Since 01.01.2008 there is an obligation in Austria to provide an energy performance certificate when selling or leasing buildings and premises. These existing rules have now been amended by the implementation of the European Directive on the energy performance of buildings 2010/31/EU (Federal Law Gazette I, No 27/2012). The amendment will enter into force on 01.12.2012. In future, when selling or leasing buildings or premises, the thermal heat consumption and the overall energy efficiency factor will have to be stated in advertisement and literature for sales and leasing (e.g. media advertisements), provided that no exemption exists. An existing energy performance certificate, which was prepared in accordance with Directive 2002/91/EC on the energy performance of buildings, and is not older than 10 years, is a sufficient indication of the thermal heat consumption. The certificate must not be older than 10 years. Providing the energy performance certificate during the negotiations of the contract is sufficient, whilethe energy performance certificate (or a full copy of it) must be handed over to the other party of the contract within 14 days after the conclusion of the contract. Exemptions from the obligation to state the overall energy efficiency factor in advertisement and literature for sales and provide and handover energy performance certificate to purchaser/tenant: Buildings which are only held frost-free In the event of the sale of buildings which are objectively dilapidated due to their poor conditions (the building must be described as dilapidated in the sale advertisement or the purchaser expresses their intention to demolish the building within three years in a specific clause in the contract); Buildings used as places of worship and for religious activities; Temporary erected buildings which time of use lasts not more than two years; Industrial sites, workshops and non-residential agricultural buildings, in which the majority of the energy for space heating and space cooling is covered by waste heat; Residential buildings which are used or intended to be used for a limited period of each calendar year and whose energy consumption due to this limited period of usage is less than 25% of what would be the result of all-year use; Stand-alone buildings with a total useful floor area of less than 50 m². Certification for single-family houses may be based on the assessment of another representative building of similar design, size and actual energy efficiency. The similarity of the building with the representative building is to be confirmed by the expert issuing the energy performance certificate. The energy indicators stated in the published energy performance certificate are considered stipulated features under general warranty law. The necessary fluctuation margins must be taken into account in the calculation. As previously, in the event that no energy performance certificate is provided, a total energy efficiency appropriate to the age and the type of building shall be agreed. Moreover, the purchaser/tenant will be able to apply to the court in the future to seek the handover of the energy performance certificate or to seek (reasonable) costs from the other party for an energy performance certificate. In addition, a violation of the Energy Performance Certificate Act 2012 is now an administrative offence which can be punished by a fine of up to EUR1,450, unless the deed fulfills the conditions for a criminal offence falling within the competence of the courts or issubject to a stricter penalty under other administrative penal provisions. In summary, the Energy Performance Certificate Act 2012 is a tightening of the previously existing obligation to prepare and provide an energy performance certificate.
