The Energy Performance of Buildings (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2026, S.S.I. 2026/322, make two immediate changes to Scotland's building energy certification framework. First, they increase the statutory fees that may be charged for entering energy performance data onto the register. Second, they postpone full commencement of the Energy Performance of Buildings (Scotland) Regulations 2025 from 31 October 2026 to 30 April 2028. The instrument was made on 28 October 2026, signed by Stephen Gethins on behalf of the Scottish Ministers, and approved by the Scottish Parliament after a draft was laid before it. It applies in Scotland only. Most of the amendment instrument came into force on 30 October 2026, with the fee and register provision in regulation 2 taking effect on 31 October 2026.
Regulation 2 rewrites regulations 10 and 10A of the 2008 Regulations. The revised text states that there must be one or more registers of energy performance data from which an energy performance certificate and a recommendations report may be produced, and that each register must be maintained by a keeper. It also allows separate registers for different purposes or different classes of building or building unit. For assessors working through approved organisations, the operational rule remains clear: the relevant data must be sent to the appropriate register before the certificate or recommendations report is issued. The Scottish Government's explanatory note says the register provisions have been restated to support the increase in registration fees.
The amended 2008 regime also gives a more exact statutory description of how data is to be held. Each entry must be registered under a unique reference and, once registered, must not be altered, except where Green Deal information is updated by the Green Deal provider under the Framework Regulations. The legislation also requires the data to remain on the register for at least 10 years from the date of entry. That matters because the instrument is not only about charging. It also confirms the legal structure around record keeping, traceability and limited amendment of EPC data. For practitioners, that provides a clearer footing for audit, compliance checks and retrieval of historic certification records.
The fee change is straightforward in legal terms but material in practice. Where the keeper of the register is a Scottish public authority, the fee for entering data that can produce an EPC and recommendations report for a dwelling rises to £6.00. For a building or building unit other than a dwelling, the fee rises to £15.50. The explanatory note states that the previous fees were £2.60 for dwellings and £12.10 for other properties. The instrument regulates the charge for entry onto the register, rather than the full market price of obtaining a certificate, but it adds a higher statutory administration cost into the EPC process from 31 October 2026.
Regulation 3 deals with timing. It amends the Energy Performance of Buildings (Scotland) Regulations 2025 so that full commencement moves from 31 October 2026 to 30 April 2028. This is the main implementation decision in the instrument and gives the sector an additional 18 months before the 2025 framework is fully in force. The same regulation then adjusts the linked transitional dates. In regulation 36, references to 30 October 2026 and 31 October 2026 move to 29 April 2028 and 30 April 2028. In regulation 38, the relevant period is pushed back in parallel, including dates moving from 31 October 2027 to 30 April 2029 and from 31 October 2031 to 30 April 2033.
For approved organisations, accreditation schemes and assessors, the consequence is a longer bridge between the current regime and the 2025 system. The 2025 Regulations are not revoked, but their full legal effect is deferred. That reduces the pressure of a late-October 2026 switchover and preserves the saving and transitional arrangements on a revised timetable. For building owners, landlords, agents and others arranging EPCs in Scotland, the immediate change is more limited. The existing document chain remains in place, but register fees are higher and the move to the fully commenced 2025 regime will now happen on 30 April 2028 rather than 31 October 2026. Transactions and compliance activity that depend on EPC documentation therefore continue against a more extended transition window.
As a policy measure, S.S.I. 2026/322 is administrative rather than transformational. It does not introduce a new rating methodology or new minimum standards within this instrument. Instead, it resets implementation dates and updates the statutory basis for register management and charging. That distinction matters. The Scottish Government's own note presents the amendment as a delay to full commencement and a fee rise tied to the register function. The practical reading is that Scotland's EPC framework remains in motion, but on a slower timetable and at a higher registration cost from the end of October 2026.