Energy performance certificate (APE) when selling in Italy

Who must produce it and when

The duty falls on the owner. Article 6 of D.Lgs. 192/2005 says that on a sale, a gratuitous transfer or a new letting, the owner must produce the certificate if the building or unit does not already have one. The same article lays down a timetable that sellers often get wrong. The owner must make the certificate available to the potential buyer at the start of the negotiations and deliver it when they end. In other words, it is not a document you may leave to the notary’s office on the morning of the deed.

For a new building the builder produces it, and it is needed before the habitability filing. For existing homes, the owner pays for it, because the law puts production “a cura del proprietario”.

What goes into the contract

Two things appear in the sale agreement itself. First, a clause in which the buyer declares having received the information and documentation on the building’s energy performance, certificate included. Second, a copy of the certificate attached to the contract. The text applies to sale contracts and to transfers for consideration; for the letting of a single unit, the attachment is not required.

The sanction for omission has changed over the years, and older web pages are out of date. Earlier versions of the rule made the contract void. Normattiva now shows that this paragraph is “no longer provided for” and that the law replaced voidness with a fine of €3,000 to €18,000 payable jointly and in equal parts by the parties. Paying the fine does not cancel the duty: the declaration or a copy of the certificate must still be filed with the region or autonomous province within 45 days. The fine for a seller who has no certificate at all is also set at €3,000 to €18,000 by article 15, paragraph 8.

The advert

Anyone who advertises a home for sale must put the energy performance indices and the energy class in the advert, through every commercial medium. Article 6, paragraph 8 says so, and article 15, paragraph 10 sets a fine of €500 to €3,000 on the person responsible for the advert. That person may be you, if you publish the listing yourself. The exception in the text concerns lettings of homes used less than four months a year, not sales.

How long it lasts

A certificate is valid for ten years at most from issue. It must be updated after any renovation or upgrade that changes the building’s energy class. There is a trap in the validity rule: it depends on respecting the inspection and maintenance rules for the technical systems, in particular the heating system. If a required check is missed, the certificate lapses on 31 December of the year after the first missed deadline. The system logbooks must be attached to the certificate.

So an APE issued eight years ago is not automatically safe to reuse. Ask the technician to confirm that the heating inspections were done, or order a new certificate.

Buildings that do not need one

Article 3, paragraph 3 of the decree excludes some categories:

• industrial and craft buildings heated for the production process;
• non-residential rural buildings without any climate-control system;
• buildings declared unusable (inagibili) or in ruins (collabenti);
• isolated buildings with a total useful floor area under 50 m²;
• garages, cellars, storerooms and similar buildings not designed to have heating or cooling;
• places of worship.

Buildings under heritage protection are a special case. Article 3 keeps the certificate rules of article 6 applicable to them, and treats them as excluded from the decree’s other energy requirements only where meeting those requirements would substantially alter their character or appearance, as judged by the authority that grants heritage permissions. If your home is a ruin or a barn you plan to restore, see buying a fixer-upper in Italy, because the certificate becomes necessary once the building is habitable and for sale.

Who issues it, and what it costs

The Notariato notes that the certificate is prepared by an independent registered assessor. Under DPR 75/2013, article 2, that means a qualified technician registered with the relevant professional order (for example an architect, engineer or geometra within their competence), a public body in the energy or building field, an accredited inspection body, or an energy-services company working through qualified technicians. The certificate is made out as a sworn declaration, and article 15 fines a professional €700 to €4,200 for issuing one without following the required method.

I found no official fee scale, and none can exist: article 9 of D.L. 1/2012 abolished the tariffs of regulated professions and requires the professional to give a written estimate in advance. Ask two or three technicians for a quote that states what it includes, in particular the site visit and the filing in the regional register.

Which professional to consult

A qualified energy assessor, who is often a surveyor, architect or engineer, prepares the certificate after visiting the property. The notary checks that the certificate exists and is mentioned and attached in the deed; the Notariato lists energy certification among the new checks the notary must make. If the certificate reveals that the building has uninspected systems or irregularities, a surveyor can say what must be put right before you list the home. For the wider picture of a sale, read selling property in Italy and the list of documents needed to sell a home.