Certificates of Energy Efficiency for Buildings in Spain

Certification of the Energy Efficiency of Buildings in Spain

Purpose and Basic Procedure

In 2013 came into force the Spanish Royal Decree 235/2013, approving the Basic Procedure for the certification of the energy efficiency of buildings. This Royal Decree partially transposes the European Directive 2010/31/EU, recasting the Spanish Royal Decree 47/2007. The Royal Decree 235/2013 does not set the minimum requirements for energy efficiency, since the definition of such requirements must be made by the Spanish Technical Building Code (CTE), but establishes the obligation to make available to buyers or users of buildings a Certificate of Energy Efficiency that must include:

• accurate information about the energy efficiency of the building
• reference values, ​​such as minimum energy efficiency requirements.

Purpose of the Energy Efficiency Certificate

The purpose of the Certificate is to provide to the owners or tenants of all or part of the building the opportunity to compare and evaluate its energy efficiency. It is intended that such evaluation and comparison will promote the development of buildings with high energy efficiency, as well as the investment in energy savings. In addition, the information provided by the certificates, about CO2 emissions caused by the use of energy by emitting sources in the residential sector, will allow the adoption of future measures in order to reduce emissions and improve the energy rating of  the Spanish buildings.

The Basic Procedure

The Spanish Royal Decree 235/2013 establishes the Basic Procedure to be followed by the methodology for the calculation of the energy efficiency rating, considering:

• which factors have more incidence in the energy consumption
• which technical and administrative conditions must affect the certification of the energy efficiency of buildings.

Almost Zero Energy Consumption

The European Directive 2010/31 /EU establishes the dates from which all buildings to be constructed in Europe will have to be featured by an “Almost Zero Energy Consumption”. These dates are:

• for public buildings, on 31 December 2018
• for private buildings, on 31 December 2020.

In Spain, the Technical Building Code will have to set the required standards affecting the buildings in order they can be considered “Almost Zero Energy Consumption”, when the time comes.

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Technical Inspection of Buildings in Spain

Technical Inspection of Buildings in Spanish Royal Decree 8/2011

Obligation, Requirements, Authority, Effectiveness and Justification

On July 2012 came into force the provisions in Article 21 of the Spanish Royal Decree 8/2011. That article refers to the mandatory Technical Inspection of Buildings in Spain.

The Obligation of the ‘ITE’ in Spain

In Spanish, ‘ITE’ is an acronym for ‘Inspección Técnica de Edificios’ (Technical Inspection of Buildings). Spanish Royal Decree 8/2011 stipulates that all buildings whose age exceeds fifty years (unless regional regulations prescribe other age) and whose intended use is preferably residential, must be subject to regular Technical Inspections, provided they are located in the following municipalities or zones:

• municipalities with more than 25,000 inhabitants (unless regional regulations prescribe other standards)
• municipalities where Administrations define specific zones subject to this practice
• municipalities where regional regulations provide the application of this practice, even if they don’t have specific zones defined.

All required buildings should have received their first Technical Inspection before 2015.

‘ITE’ Requirements in Spain

The regular Technical Inspection should be applied depending on the age of the buildings, and should be intended to ensure their good condition. Each Technical Inspection must be able to:

• assess the adequacy of the property to all legally required conditions of safety, health, accessibility and aesthetics
• determine the conservation works necessary to maintain the property in a legally enforceable condition.

Authority for the Regulation of the ‘ITE’ in Spain

The Autonomous Communities should regulate the method, timing and conditions under which the Technical Inspections of Buildings must be carried out. All regulations imposed by municipalities can only be developed within the framework of national and regional standards.

‘ITE’ of Real Estate Complexes

If a Technical Inspection refers to an entire building or a building complex, its effectiveness must be extended to every shop, office, dwelling or unit that belongs to it.

Justification of the Legal Conservation Duty

If a Technical Inspection report states some deficiencies in the building, the report itself will not be able to justify the compliance with the legal duty of conservation. Such justification may only be enforced after the certification of the effective performance of the conservation works required to recover the legally enforceable condition of the building.

