The Ministry of Industry has set the regulations, it is obligatory for all homes that are advertised for sale or for rent in Spain must have an “energy performance certificate”. If a property is advertised for sale or rent that does not hold an EPC can be fined, anything up to 6.000€.

The European directive aims to increase energy efficiency in buildings and homes in order to protect the environment, and makes it compulsory for all new and existing homes which come onto the market, whether for sale or for rent, to have this certificate.

The promotion of energy efficiency in buildings and homes has formed part of European priorities since 2002, when Directive 2002/91/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council was approved. This directive was implemented in Spain in 2007 through Royal Decree 4 7/2007, although at that time it was only applicable to developers. The surprise is that it now has to be complied with by private individuals, and it is likely to stir up strong feelings, judging by what has happened in other European countries where it has already been implemented.

The 2002 Directive and the 2010 amendment of the Directive made it obligatory to promote energy efficiency in existing buildings and homes. Consequently, all homes that come onto the market in any country in the European Union, whether for sale or for rent, have to have this energy efficiency certificate, which is valid for 10 years.

The owner of the home, building, or business premises will be responsible for obtaining and paying for the certificate, which they will need in order to sell or lease their home. In addition to the certificate, each home will also receive a series of recommendations to improve the energy performance of the home and enable it to go up at least one level in the energy efficiency scale.

The energy survey to produce an EPC is performed by an assessor who visits the property, examines key items such as insulation, boilers, radiators, double glazed, air conditioning and so on. The assessor then inputs the information into a software program which performs the properties energy efficiency rating. The ratings are on a scale which ranges from “A” (the most efficient) to “G” (the least efficient).

Extracted ‘EPC-Spain’

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