ESOS · templates and records
ESOS templates: what the regulator publishes, and what it does not
There is no single official ESOS template: the Environment Agency publishes report checklists, an example layout for audit recommendations and a list of the fields MESOS asks for, in the Phase 4 guidance appendices.
The action plan, the audit record and the evidence pack have no official template at all, so this page builds each one from the provision that requires it.
Three tools below check a report against the regulator’s list, draft an action plan to regulation 34A(3) and list what the evidence pack must hold.
The documents
Every ESOS template that exists, and what each is for
Searches for an “ESOS template” usually want one of five different things, and only some of them exist as official documents.
| Document | Who publishes it | What it is | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Appendices A1 and A2: report checklists | Environment Agency | What the ESOS report must contain, listed against guidance sections 10.1.1 to 10.5 | Mandatory content, no mandatory format |
| Appendix A3: example template of phase 4 ESOS recommendations | Environment Agency | A suggested layout for presenting an energy audit’s recommendations | Optional; “not mandatory to use this format” (§10.9) |
| Appendix B: information to provide through the ESOS notification system | Environment Agency | The fields MESOS asks for, in a specified format, and which are published | The notification must follow it |
| MESOS forms | Environment Agency | The online forms for the notification, the action plan and the progress updates | The only filing route |
| Action plan template | Nobody | The plan is entered in MESOS against regulation 34A(3) | No official template |
| Evidence pack template | Nobody | Section 11 of the guidance lists what the pack holds | No official template |
Section 10.9 of the guidance puts it in one sentence: a checklist for the report in A1 and A2, a suggested template for audit recommendations in A3, and the notification fields in B.
The appendices were published with the guidance on 30 July 2026, eight days after SI 2026/701 came into force, and they are the Phase 4 versions.
Earlier versions of Appendix B were written for Phase 3 and predate the savings-achieved and action plan review fields, so check the date on any file before working from it.
How the finished notification is filed is on the ESOS notification page, and what is published from it on ESOS reporting.
Read this before downloading
Appendix A3 is not an action plan template
Appendix A3 is titled “Example template of phase 4 ESOS recommendations”, and that is exactly what it covers.
Recommendations are the audit’s output: the energy saving opportunities the auditor identifies as reasonably practicable and cost-effective, with estimated savings, under regulation 27 and section 8.6 of the guidance.
An action plan is the participant’s own decision, made after the notification: the measures it proposes to implement in the next compliance period, under regulation 34A.
The two lists can differ completely, and the law expects them to: a plan may adopt some recommendations, add measures from other schemes, or state that no measure is proposed.
Section 13.3.3 of the guidance shows the difference in its own worked example: a company’s audit lists ten opportunities, it takes two of them forward, and it adds a third measure it had already committed to under a Climate Change Agreement.
Using A3 as an action plan would also miss limbs the plan must carry: whether each measure came from an audit, the date for each, the savings across the whole of the next compliance period and the estimation method.
A3 belongs in the ESOS report, inside the evidence pack.
The action plan belongs in MESOS, between 6 December 2027 and 5 December 2028 for Phase 4.
ESOS report template
The ESOS report, checked route by route
The ESOS report is the written record of the assessment that regulation 27A requires, produced before the compliance date of 5 December 2027.
It is not filed with the regulator; it sits in the evidence pack, the lead assessor reviews it, and the notification draws on it.
The checklist beside this text is the regulator’s own, from Appendices A1 and A2, filtered by route.
On the audit route every item applies; with partial ISO 50001 coverage the report must also say which assets and activities the certificate covers and what share of total consumption that is.
Two routes need no report at all: a certificate covering all total or all significant consumption, which regulation 33(3) treats as discharging the report duty since 22 July 2026, and zero energy consumption under regulation 33A.
Phase 4 adds two items most Phase 3 reports lack: savings achieved between 6 December 2023 and 5 December 2027 in kWh, measure by measure, and a review of the Phase 3 action plan.
Every saving is put into one of six categories: energy management practices, behaviour change interventions, training, controls improvements, capital investments, or other measures.
