Energy Performance Certificate (A.P.E.)

The Energy Performance Certificate (EPC, also commonly referred to as “energy certificate” or “energy report”) is a document that certifies the performance and energy class of a property and indicates the most cost-effective improvement measures.

Through the EPC, one can learn about characteristics such as the building’s or unit’s energy demand, the energy quality of the structure, carbon dioxide emissions, and the use of renewable energy sources, all of which affect both management costs and the environmental impact of the property. It also guides towards a conscious choice in the case of purchase, rental, or renovation (restoration or redevelopment).

Energy performance is the amount of energy required annually to meet the standard use needs of the property, such as heating, cooling, ventilation, hot water production, and, in non-residential buildings, also lighting, elevators, and escalators.

The EPC is mandatory for:

– Newly constructed buildings.
– Existing buildings (sale and rental).
– In the case of major renovations, i.e. interventions on elements of the external envelope (perimeter walls, roofs, windows, etc.) when the total surface area affected exceeds 25% of the entire envelope.

The EPC is not mandatory for:

Places of worship, detached buildings with a surface area < 50 sqm, agricultural, industrial, and craft buildings without climate control systems, multi-storey car parks, garages, boiler rooms, cellars, storage facilities, ruins, and buildings under construction that do not yet have habitability or usability certification at the time of sale.

Energy performance must also be stated in property advertisements.

An independent professional “accredited” in accordance with legal requirements (DPR 16 April 2013, no. 75). The expert must not have family ties with the applicant, must not be involved in the design or execution of the works, nor linked to the producers of the materials and components used.

In the case of new construction, the appointment of the expert drafting the EPC must take place before construction begins.

The EPC must be requested at one’s own expense.

The appointed expert is required to carry out at least one site inspection to acquire and verify the data needed to prepare the EPC.

The EPC is valid for ten years from the date of issue. It must be updated after any renovation that changes the energy class of the property.

The energy performance certificate and the energy qualification certificate are issued in the form of a self-declaration pursuant to Article 47 of Presidential Decree no. 445 of 28 December 2000 (Unified text on administrative documentation).

– For failing to provide an EPC for newly constructed or heavily renovated buildings, the builder or owner is subject to an administrative fine of no less than €3,000 and no more than €18,000.
– For failing to provide an EPC in the case of a sale, the owner is subject to a fine between €3,000 and €18,000.
– For failing to provide an EPC in the case of a new rental agreement, the owner is subject to a fine between €300 and €1,800.
– For failing to report energy parameters in a sales or rental listing, the person responsible for the advertisement is subject to a fine between €500 and €3,000.