Exempt Properties from the Mandatory Energy Performance Certificate Requirement: A Comprehensive Guide

The mandatory Energy Performance Certificate is not required in all sales and renovations. Let’s find out the exempt properties.

The owner of a property must produce the APE (DL 19 August 2005 number 192) in case of sale or transfer of properties free of charge.

At the time of the sale, the owners of a house must present the Energy Performance Certificate or the document summarizing the energy performance of the building. The obligation applies both in the case of renovations involving more than 25% of the surface area of ​​the building and in new buildings.

The energy class is calculated on a scale that goes from a maximum score of A4 to the minimum score G. The lower the letter associated with the building, the greater the energy consumption. The legislation also provides for exemptions.

APE and energy certification, the cases of exemption

The energy certificate is drawn up by a qualified technician after having carried out an inspection in order to verify the construction of the building from the point of view of thermal insulation and energy consumption. As mentioned, the APE will have to be presented in case of

• new buildings and buildings undergoing demolition/reconstruction,
• existing buildings with sale or new lease,
• major renovation work.

Some types of properties are exempt from the presentation

• agricultural, industrial and craft structures,
• isolated buildings with a surface area of ​​less than 50 square meters,
• garage e box,
• places of worship and buildings of artistic or historical value to be restored,
• non-residential buildings with air-conditioned rooms,
• buildings registered as landscape and cultural assets,
• buildings for which rehabilitation is foreseen on the basis of the urban plan,
• buildings with production plants installed internally.

The APE is valid for ten years and concerns both condominiums and individual real estate units. The certificate must be updated with each restructuring or redevelopment intervention that modifies the energy class of the building or home (for example the replacement of the entrance door, the laying of the thermal coat, the rebuilding of the crawl space, the installation of a new heat pump…).

The document must contain

• the overall energy performance with total and non-renewable primary energy.
• the partial and global energy performance indexes and the energy class,
• the interventions to be carried out,
• energy consumption,
• the emissions of exported energy and carbon dioxide.

If non-fulfilments are found, the interested parties will have to pay significant fines. The amounts go

• from 700 to 4,200 euros for the certifier,
• from 3,000 to 18,000 euros for the builder,
• from 1,000 to 6 thousand euros for the construction manager,
• from 500 to 3 thousand euros for the seller who omits the energy parameters on the announcement of a property.