Savings must come from efficiency measures; the guidance excludes falls in consumption from selling assets or producing less.
The report must also be shared with group undertakings, in the parts that concern them, unless the law prohibits disclosure, in which case MESOS records the reason.
ESOS report checklist · EA Appendices A1 and A2
How does the participant comply?
0 of 17 items ready.
Environment Agency, Appendices A1 and A2 (30 July 2026), filtered by route; SI 2014/1643 regs 27A, 33, 33A as amended.
Nothing you tick is saved.
ESOS energy audit template
An energy audit record, field by field
No official audit template exists and no method is prescribed; these are the fields regulation 27 and sections 8 and 10.2 of the guidance require an audit record to show.
| Field | What to record | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Audit dates | When the audit was carried out | Guidance §§8.3, 10.2 |
| Data period | The 12 consecutive months the audit relates to: beginning no earlier than 6 December 2022, no earlier than 24 months before the audit starts, ending by 5 December 2027 | GOV.UK step 5; guidance §8.3 |
| Consumption covered | Energy, in energy measurement units, for the significant or total consumption the audit covers | Guidance §8.3 |
| Sites | Sites covered, sites visited, and why the visited sites are representative | Guidance §8.4 |
| Analysis | Consumption and efficiency analysis, with energy consumption profiles where practicable, or the alternative method used and why | Guidance §8.5 |
| Opportunities | Each reasonably practicable, cost-effective measure, with its organisational purpose and energy saving category | reg 27; guidance §§8.6–8.7 |
| Costs and benefits | Estimated financial and non-financial costs and benefits, annual reduction in spend (£) and consumption (kWh), and a payback period, so far as reasonably practicable | reg 27(1)(d)(vi); guidance §8.8 |
| Implementation | Considerations including MEES duties and funding, and a recommended programme with a timescale | Guidance §§8.9–8.10 |
| Lead assessor | Name and approved register, unless total consumption is under 40,000 kWh | reg 21; guidance §10.1.3 |
Energy cost data cannot be used for the audit itself; spend is allowed only for measuring total consumption and identifying the significant areas.
A participant that cannot use twelve months of verifiable data records the extent and the reasons, and one that estimates must also notify the scheme administrator.
Appendix A3’s layout can be used for the opportunities rows if it suits; the method behind them is set out on the ESOS energy audit page.
ESOS action plan template
An action plan record, built from regulation 34A(3)
An ESOS action plan is, in the words of regulation 34A(3), a written record setting out each measure the participant proposes to implement before the end of the relevant compliance period, or a statement that there is none.
For each measure it gives six things: the measure, whether an energy audit recommended it, the date by which it will be implemented, the total savings expected in the period, the savings for each organisational purpose, and the method used to estimate them.
Since 22 July 2026 the savings are in kWh, and the four organisational purposes are transport, industrial process, buildings and any other purpose.
The regulation has no cost or investment limb, and no “statement of intent”: a plan that lists budgets is carrying information the law does not ask for.
The guidance asks for “the month and year” of each implementation date where the regulation says “the date”; a full date satisfies both.
Savings are estimated over the whole relevant compliance period, 6 December 2027 to 5 December 2031, pro-rata from the implementation date.
The guidance’s worked example does this arithmetic: a lighting measure saving 25,000 kWh a year, implemented by June 2029, counts 2.5 years and so 62,500 kWh.
The tool beside this text drafts a plan to those limbs; the ESOS action plan guide explains choosing the measures and the progress updates that follow.
Regulation 34A(3) · one row per measure
1 measure · 0 kWh expected in total
| Organisational purpose | kWh |
|---|---|
| Transport | 0 |
| Industrial process | 0 |
| Buildings | 0 |
| Any other purpose | 0 |
1 measure is missing a name, a date or a kWh estimate.
A Phase 4 plan is notified between 6 December 2027 and 5 December 2028, with a responsible officer’s confirmation (reg 34A(6)–(8)).
No cost or investment figure is required.
Fields follow SI 2014/1643 reg 34A(3)(a)(i)–(vi) and (b), as amended by SI 2026/701 reg 27.
