17/06/2026
Six months past the EPC deadline.
For most building owners, the question is no longer whether they need to comply, but also what happens if I don't?
Here is what I can tell you on how the legislation is structured and how SANEDI is resourced to administer it.
The enforcement infrastructure is operational.
The National Building Energy Performance Register — the NBEPR — exists, and SANEDI administers it under the Department of Minerals Resources and Energy.
Every EPC that gets issued is submitted to that register. That means the data on which buildings have complied — and which haven't — is being captured.
Formal prosecutions under Section 20(1) of the National Energy Act take time. They require investigation, referral, and prosecutorial resources. No one should expect a wave of R5 million penalties to land tomorrow. That is not how regulatory enforcement works in any jurisdiction.
But two things are true simultaneously: the mechanism is in place, and the compliance rate — fewer than 10% of qualifying buildings — is so low that enforcement pressure will increase.
Buildings that self-comply are in a fundamentally different position from those that wait. The penalty exposure is removed. The five-year clock starts. And for many buildings, the EPC assessment itself reveals low-cost efficiency measures that more than offset the cost of compliance.
If your building qualifies and you have not yet acted, reach out for a direct conversation about what compliance looks like and what it costs.
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