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You have probably heard of the energy efficiency certificate. It is a necessity in today's homes. If you are going to buy or sell a house or any type of building or property, you should know about it.
Today I will explain everything you need to know about the energy efficiency certificate.
Energy certification
Appraisal Company Approved by the Bank of Spain
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What is the energy efficiency certificate
This is a technical report written by qualified personnel. The objective of this report is to collect all the information related to the
This report reflects the location of the property, its general characteristics and an assessment of the total energy consumption on an annual basis. To do this, it includes the consumption of ventilation, lighting or heating systems included in it.
The obligation of the energy efficiency certificate is reflected in a European directive of 2002, but in Spain it has been mandatory since 2013. This is through Royal Decree 235/2013 of April 5 with the title “Basic procedure for the Energy Efficiency Certification of Buildings”.
The objective with this certificate is for citizens to know the technical characteristics and energy consumption of their home or future home or property. In this way, the expense that said home will entail can be better calculated and a good estimate of the investment can be made.
It also serves to design possible savings measures in future reforms with the aim of improving its energy efficiency and reducing energy and economic expenditure.
How to request the energy efficiency certificate
To make the energy efficiency certificate, you have to follow a few steps that we explain below:
- Hire the services of a certified and competent technician to carry it out.
- Said technician visits the property and makes the necessary checks of the installations.
- Develops recommendations for improving the necessary energy efficiency.
- Drafts the corresponding Energy Efficiency Certificate for the client.
Said report will be sent to the corresponding local administration, possibly electronically. Within a period of time, a response will be received from the administration in which the certificate will be granted or we will be informed of the need to undertake specific improvements in the building within a stipulated period of time.
Depending on the report carried out and the assessment of energy consumption, an energy label is given to the home or premises. Although this label is not mandatory in all autonomous communities.
This scale will range from A for the most efficient buildings to G for those with the highest energy consumption.
Energy certification
Appraisal Company Approved by the Bank of Spain
Owner or Tenant, who Requests the Certificate?
The person responsible for requesting the Energy Efficiency Certificate is the owner of the home. In the case of a new home, the developer will be responsible for this.
These are the ones that must contract the services of an authorized certifying technician to carry out said report.
The Energy Efficiency Certificate is mandatory in all buildings, premises, private homes or industrial buildings in the case of being put up for sale or rent. It is documentation that must be made available to the potential buyer or tenant.
If not, the buyer or person who wants to rent the property can demand it and the owner is obliged to deliver a copy of it. This is done precisely to safeguard the right of the future inhabitant (buyer or tenant) to know if the home or premises meet the minimum conditions in terms of energy consumption and to be able to calculate the annual expense that living in it will entail.
Not providing said certificate to the potential buyer or person who wants to rent our house is a serious infraction.
In the case of buildings of public ownership, there is also that obligation to have an Energy Efficiency Certificate, but if certain specific conditions are met, such as its surface area being greater than 250 square meters.
There are other buildings or constructions that are also not required to have the certificate.
With regard to facilities intended for industrial use, there are also peculiarities. The Energy Efficiency Certificate of an industrial building only includes the energy consumption of the part of the building not intended for industrial activity: offices, common areas or toilets, for example. The part destined for the installation of machinery itself is excluded from said consumption.
This is because the consumption of the machinery depends on the destination and the production sector to which the buyer is dedicated, so it cannot be calculated exactly before starting the activity.
Infraction for not delivering the Certificate
As we have already mentioned, it is mandatory that you deliver the energy efficiency certificate to the potential tenant or buyer. In this way, they will have the necessary information to assess the acceptance of buying/renting said house or property or not.
Not providing it implies a violation of the rights of the consumer or user. Therefore, not doing so will lead to an infraction and violation of rights that will have repercussions.
It is the public administrations that will classify said infraction as minor, serious or very serious. This classification will depend on the intention of said violation or the reiteration, for example.
Public administrations will not consider it equally serious that the energy efficiency certificate is not delivered due to negligence or ignorance than if the potential buyer has requested it from us repeatedly and we have not delivered it to them.
It is assumed that in the first case there is no intention to deceive or hide and it is only due to negligence or ignorance of the regulations. In the second case, it is understood that deception is deliberately sought and therefore it will be considered a more serious infraction that may have consequences for us.
Are you thinking of renovating your house? --> Before doing so, you should read this article
Do you have questions about the deed of a home? --> You can find all the answers in our article.
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