Commercial · Air Conditioning
TM44 inspections in London.
A legal requirement every five years for any building with more than 12kW of combined cooling, which is most offices and a lot of retail. Enforced by local authorities, and very widely ignored.
Who needs one, and how the threshold works.
It is the combined cooling output of every system in the building, not the size of any one unit. Several small splits can take you over it without anyone noticing. Building size is irrelevant.
Most non-domestic premises: offices, retail, hospitality, warehouses, schools and healthcare.
At least once every five years, and sooner if the systems are significantly altered.
Efficiency of the plant, sizing against the actual load, condition and maintenance, controls, and documentation.
Lodged to the national register with recommendations for improving efficiency and reducing energy consumption.
Local authorities enforce it. The practical exposure is usually at sale, letting or audit, when the report is asked for and does not exist.
An accredited TM44 assessor. That accreditation sits with the assessor, so we bring in a specialist and say so rather than implying it is ours.
The report generates recommendations. Controls, zoning and plant replacement are work we can carry out once you decide what is worth doing.
From assessment to lodged report.
We total the cooling capacity across the building to confirm whether you are actually in scope.
An accredited assessor inspects the systems, controls and records.
Report produced and lodged, with recommendations.
The recommendations are advisory. We will tell you which ones pay for themselves and which do not.
Answered
plainly.
At least every five years for air conditioning systems with a combined effective rated output over 12kW, under the Energy Performance of Buildings Regulations. The report should be kept and made available if the local authority asks for it.
The assessor reviews the system records and maintenance, inspects the indoor and outdoor units, controls and refrigeration plant, checks how the system is sized against the space it serves, and produces a report with recommendations to improve efficiency, which is lodged on the national register.
No. F-gas leak checks are a separate legal duty for systems above certain refrigerant thresholds and are carried out by F-gas certified engineers, usually as part of servicing. A TM44 inspection does not replace them. We can arrange both.
Add up the rated cooling output of every air conditioning system in the building. Individual splits are commonly 2.5 to 7kW, so three or four units will often take a building over the threshold. It is the total that counts, not the largest unit.
Local authorities enforce the requirement and can issue penalties. In practice the more common consequence is commercial: the report is requested during a sale, a letting or a compliance audit, and its absence holds up the transaction.
No. An EPC rates the energy performance of the building. A TM44 inspection looks specifically at the air conditioning systems, how efficiently they run and whether they are sized correctly for the space. A building can need both.
Usually the person who controls the systems, which the lease should determine. In a multi-let building with landlord-supplied comfort cooling it is normally the landlord. Where a tenant has installed their own, it is normally the tenant.
The inspection must be done by an accredited TM44 assessor, and that accreditation belongs to the assessor rather than to us. We arrange it, manage it and handle any resulting works, and we will tell you who is carrying it out.
All 32 London boroughs, including offices, shops, restaurants and hotels in central London where most comfort cooling is installed.
Tell us the property
and we will survey it.
A site visit, an honest recommendation and a fixed written quote. London-wide.
What the assessor needs from you.
The inspection goes faster when the paperwork is ready.
Equipment list
Make, model and rated cooling output for each indoor and outdoor unit, if you have it.
Maintenance records
Recent service sheets and F-gas leak check records from your air conditioning contractor.
Controls and settings
Access to the controllers, timers and any building management system.
Previous reports
Any earlier TM44 report, so the assessor can check what was recommended last time.
Access
Plant rooms, roofs and ceiling voids where the units sit, with someone on site who knows the building.
Where a missing TM44 report shows up.
The report is usually asked for when the building is sold or let, when a tenant runs an energy audit, or when an insurer or lender reviews compliance. A current report avoids that delay.
TM44 with your other building compliance.
A TM44 inspection can be booked alongside a commercial EICR, a legionella risk assessment or an EPC for the same building, so the compliance file for each property is kept together.
Often needed
alongside this.
Areas we cover.
We take TM44 air conditioning inspections across all 32 London boroughs. Most of our work is in west London, in Shepherd's Bush, Hammersmith, Fulham, Kensington, Chiswick and White City, and in south west London, in Putney, Wandsworth and Wimbledon. We also work in south east London, in Greenwich, Blackheath and Lewisham.
If your property is outside these areas, call us anyway. We travel across London and will tell you honestly if a job is too far to price properly.