreditation scheme investigations, which can run several weeks longer if the assessor disputes the error
- Portfolio-level corrections across multiple units, which multiply the admin even when each case is simple
- Assessors transitioning their software and training for HEM, which may cause short-term delays as processes bed in
Commissioning a brand-new assessment sidesteps the dispute entirely. Costs vary by property size, region and assessor, but a fresh domestic EPC commonly costs a few hundred pounds. For a landlord managing several properties, weigh that cost against the time a drawn-out dispute would otherwise consume.
A working checklist before your next assessment
Before any assessor arrives, pull together supplier invoices, installer certificates, and photographs of your meter, boiler or PV inverter. Handing these over during the visit, rather than after, is the single biggest thing that prevents an incorrect fuel or supplier entry in the first place.
It’s also worth asking directly whether your chosen assessor is up to speed with the HEM transition. Assessors who understand the shift from RdSAP defaults to HEM’s on-site modular inputs tend to record energy-source details more accurately the first time, which means less rework for you later.
Homeenergymodel’s assessor guidance and quote service exist for exactly this reason: helping owners find assessors who get the detail right the first time, without the back-and-forth this article has just walked through.
The gap between the rule and how people actually behave
Most guidance on this topic treats the “you can’t edit the register” rule as a dead end, then moves straight to complaint templates. That undersells the real lesson here: the entire correction process exists because assessors, working under time pressure with RdSAP’s software defaults, occasionally record what the software assumes rather than what’s actually installed. The fix isn’t a better complaints process. It’s better evidence at the point of assessment, before a default value ever gets written down.
Landlords managing several properties are the ones who feel this most, because one wrong fuel-type entry rarely stays isolated. It tends to be a habit across the portfolio, tied to how a particular assessor works rather than a one-off mistake. If you’ve had to correct one certificate, check the others from the same visit before you assume it was a single error.
HEM won’t fix this by making the register editable. It will fix it, if the transition goes to plan, by giving assessors fewer defaults to fall back on. That’s a better outcome than an edit button, but it depends entirely on assessors adopting it properly.
— Danny
Get the correction or reassessment handled properly
Chasing an assessor by email, waiting on an accreditation scheme, or paying for a second assessment are the only real routes to correcting a wrong supplier or fuel entry, and each has its own drawbacks: slow response times, formal complaint procedures, or an unwanted extra cost. A quote service offers a more direct path for property owners who’d rather not manage that process alone.
Through Homeenergymodel’s quote service, landlords and owners can be matched with assessors who understand how HEM is reshaping EPC inputs and who record supplier and fuel data accurately from the first visit, rather than relying on software defaults that need correcting later. If your certificate needs a formal reassessment rather than a dispute, the Energy Performance Guide explains what to expect from the process and how to commission it. Request a quote from a qualified assessor.