Non Domestic Energy Assessor L4 portfolio Contents page

This document outlines the format the portfolio must be submitted to Stroma Certification.

Examples of certain documents can be found at

Front Cover Page.

Contents Page.

Task 1

  1. Personal Information - Please provide the following documentation:
  1. A relevant and up to date Professional CV
  2. A signed copy of your learning agreement.
  3. A completed Skills scan which should be filled in signed and the work experience section filled in
  4. Any relevant Diploma Certificates to demonstrate your competence. Please note certain certificates will give you recognition of prior learning for certain units of the qualification please ask your assessor about this.

Task 2

  1. Please provide comprehensive answers to the questions to the N.D.E.A. knowledge and understanding questionnaire. This can be found in the resources section of one file and on the post course link.

Conduct Energy Assessments in a safe, effective and professional manner. (Unit 1)

Task 3

Assignment A

  1. Produce a learner statement that describes how you established a business relationship with a real client that led to an instruction to conduct an energy assessment.

This statement should also cover:

  1. how you carry out work in accordance with:
  • The relevant legal requirements.
  • Prescribed codes of conduct
  • Auditing and monitoring requirements
  1. The actions you take to protect client’s:
  • Property
  • Information
  1. how you maintain goodwill and trust
  2. how you request and handle information
  3. how you handle a dispute or difference of opinion
  4. how you handle a conflict of interest
  5. how you maintain your personal image
  6. requirements for professional indemnity insurance
  7. how you maintain an appropriate level of service and manage expectations
  8. how you recognise their own limits of own competence

Assignment B

  1. Produce a business pack comprising of 5 letters to the client, the letters must cover the following
  1. Responding to a question
  2. Answering a question that falls outside your area of expertise
  3. Declining an instruction giving reasons
  4. Responding to a request for confidential information
  5. Responding to a complaint or difference of opinion

Assignment C

  1. A written example of your Time Management system.

Assignment D

  1. Please produce your Personal Development Plan. (PDP) this must include your, Commitment

Continuous Professional Development (CPD) as a NDEA.

Assignment E

  1. Produce a preliminary assessment of the health and safety requirements for an energy assessment this should include the 5 steps to risk assessment and a description of some of the risks you might encounter as a NDEA as well as any general health and safety considerations.

Prepare for energy assessments of non-dwellings to fulfill regulatory requirements for asset ratings (unit 2)

Task 4

Assignment A

  1. Produce a method statement that describes the preparations you make prior to conducting a non-domestic energy assessment visit. This method statement should also cover:
  1. How you respond promptly to the client’s request
  2. How you establish that the assessment falls within their competence
  3. How and why ratings can change with time and conventions
  4. How to identify circumstances that prevent you from assessing the energy performance of the property
  5. How to obtain the latest version of iSBEM
  6. How you confirm the client’s expectations and requirements

Assignment B

  1. Produce a business pack comprising letters to a client. This can be on more than one letter or

document but should include all of the following:

  1. Provisionally accepting the instruction, explaining the purpose of the inspection, the legal requirement for an Energy Performance Certificate and its relevance to the Green Deal.
  2. Confirming a mutually convenient time for an inspection.
  3. Stating your terms and conditions as a Non-Domestic Energy Assessor.
  4. Confirming your fee structure and giving an estimate of the costs involved in the assessment.
  5. Explaining why, having started an energy assessment, the inspection cannot continue any further and laying out options on the way ahead for the client.

Assignment C

  1. Provide copies of background research (e.g. web searches, local maps) on the location and features of the property’s to be visited and the factors likely to impact on the energy assessment (e.g. geographical location, physical layout affecting access, whether the property is on the gas network, any pre-existing EPC)

Carry out Building Regulations Compliance checks of as-designed and as-built new-build non-dwellings using the Simplified Building Energy Model (SBEM) Unit 3

Task 5

Assignment A

  1. Carry out at ONE off-plan non-domestic Part L compliance check of a substantially air-conditioned Level 4 property (as defined by current conventions). The propertymust be the simulation property as detailed below in the property grid.Details can be found on the following post course link

Any 3 of the 4 options to meet the L4 HVAC requirement (in conjunction with Unit 4) / High Street or other retail / Low rise shallow/deep plan or industrial / Medium or high rise (3+storeys)* office
Substantially Air Conditioned (all air or air/water) / NEW BUILD SIMULATION
Substantially Air conditioned (DX/ other)
Mixed mode (designed)
Centralized Heating system with MTHW/HTHW / NEW BUILD SIMULATION
  1. Produce the following evidence for the off-plan as-designed compliance assessment:
  1. Building envelope and element U-value and Kappa (Cm) calculations
  1. The SBEM nct file for the as designed project
  1. The failed BRUKL report as designed
  1. SBEM outputsreport for the as designed building

