On 14 April 2013 the Spanish Royal Decree 235/2013 came into force. It approves the basic procedure for the Certification of Energy Efficiency in Buildings.
As from 1 June 2013 there is an obligation for the vendor to make available to purchasers or tenants of buildings a CERTIFICATE OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY (EPC in UK), which must include objective information regarding the energy efficiency of their building or part of it. The Energy Efficiency Rating Symbol must be displayed when the property is being marketed so it is essential to obtain it now.
The energy efficiency certificate is valid for 10 years, assuming no major changes to the building.
Section 12.2 establishes the obligation which most affects the marketing agreement and states literally: “the symbol must be included in all offers, promotions and publicity directed towards the sale or rental of the building or a unit of the building. The symbol must always show, clearly and unmistakably, if it refers to the energy efficiency certificate of the project or to that of the finished building.”
The present circumstances prevent your property (building of more than 50 sq m or rental of more than 4 months in any one year) being marketed as from 1 June or until such time as you are in possession of the corresponding certificate. Note that new buildings from 2008 will already have Certificates.
The most worrying aspects are the infringements and penalties due to non compliance. At present, in Andalucía, the penalties are classified as very serious, serious or minor. Proposed penalties are to be 300€ to 600€ for minor offences, 601€ to 1,000€ for serious offences, and 1001€ to 6000€ for very serious offences. However, if the profit that the offender obtains by the offence is greater than the amount of the penalty, the fine imposed shall be for an amount equivalent of such benefit. In addition to these, any contract issued after the 1st June without it can be declared invalid and the buyer or tenant have to be compensated.
The procedure is that we carry out a detailed inspection of the building and then enter all the information into a special computer program, which then gives the rating. That is then sent to the Colegio for confirmation stamp and then sent to the Junta de Andalucía for them to issue the certificate. Unfortunately the timing of the latter part of the process is not known.
