Energy Performance Certificate

Hi Pepper,

This extract from Idealista should help:

• Choose a company, architect, engineer or authorised technician: research and request proposals from several qualified experts working in your area by searching for EPC companies in Spain. The price of the services charged by the surveyor should correspond to the value and quality that the surveyor brings to the work in issuing the certificate and the availability of clarification and interaction of the surveyor with the owner. Once an option has been chosen, the technician will have to collect information about the property by visiting it in person (walls, windows, air conditioning, heating, orientation and size, among others). Afterwards, he/she will make the calculations that define the energy rating of the property.
• Gather the necessary documentation: before the technician's visit, make sure you have all the documentation relating to your home (such as the floor plan or the technical specifications of the property). The consultation of all the documents allows a more accurate assessment of the reality of the property.
• Organise the visit: the expert's visit is compulsory, so it facilitates access to all areas of the home, to allow the collection of information. It is illegal to make an energy certificate by hearsay, by video call or only on the basis of photographs. And it is punishable as a very serious infringement with fines of 1,001 to 6,000 euros, according to Royal Legislative Decree 7/2015. If you contract the service with idealista, the technician who will visit the property is trusted by us. This way, we avoid situations of fraud that are occurring due to the issuing of illegal energy certificates.
• Follow the process: follow the certification process and evaluate, with the expert, the possible improvement measures to be applied. Take advantage of the fact that you have a specialist at your disposal and, together, see how to improve the house and enjoy all the possible benefits.
• The final step: the technician will make the calculations that define the energy rating of the property. And the final step is the issuing of the energy efficiency certificate, with the data endorsed by the specialist technician, and the registration with the competent body once obtained. The latter is indispensable for its validity. The Register is created in order to facilitate compliance with this procedure and is attached to the Secretary of State for Energy of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, and is public and informative in nature. The energy certificate for renting and selling property has been compulsory since June 2013 and, in accordance with the regulations, it is necessary to register the energy certificate with the competent body in each Autonomous Community. The registration fees are specific to each region.

And the final rating will probably be "G" or "F"! They are a ludicrous requirement, given that most Spanish homes have no cavity walls and the windows have the insulation qualities of net curtains!