Is my building disclosure-affected?

Do you own/manage a building or an area of a building that is:

  • greater than 1000 square metres;
  • for administrative, clerical, professional or other information-based activities and includes any support facilities those activities; and 
  • for sale, lease or sublease?

Then it could be disclosure affected. Some office buildings or areas of buildings are not disclosure affected if they are:

  • mixed use buildings with less than 75% office space by net lettable area;
  • new buildings, where there is a certificate of occupancy less than 2 years old;
  • strata-titled buildings;
  • transferred through the sale of shares or units of interest;
  • leased in a short term lease, ie for a period of less than 12 months;
  • leased by exercising an option to renew or extend an existing lease.

What do I do now?

If you have a disclosure affected building, it will need a Building Energy Efficiency Certificate (BEEC) before it is put to the market for sale or lease. Also, when advertising your building, you will need to include a National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS) Energy for offices star rating on all of your advertising material.

BEECs are valid for up to 12 months, must be publicly accessible on the online Building Energy Efficiency Register, and include:

  • a National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS) Energy star rating for the building
  • an assessment of the energy efficiency of the tenancy lighting in the area of the building that is being sold or leased.

How do I get a Building Energy Efficiency Certificate?

You will need to engage a CBD Accredited Assessor to undertake the assessments you need and apply for a BEEC. When you have a NABERS rating and a Lighting Assessment for the disclosure affected area, your CBD Accredited Assessor can apply for a BEEC.