SGS United Kingdom Ltd gains UKAS accreditation to BS EN ISO 50001:2011

SGS United Kingdom, part of the world’s leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company, has been accredited to provide ISO 50001:2011 certification within all industry sectors by UKAS. This comes at an especially opportune time as the energy management system ISO 50001:2011 has been confirmed as one of the routes large companies can take to comply with ESOS (Energy Saving Opportunity Scheme) legislation by the deadline of December 2015. Terry Coyle, ISO 50001 Product Manager, says ESOS compliance could be relatively straightforward for those companies which have achieved the energy management certification ISO 50001:2011 from an accredited provider such as SGS. “The companies will be ESOS-compliant provided that the total energy consumption – buildings, transport and industrial activity – falls under the certification,” he explains. SGS is running seminars designed for anyone involved in legal compliance or energy management, to help them gain an understanding of ESOS requirements, and the benefits and challenges of the various routes to compliance. In simple terms, ESOS is a mandatory energy assessment and energy saving identification scheme for large undertakings (and their corporate groups) requiring those companies to do three things: 1) measure their total energy consumption 2) conduct energy audits to identify cost-effective energy efficiency recommendations 3) report compliance to the Environment Agency The scheme, related to the EU Energy Efficiency Directive, is estimated to lead to £1.6bn net benefits to the UK, with the majority of these being directly felt by businesses as a result of energy savings. It applies to large companies only, defined as ‘if, on the qualification date (31 December 2014 for the first phase of ESOS), they are: 1) An undertaking which has 250 or more employees 2) An undertaking which has fewer than 250 employees, but has: - an annual turnover exceeding €50m and - a balance sheet exceeding €43m 3) Part of a corporate group which includes an undertaking which meets criteria (1) or (2) above.’ “Although companies have until December 2015 to comply, we are highlighting ESOS now as it is not a process that can be completed quickly,” explains Mr Coyle. “Those companies with ISO 50001 certification that covers their total energy consumption from an accredited supplier such as SGS will have met the requirements of ESOS and have nothing more to do other than submit their certificate to the scheme administrator, but everyone else will have to look at the requirements and choose which route to compliance best suits their needs.” For more information about ESOS and seminars: www.sgs.co.uk/esoscompliancetraining. For more general energy management advice: Visit www.sgs.co.uk/energy-management Call 0800 900 094 Email uk.nowisthetime@sgs.com and/or subscribe to the SGS e-newsletter at www.sgs.co.uk/subscribe

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