Task 6

  1. Produce the following evidence for the off-plan as-designed compliance assessment:
  1. A professional letter to the lead architect or consultancy identifying the areas of non-compliance and recommending design changes that may deliver a compliant building
  1. The SBEM nct file for thecompliant design
  1. The BUKL Pass report for the compliant design
  1. SBEM output report for the compliant design

Task 7

  1. Produce the following evidence for the as-built assessment:
  1. The EPC for the as built project
  1. SBEM output report document for the as built project
  1. SBEM recommendations report for the as built project
  1. SBEM secondary recommendations report for the as built project
  1. BRUKL for the as built project
  1. The nct file for the as built compliant project.

Task 8

Assignment A

  1. Produce ONE covering letter to accompany the report that will enable Building Control Officers or Approved Inspectors to fully assess each individual application.

The letter/report must include details of all the measures undertaken to achieve compliance and should contain the following as a minimum:

  1. TER calcs and data
  1. BER calcs
  2. LZC / Renewable study options
  1. 10% Consequential Improvement strategy
  1. Checklist as per ADL2A
  1. Examples of air test results
  1. Thermal bridging check sheets

Assignment B

  1. Produce ONE learner statement that describes how you would conduct the Part L compliance check of the new-build non-dwelling used for this unit.

Additionally, this statement should describe:

  1. the legislative requirements for the compliance check
  1. the reasons for and method(s) of carrying out a building air leakage test
  1. the processes and procedures to be undertaken by a non-domestic energy assessor during building design, construction and commissioning
  1. the interaction between the assessor and the lead architect, M&E consultants and Building Control

The statement should cover any issues that may arise and detail the way(s) in which the learner might overcome such challenges.

Undertake energy inspections of Level 4 non-dwellings using the Simplified Building Energy Model (SBEM) Unit 4

Task 9

Assignment A

  1. Carry out the FIRST of TWO non-domestic energy inspections on real Level 4 properties.

The properties, together with the new-build property from Unit 3, must cover all three columns and rows identified in the table below.

ALL of the property features, heating systems and potential issues listed below should also be covered, any property features not covered can be covered either through an additional property inspection or a comprehensive written assignment.

The assessments must be conducted on a real building

Any 3 of the 4 options to meet the L4 HVAC requirement (in conjunction with Unit 4) / High Street or other retail / Low rise shallow/deep plan or industrial / Medium or high rise (3+storeys)* office
Substantially Air Conditioned (all air or air/water) / NEW BUILD SIMULATION
Substantially Air conditioned (DX/ other)
Mixed mode (designed)
Centralized Heating system with MTHW/HTHW / NEW BUILD SIMULATION

Note: Learners may use buildings with more than three floors, but the report must include the ground, top floor, and one of the middle floors.

Property features: / Heating systems / Issues that make some improvement measures unsuitable for the property:
a. Solid wall
b. Retrofitted insulation/cladding
c. Different wall constructions & ages
d. Extensively glazed areas
e. Age of main property and of any extensions
f. Low and Zero Carbon Technologies
g. Any other features that when incorrectly identified will have a significant detrimental effect on the choice of Energy Efficiency Measures / a. Space heating (electricity)
b. Space heating (oil or LPG)
c. Portable heaters where no fixed heating system installed,
d. Domestic Hot Water (DHW) (electricity)
e. DHW (oil or LPG)
f. Bi-valent heating systems
g. CHP
h. Waste heat / a. Property condition (eg state of maintenance and repair of walls, floor, cladding)
b. Building services condition (eg reductions in efficiency due to age, design, maintenance, repair, situation)
c. Previously-installed insulation
d. Asbestos-containing materials
e. Traditional construction
f. Any other features of the property, or its site/location, which might adversely affect the performance of the recommended improvement, or the building’s performance after improvement
  1. Produce the following evidence for the assessment detailed above:
  1. Copies of information obtained from the client (eg through a suitable questionnaire)
  1. Comprehensive site notes, including a legible sketch plan showing location and alignment, overall property layout with sketch of rooms, construction details; zone boundaries, measurements, space and water heating, time and temperature controls, lighting types and zones.
  1. A comprehensive survey form
  1. A health, safety and welfare risk assessment
  1. Calculations made (wall thicknesses, areas and envelope areas)
  1. Appropriate photographs, date stamped and annotated to describe what is shown and where taken. If your camera cannot produce date stamped images please evidence of the date taken in another way – an example is available within OneFile.
  1. The nct file.

