Energy Matters | Issue 9 | 2022
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F E AT U R E www.elmhurstenergy.co.uk
Why do we audit? Stuart Fairlie, Managing Director
I think that most of us feel that we do a good job and no one (especially auditors!) like to be questioned. But at the same time we have all come across energy assessors who make mistakes, cut corners or even manipulate inputs to get the ‘right’ answer. We at Elmhurst believe that quality assurance is essential to deliver good quality energy certificates and that good auditing is an essential part of that process and, when done at its best, is a learning experience for us all.
Audits are a requirement for all energy schemes and it comes at a significant cost, but at a cost which we think is worth paying because it secures the reputation of energy certificates. This means that consumers can have confidence in them and policy makers continue to demand energy certificates.
Quality Assurance
One definition of quality is when the product meets customers’ requirements. When it comes to energy assessments we believe that means an EPC that is accurate, consistent, informative and forms a good basis on which to make decisions. Elmhurst can influence all of these aspects, but for accuracy and consistency we rely on our accredited energy assessor members.
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Intuitive software
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Great technical support
Auditing, even if applied at 100% sampling, will never assure quality. The quality assurance that Elmhurst provides is based upon putting the effort in before the assessment through: n
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Excellent training delivered by experts
Helpful manuals and Technical Bulletins
This is done on the basis that auditing, which is inevitably done after the event, will identify fewer problems that are often difficult, expensive and inconvenient to resolve.