A working aid, not the MESOS form; nothing here is saved.
ESOS assessment template
The evidence pack: the file behind the notification
What people call an “ESOS assessment template” is usually the evidence pack: the internal file that shows how the participant reached each figure it notified.
Regulation 28 lists what it holds, and SI 2026/701 added limbs for the intensity ratio calculations, the kWh conversions, the savings achieved, the action plan, the progress updates, the estimation methods and the action plan review.
It must be kept for at least two subsequent compliance periods, so a Phase 4 pack is kept until at least 5 December 2035.
Section 11 of the guidance adds the written agreements that vary the default group arrangement, such as a disaggregated subsidiary or two groups complying as one.
A new lead assessor is entitled to the previous pack: regulation 21(1)(b) requires the responsible undertaking to give them a copy.
The checklist beside this text filters the limbs by route; regulators may ask for the pack in a compliance audit, and the ESOS compliance guidance covers how that check runs.
Regulation 28 evidence pack · as amended 22 July 2026
0 of 18 items in the pack
Keep the Phase 4 pack for two further compliance periods: to at least 5 December 2035 (reg 28(2)(b)).
Failing to keep it is its own offence under regulation 44.
Limbs from SI 2014/1643 reg 28(1) as amended by SI 2023/1182 reg 19 and SI 2026/701 reg 18.
Ticks stay on this page and are not saved.
ESOS assessment example
Worked figures, taken from the guidance itself
The guidance carries several worked examples that show what the numbers in a Phase 4 record look like.
| Record | The guidance’s example | Section |
|---|---|---|
| Savings achieved (rated power) | Replacing a 100 W light fitting with a 40 W one saves about 0.06 kW × 8,760 hours ≈ 525.6 kWh a year per fitting | §10.4 |
| Savings achieved (data comparison) | Water heaters replaced in April 2025: the monthly saving from sub-metered data is multiplied by the months installed within the period | §10.4 |
| Action plan, audit measure | Lighting with motion sensors by June 2029: 25,000 kWh a year × 2.5 years = 62,500 kWh | §13.3.3 |
| Action plan, revised estimate | Insulation by June 2030: estimate cut from 60,000 to 50,000 kWh a year after a survey, × 1.5 years = 75,000 kWh | §13.3.3 |
| Action plan, measure from another scheme | CCA controls improvements by December 2029: 4,000,000 kWh a year × 2 years = 8,000,000 kWh, split 300,000 buildings and 7,700,000 industrial processes | §13.3.3 |
The examples also show what goes in the pack: the survey that revised the insulation estimate, and the reason the plan departs from the report, are kept with the calculations.
A large programme with only aggregated data is reported as a single measure, and a measure counted under another scheme is recorded once, so savings are not double counted.
Phase to phase
What carries over from Phase 3, and what has to be new
The structure of a Phase 3 record carries over, because the 2023 amendments introduced the report content, the intensity ratios and the action plan that Phase 4 still uses.
The content does not: Phase 4 needs a fresh qualification test on 31 December 2026, a new 12-month reference period that includes that date, and audit data that was not relied on in a previous period.
Three fields are new: savings achieved in kWh by measure and category, the action plan review, and the kWh basis for every estimate.
The Phase 3 action plan is the input to the review, so the Phase 4 file starts with that plan and the progress updates filed against it, the last of which is due by 5 December 2026.
The full set of Phase 4 changes is on the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme page, and the instrument behind them is SI 2014/1643 as amended.
Every filing is made in MESOS, which the GOV.UK ESOS page says can be saved part-complete and finished later.
Frequently asked
ESOS templates, answered
Is there an official ESOS template?
There is no single official ESOS template.
The Environment Agency publishes report checklists (Appendices A1 and A2), an example template for presenting audit recommendations (Appendix A3, which it says is not mandatory), and the list of information to give through MESOS (Appendix B).
The notification, action plan and progress updates are entered directly into MESOS.
Is there an official ESOS action plan template?
No. The action plan is entered in MESOS against the six limbs of regulation 34A(3): each measure, whether an audit recommended it, the implementation date, total expected savings in kWh, savings by organisational purpose in kWh, and the estimation method.
