Custom software for the EPBD inspection obligation
The inspection obligation is simple to state and hard to keep track of: air conditioning above twelve kilowatts every five years, heating and cooling systems from seventy kilowatts. For one building, you can remember that. Across thirty buildings, each with several installations, it becomes a list nobody keeps up to date, and then an inspection reveals that three have lapsed.
Where the obligation falls apart
There are two thresholds that are often confused. Air conditioning systems with a total installed cooling capacity above twelve kilowatts must be inspected every five years. For heating and air conditioning systems, the inspection obligation applies from a nominal capacity of seventy kilowatts. The word 'total' does most of the work here: four separate outdoor units of four kilowatts each add up, even though none of them feels like a large installation.
Then there is the execution. Only a registered company or a registered expert holding a valid diploma may register the inspection. This is a check that rests with you: RVO publishes the list of registered inspection experts precisely so that a client can verify whether someone is qualified. An inspection carried out by someone without a valid diploma does not count as an inspection.
And the paperwork runs to a clock. The registration of an air conditioning inspection must appear in the national portal within four weeks of the inspection. This deadline lies with the inspector, but you bear the consequences: what is not registered has, to a supervisor, not happened, even if the report is sitting on your shelf.
How we build this
The installation is the unit, not the building. A single building can have several installations, each with its own threshold and its own deadline.
The capacity per installation and the total per system. This is where most organisations get stuck, and without it you cannot know what to plan.
The five years run from the inspection date, not from the calendar year. Across dozens of installations, those dates become tangled.
Before you commission the work, not after. An inspection by someone without a valid diploma must be repeated, which means paying twice.
The report held by you and the registration in the portal belong together. If the second is missing, the first does not count.
What the software actually does
The installation register with its deadlines carries everything. What else you need depends on the size of your portfolio.
Determine what falls under the obligation
Capacity per installation with the total per system and the supporting justification. Separate units that together exceed the threshold are the most frequently overlooked category.
Deadlines per installation monitored
Five years from the inspection date, with a warning well in advance. Otherwise you discover an overdue inspection during an audit or a transaction.
Inspector's qualifications recorded
Which diploma, which registration, and whether it was valid on the inspection date. This is a check that rests with you and cannot be repaired after the fact.
Report and registration together
The inspection report in your file and confirmation that it appears in the national portal. One without the other is insufficient.
Inspection findings consolidated
An inspection produces recommendations. These usually disappear into a PDF, yet they contain precisely the cheapest savings.
Integration with your property and maintenance records
Installations are often already recorded in a maintenance system. We pull that data in through integrations rather than creating a second list.
Who we build for
The scale of the problem grows with the number of installations. Four situations.
Owners with multiple properties
This is where the value lies in visibility: dozens of installations, each with its own deadline, cannot be tracked in a spreadsheet.
Healthcare and education
Large installations with an in-house technical department. Inspections are often arranged here, but follow-up on recommendations often is not.
Installers and inspection companies
You carry out inspections for multiple clients and must register within four weeks. See also the on-site inspection app.
Managers of mixed-use property
Residential properties are treated differently from commercial premises. Defining the boundaries for each complex is the tricky part here, and you will want to document it properly.
Test your idea first: a working prototype in 1 day
With OneDayBuild, we turn your idea into something tangible in one day for €1,150, so you can see whether further development is worth the investment. Decide to go ahead with the full build? Then we credit the full cost.
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Thresholds and registration requirements come from European regulation that is under review. Everything related to limits, deadlines and qualification requirements should be configurable.
Why Appfront
Summing up is where it goes wrong
We calculate per system rather than per unit. Four separate air conditioners of four kilowatts each fall under the obligation together.
You check qualifications in advance
We record which diploma your inspector held and whether it was valid on the inspection date. That cannot be fixed afterwards.
You don't track a five-year cycle with a calendar
We attach the deadline to the installation and send advance warnings, because with dozens of dates a shared calendar breaks down.
Registration is the proof
We link the report to the confirmation from the national portal. A report without registration does not count for a supervisory authority.
Security and privacy
An installation register with consumption and inspection data reveals more than it might seem: a profile can show when a property is vacant, and open findings can show where things are not in order. We set access per property and per role, give a management party access only to its own assets, and log every access.
For accountability, history matters. In an audit or a transaction, the question concerns the situation on a given date: was the inspection valid at that time, and was the inspector qualified then. We therefore keep every inspection with its original data and show any correction alongside the old value rather than over it. How we handle security ourselves is set out in our information security policy; reports from outside go through our CVD policy.
Frequently asked questions about the EPBD inspection obligation
Air conditioning systems with a total installed cooling capacity above twelve kilowatts must be inspected every five years. For heating and air conditioning systems, the obligation applies from a nominal capacity of seventy kilowatts. Have the assessment for your own installations checked by an installation adviser; summing per system is where it most often goes wrong.
It concerns the total installed cooling capacity of the system, not a single unit. Four outdoor units of four kilowatts each together exceed the threshold, even though none of them feels like a large installation. That is precisely the category that is most often overlooked in practice.
Only a registered company or a registered expert with a valid certificate. RVO publishes a list of registered inspection experts precisely so that you, as the client, can check whether someone is qualified. Do that check before you place the order.
The registration of an air conditioning inspection must appear in the national portal within four weeks of the inspection. That step lies with the inspector, but the consequence lies with you: what has not been registered does not count in an audit, even if you hold the report.
The BACS requirement in the Besluit bouwwerken leefomgeving concerns a system that continuously monitors and analyses energy consumption, from 290 kilowatts. The inspection obligation on this page concerns a periodic inspection of the installation itself, with a much lower threshold. The two can apply side by side.
Formally, nothing: the inspection establishes and advises. In practice, these are the cheapest source of savings you have, and they disappear into a PDF. We therefore extract the recommendations from the report and assign them an owner, so that something actually gets done with them.
That depends on the system and its capacity; a heat pump can both heat and cool, and may therefore fall under both thresholds. Have this checked for each installation. We record the outcome together with the justification, so the discussion does not have to be repeated every year.
That depends on the number of buildings and installations and whether there is a maintenance system to connect to. The installation register with deadline tracking is typically quick to put to use and immediately shows what has expired; integrations cost more. We provide a reasoned estimate after the discovery phase.
Knowing which inspections have lapsed?
Take three buildings and, for each installation, look up the date of the last inspection and the name of the inspector. If that takes more than fifteen minutes, you do not have a register but an archive. We build this as a standalone application and as part of a broader custom software project.