►WHAT IS THE ENERGY PERFORMANCE CERTIFICATE?
The Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) is an official document issued by a competent technician, which contains information about the property’s energetic features.
The energy certification grades buildings energetically calculating the annual energy consumption needed to satisfy its energetic demand in normal conditions of use and occupation. This is achieved considering, among others, the consumption of the heating, water heating and cooling systems, as well as the ventilation and lighting conditions.
The certification process finishes with the expedition of the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) and the allocation of an energy label. The energy grading scale is composed of 7 letters, from A (the most energetically efficient) to G (least energetically efficient). This label expresses the energy grading of a property, assigning it one of those letters.
►WHAT IS IT FOR?
Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) helps understand the energetic behaviour of a property and how to improve it in order to reduce energy consumption. It aids assess and compare the energy efficiency between properties, boosting highly efficient properties and investments for energy saving.
►WHO MUST HAVE THE CERTIFICATION?
The obligation of having the certificate starts the moment the owner wants to sell or rent his property. In the case of sale and purchase, the owner must supply the buyer the original of the energy performance certificate. As for the renting, the landlord must provide the tenant, along with the lease, a copy of the energy performance certificate.
Also, it is mandatory for all properties being advertised for sale or rent to include the energy label. For example, in the agencies’ window display or in the Internet, the property’s energy label must appear alongside.
►IS IT MANDATORY FOR ALL PROPERTY TYPES?
The regulation establishes some exceptions from the obligation of having the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC):
1. Building and officially protected monuments, forming part of a declared surrounding or for their particular architectonic or historic value.
2. Temporary constructions with an estimated period of use equal or less than two years.
3. Industrial, defence and agricultural buildings, or parts of them, for those non-residentialareas assigned for garages, industrial processes, defence and agriculture.
4. Isolated buildings with a total usable space inferior to 50 m2.
5. Buildings bought for important refurbishment or demolition.
►WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PRESERVATION AND RENEWAL OF THE CERTIFICATE?
The owner is the responsible for its preservation and renewal, in addition to being the one who must order it.
►WHO CAN ISSUE IT?
The Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) must be issued by certifying technicians who must have the academic and professional qualification that authorises them for the realisation of building projects or site management of building works or their thermal installations. This means that, currently, only architects, architectural technicians or engineers are authorised to issue them.
►WHAT TASKS DOES AN ENERGY CERTIFICATION ENTAIL?
1. At least one inspection visit to the property, during which:
- Pictures are taken from the exterior and the interior.
- Administrative information is compiled (location, cadastral reference, etc.)
- Data from closures, exterior carpentry, thermal installations, ventilation and lighting conditions are gathered.
- Measures are taken in order to draw the sketch of the closures and obtain the habitable volumes.
2. Office work, during which:
- The property’s energy efficiency is calculated through methods and computer programmes accepted by the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce.
- The certificate is prepared, where the data mentioned before is reflected and a qualification and energy performance label is assigned to the property.
- When necessary, solutions to improve the energy certification, stating cost and recovery time, are proposed.
3. Finally, the certificate is delivered in electronic (PDF file).
►WHAT INFORMATION DOES THE CERTIFICATE CONTAIN?
The Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) contains at least the following information:
1. Identification of the property to be certified (including location and cadastral reference).
2. Description of the procedure used to obtain the energy efficiency qualification.
3. Description of the regulations on energy saving and efficiency in force during the time of construction of the property.
4. Description of the property’s energetic characteristics, thermal envelope, installations, normal conditions of use and occupation and other data used to obtain the energy efficiency qualification of the property.
5. Energy efficiency qualification of the property, expressed through the energy label.
6. For existing buildings, recommendations to improve the energy efficiency through technically viable solutions. These recommendations could include an estimate of the recovery time of the investment or of the savings obtained during the rest of the building’s lifespan.
7. Description of the tests, verifications and inspections carried out by the certifying technician.
8. Compliance with environmental requirements of thermal installations.
►WHAT IS THE ENERGY LABEL?
The energy label shows a property’s energy ranking, following a 7-letter scale from A (the most energetically efficient) to G (least energetically efficient). Among other data, this label also gives information of the annual energy consumption. It is mandatory to include the label in any kind of advertisement aimed at the renting or selling of a property.
►IS IT ALLOWED TO ADVERTISE A PROPERTY FOR SALE OR RENT WITHOUT THE CERTIFICATE?
No. According to regulations, any offer, promotion or advertisement aimed at the selling or renting of a property must include the energy qualification label.
►IS IT POSSIBLE TO WAIT FOR THE ACTUAL SALE OR RENT OF A PROPERTY TO ORDER THE CERTIFICATE?
No. The Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) must be part of the basic information that the owner provides the buyer or tenant. Therefore, it must be available before executing the transaction.
►COULD AN ILL-EXECUTED CERTIFICATE BE ECONOMICALLY PREJUDICIAL?
If an inexperienced technician executes the certification and determines an energy ranking lower than the one really corresponding to your property, this would unjustly reduce its price. Also, if the certificate is subject to an inspection by the corresponding body of the Autonomous Community and irregularities are detected, you might be forced to repeat it.
►WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF BEING LEGALLY LIABLE, I DON’T ORDER THE ENERGY CERTIFICATE OF MY PROPERTY?
If being legally liable to obtain a property’s energy certification due to its advertisement, renting or selling and the owner does not comply, there could be the following complications:
- Administrative penalisation by the competent body of your Autonomous Community for an infraction of consumer’s rights.
- Indenisation to the buyer or tenant for the damages caused by not being correctly informed.
►HOW MUCH DOES THE CERTIFICATE COST?
There are no official rates for this work. The free market determines the cost of the certificate. Each technician establishes his/her offer, considering the costs and expected benefit.
►WHO MUST ASSUME THE COST?
The responsible to order the certificate and therefore to assume its cost is the owner.
►WHAT VALIDITY DOES IT HAVE?
The energy performance certificate and its corresponding label have a validity of 10 years for A-, B-, C-, D-, E- and F-rated homes, and of 5 years for G-rated homes. In any case, the owner can proceed voluntarily to its actualisation when considering that there have been modifications in the property that could change the grading.