Assignment B

  1. Please provide a completed property grid containing the simulation building and the second of the three buildings for the portfolio; please ensure the property grid has been signed and that page two is completed with details of the property’s completed to this point.

Assignment B

  1. Produce a learner statement for the property detailed above that describes how a methodical routine for the visit was established.

As a minimum it should also describe:

  1. The procedures followed to conduct a safe and exhaustive energy assessment
  1. Any issues found, specific to the individual property, and how they met these challenges
  1. Where and why accurate inspection has not been possible
  1. Where ‘unknown’ is used why this is so with supporting evidence

Assignment C

  1. From the property completed in the previous task please produce the following:
  1. An energy performance certificate
  1. SBEM main calculation output document
  1. SBEM recommendations report
  1. SBEM secondary recommendations report

Task 10

Assignment A

  1. Produce a learner statement that describes how you followed a methodical process to prepare the Energy Performance Certificate.

This statement should describe:

  1. the procedures followed to prepare the EPC
  1. any issues they encountered when producing the EPC and how these were dealt with
  1. How the EPC should be prepared for, and lodged on the central register
  1. How the necessary audit evidence can be uploaded to Accreditation/Certification bodies using electronic transfer

Assignment B

  1. Produce a learner statement that describes how and why data collected from a visit is stored safely and securely in accordance with current legislation and Scheme Operating Requirements. The statement should also describe how the data is protected, and would be recovered, should it suffer major damage, such as from fire or flood

Assignment C

  1. Produce a written communication to the client explaining why, having started an energy assessment, the inspection cannot continue any further.

The letter should also lay out options on the way ahead for the client.

Task 11

Assignment A

  1. Carry out the SECOND of TWO non-domestic energy inspections on real Level 4 properties.

The properties, together with the new-build property from Unit 3, must cover all three columns and rows identified in the table in task 15.

ALL of the property features, heating systems and potential issues listed in the table on page 2 of the property grid should also be covered; any property features not covered can be covered either through an additional property inspection or a comprehensive written assignment.

The assessment must be conducted on a real building

  1. Produce the following evidence for the assessment detailed above:
  1. Copies of information obtained from the client (eg through a suitable questionnaire)
  1. Comprehensive site notes, including a legible sketch plan showing location and alignment, overall property layout with sketch of rooms, construction details; zone boundaries, measurements, space and water heating, time and temperature controls, lighting types and zones.
  1. A comprehensive survey form
  1. A health, safety and welfare risk assessment
  1. Calculations made (wall thicknesses, areas and envelope areas)
  1. Appropriate photographs, date stamped and annotated to describe what is shown and where taken. If your camera cannot produce date stamped images please evidence of the date taken in another way – an example is available within OneFile.
  1. The nct file.
  1. An energy performance certificate
  1. SBEM main calculation output document
  1. SBEM recommendations report
  1. SBEM secondary recommendations report
  1. Please provide a completed property grid containing the simulation building and all the buildings contained in the portfolio; please ensure the property grid has been signed and that page two is completed with details of the property’s completed to this point.

Report on the energy assessment of new and existing non-dwellings using Simplified Building Energy Model SBEM (UNIT 5)

Task 12

Assignment A

  1. Produce a learner statement that describes how you followed a methodical process to prepare, check and amend as necessary the Energy Performance Certificate recommendations report.

This statement should describe how you checked that the recommendations generated were accurate and appropriate for the property what recommendations you have discounted and why.

  1. Produce a communication (e.g. letter and/or information sheet) to the client that explains:

a.The Energy Performance Certificate has been completed and is available to them

b.All the component parts of the Energy Performance Certificate and their implications

c.Variations between ratings and energy efficiency measures produced by different versions of the calculation methodology

d.The limitations of the approved software for both ratings and energy efficiency measures

e.Which energy efficiency measures were considered and rejected with reasons

f.Where additional advice and support can be obtained

g.Precise meanings of technical terms

h.Why predicted savings may not be achievable in practice and why

i.The role of the EPC in Green Deal and how clients can access this

j.Your complaints procedure

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