Commercial property owners, landlords, and facilities managers face increasing pressure to meet strict energy performance standards. Whether you are aiming to improve an EPC rating, navigate MEES requirements, or gather visual evidence for a BREEAM assessment, identifying exactly where a building loses energy is the first step.
A commercial property can appear in perfect condition to the naked eye while secretly losing significant amounts of heat through hidden defects in the fabric. Thermal imaging captures differences in surface temperature, making areas of abnormal heat transfer visible in an infrared image. This reveals invisible faults without disrupting operations or damaging the building itself.
Thermascan provides non-destructive building diagnostics essential for achieving stringent energy certifications, such as EPCs, BREEAM, and Building Regulations Part L compliance.
Building Fabric & Energy Certifications
An EPC gives a commercial building an energy efficiency rating from A to G, while MEES sets strict minimum standards for privately rented non-domestic properties. Thermal imaging does not replace an EPC assessment, but it provides the exact visual data needed to plan targeted, cost-effective improvements.
A thermographic building survey highlights weak points that standard visual walkarounds miss. By capturing surface temperature differences, it helps locate:
Missing unslumped, or water-damaged insulation hidden within wall cavities and roof spaces
Exact pathways of draught infiltration and conditioned air loss, which complements mandatory blower-door testing
Thermal bridging, such as uninsulated concrete lintels or structural steel junctions, which cause rapid heat loss
Hidden moisture intrusion, particularly in flat roofs, which degrades insulation performance and lowers thermal efficiency
Addressing these building envelope issues lowers operational utility costs and reduces the property’s carbon footprint. For BREEAM projects, our level II certified thermographers provide the required visual evidence of temperature differences across the building envelope to support your assessment.
Expanding Beyond the Building Envelope
To fully meet commercial compliance and sustainability goals, a property must run efficiently across all its mechanical and electrical systems.
Thermascan provides several specialised surveys to protect your wider assets:
Commercial Solar PV Inspections: Renewable energy systems are vital for high EPC and BREEAM ratings. Thermascan conducts solar farm and rooftop PV inspections to quickly identify hot cells, cracked modules and faulty connectors. This allows operators to fix underperforming panels without taking the system offline.
Drone-based Building Surveys: For extensive commercial facilities, warehouses, or high-rise office towers, we deploy drone-based thermal imaging systems. This provides comprehensive heat loss maps of building exteriors and roofs that are otherwise difficult or dangerous to access.
Plumbing and HVAC Integrity: Thermal cameras can easily locate hidden leaks in plumbing systems, underfloor heating and air conditioning units, preventing energy waste and structural damage.
Electrical Compliance and Fire Safety
Energy efficiency is only one aspect of managing a commercial asset. Regular electrical thermography is a key requirement for satisfying commercial insurance mandates and completing robust Fire Risk Assessments.
Because electrical faults generate excess heat before they fail, a thermal survey acts as an early warning system. Our certified thermographers can pinpoint overloaded circuits, phase imbalances, and loose or degraded connections before hardware failure occurs.
This continuous preventive maintenance validates live systems under full operational loads, supplementing standard Electrical Installation Condition Reports (EICRs). Finding these faults early prevents catastrophic business downtime and fire risks.
What Does a Commercial Thermal Survey Involve?
Thermal imaging is a non-invasive inspection method. There is no need to remove building materials, open up walls, or stop normal business operations to carry out the survey.
Thermascan's thermographers assess the agreed areas and analyse the thermal images to identify significant temperature differences. For accurate building fabric surveys, environmental conditions matter. Factors such as the temperature difference between inside and outside, wind, sunlight, and moisture all affect the results. We will always advise on the specific weather conditions needed to get the most accurate, BREEAM-compliant data for your site.
Understand Your Building Before Investing
Improving energy performance starts with knowing exactly where the problems are. A thermal imaging survey provides a clear picture of heat loss, insulation performance and mechanical issues across your property. That precise visual data allows you to make smart, targeted decisions regarding MEES, EPC or BREEAM requirements.
Contact Thermascan today to discuss your commercial property and find out what a professional thermographic building survey can do for you.
FAQs
-
A thermal survey does not directly change the rating, but it identifies exactly where insulation is missing or failing. Fixing these specific areas gives you the best chance of securing a higher EPC score during reassessment.
-
Yes. A BREEAM assessment often requires visual evidence of building fabric performance, including insulation continuity and the absence of significant thermal bridging. Thermascan's building surveys are completed to BREEAM Standards by Level II certified field engineers.
-
No. It works alongside an EICR. Static electrical testing checks the safety of the wiring, while thermal imaging assesses the systems under full live loads, revealing resistance and heat generation that static testing cannot see.
-
Yes. For sites with challenging access or large surface areas, we use drone-based thermal imaging systems to safely and quickly map heat loss across the entire exterior and roof.