Appendix A3 of the Phase 4 guidance is an example template for audit recommendations, not an action plan template.
Is there an ESOS energy audit template?
Not an official one.
ESOS does not prescribe an audit format or method; the guidance points to ISO 50002 and BS EN 16247 as possible methods.
What the audit must record is set by regulation 27 and sections 8 and 10.2 of the guidance, and Appendix A3 offers a suggested layout for the recommendations only.
What is ESOS Appendix A3?
Appendix A3 is the Environment Agency’s “example template of phase 4 ESOS recommendations”, published as an OpenDocument file on 30 July 2026.
Section 10.9 of the guidance calls it a suggested template for presenting the recommendations from an ESOS audit and says it is not mandatory to use that format.
What is ESOS Appendix B?
Appendix B sets out the information that must be notified through MESOS in a specified format, and marks which elements are published.
Some of it is drawn from the ESOS report, which is why the guidance suggests using the A1 and A2 checklists to get it ready.
What must an ESOS report include?
For Phase 4: the responsible undertaking and signatories, the group structure, lead assessor details where one is required, total and significant consumption in kWh, intensity ratios for each organisational purpose, each opportunity with its category and estimated savings, the audit details, any partial ISO 50001 coverage, savings achieved in the period in kWh, and the action plan review.
Can we reuse our Phase 3 ESOS template?
The structure carries over, but Phase 4 adds the savings achieved in kWh by measure and category, the action plan review, and a kWh basis throughout.
Audit data must be new: it must begin no earlier than 6 December 2022, no earlier than 24 months before the audit starts, and not have been relied on in a previous period.
How long must ESOS records be kept?
Regulation 28(2) requires the evidence pack to be kept for at least two subsequent compliance periods, so a Phase 4 pack is kept until at least 5 December 2035.
The guidance says the same in section 11.2.
Does an organisation using ISO 50001 need an ESOS report?
Not if its certificate covers all of its total or all of its significant energy consumption: regulation 33(3), as amended by SI 2026/701, deems the report done.
It still notifies, keeps an evidence pack and produces an action plan.
Sources
Primary sources
Every figure, date and status on this page traces to the instrument’s owner.
Secondary commentary is never the source for a number.
- Environment AgencyComply with ESOS phase 4 — publication page and appendices
Lists Appendices A1 and A2, Appendix A3 (example template of phase 4 ESOS recommendations) and Appendix B (information to provide through the notification system).
- Environment AgencyAppendices A1 and A2: Report checklists for participants
The regulator’s checklist of what the ESOS report must contain, section by section.
- Environment AgencyHow to comply with ESOS phase 4, §§10, 11 and 13
The report, the evidence pack, the action plan and the worked examples quoted on this page; §10.9 on templates.
- legislation.gov.ukThe Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme Regulations 2014 (SI 2014/1643)
The instrument every field on this page is keyed to.
- legislation.gov.ukSI 2014/1643, regulation 27A — the ESOS report
The duty to produce the report before the compliance date.
- legislation.gov.ukSI 2014/1643, Part 6A — regulation 34A, the ESOS action plan
The six limbs of an action plan, in kWh since 22 July 2026.
- legislation.gov.ukSI 2014/1643, regulation 28 — the evidence pack
What the pack holds and how long it is kept.
- legislation.gov.ukSI 2014/1643, regulation 21 — the lead assessor
The duty to give a new lead assessor the previous evidence pack.
- legislation.gov.ukThe Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (Amendment) Regulations 2023 (SI 2023/1182)
Introduced the ESOS report content, intensity ratios and action plans.
- legislation.gov.ukThe Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (Amendment) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/701)
Added savings achieved (reg 27D), the action plan review (reg 27E) and the kWh basis.
- GOV.UK (Environment Agency)Energy savings opportunity scheme (ESOS): find out if you qualify and how to comply
Rewritten for Phase 4 on 2 September 2026; the audit data window and the report content in summary.
- Environment AgencyManage your ESOS reporting (MESOS)
Where the notification, the action plan and the progress updates are entered.
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