Scope of the Valuation Methods in Spain (II)

Scope of the Different Methods for the Valuation of Properties in Spain (II)

Spanish Order ECO/805/2003

The rules established by Spanish Order ECO/805/2003 for the valuation of  real estate apply whenever the appraised value is used for any of the following purposes:

• mortgage warranties for loans that are or will be an integral part of the portfolio issued by the kind of entities described in the R. D. 685/1982, developing aspects of the Law 2/1981, about regulation of the Mortgage Market in Spain
• determination of a fair value for the purposes of the registration and second valuation standard in the Accountability Plan of insurance and reinsurance companies (R.D. 1317/2008), and determination of the valuation of assets for the purposes of the Law 20/2015, about management and supervision of insurance and reinsurance companies in Spain
• valuation of the assets of the real estate collective investment institutions regulated by the Spanish Royal Decree 1309/2005, approving the Regulation of the Law 35/2003, about Collective Investment Institutions in Spain
• valuation of the property assets of Pension Funds (R.D. 304/2004, approving the Pension Fund Regulation in Spain).

If the purpose of the valuation is among those listed above, the assessment can be made by the following technical methods:

• Method of the Cost: for the valuation of all types of buildings and building elements, whether in project phase, under construction, already finished or during a rehabilitation process
• Method of Comparison: for the valuation of all types of properties, provided that the requirements set out in Article 21 are met
• Method of Income Update: for the valuation of all kinds of properties susceptible to produce income, provided the requirements set out in Article 25 are met
• Residual Dynamic Method: for the valuation of urban or developable land, built or not, and of buildings in design phase, construction phase or during a rehabilitation process, no matter if the works are paralyzed
• Residual Static Method: for the valuation of plots and buildings during a rehabilitation process where the construction or rehabilitation works are entitled to begin within a period not exceeding one year, and also built plots.

Scope of the Valuation Methods in Spain (I)

Scope of the Different Methods for the Valuation of Properties in Spain (I)

R. D. 1020/1993 and R. D. 1492/2011

The primary purpose of the Spanish Royal Decree 1020/1993, about Valuation Rules and Value Frame for Land and Construction, is the determination of the Cadastral Value of urban properties, whose data constitute the Spanish Urban Real Estate Cadastre. Moreover, the Spanish Law 58/2003, about General Taxes, states that the value of the real estate affected by tax obligations can be checked by the Administration using the values ​​established by the Real Estate Cadastre, by applying the multiplier coefficients determined by competent tax authorities, as established by regulation. For all the above, the technical standards of valuation expressed in Royal Decree 1020/1993 apply for the following purposes:

• determination of the Cadastral Value of any urban real estate
• determination of the tax base in the tax about Property Transfer and Documented Legal Acts
• liquidation of the taxable events of the tax about Successions and Donations.

Spanish Royal Decree 1492/2011

The Spanish Royal Decree 1492/2011, about the Valuation Rules of the Spanish Land Act, applies to the valuation of land, facilities, buildings and constructions, and of rights made in connection therewith, whenever the final purpose is one of the following:

• checking the sharing of benefits and burdens, or other operations required by the implementation of the territorial and urban planning in which the valuation delimits the financial content of powers or duties associated with the right to property, in the absence of agreement among all affected subjects
• determination of fair compensations in expropriations, regardless of the purpose and the laws governing the process
• determination of the amount payable to the owner in cases of forced sale or substitution
• determination of the financial guarantee of a Public Administration.

Illegal Construction Works in Andalusia

Illegal Building Works in Andalusia

Geographical Referencing in Certificates of Antiquity

Geographical Identification in the Certificates of Antiquity for Buildings

Spanish Mortgage Law and the 03/11/2015 Resolution of the D.G.R.N.

On November 2015 the Spanish Law 13/2015, reforming the Mortgage Law came into force. The revised text states that when the construction of buildings of any kind is inscribed in the Property Registry, the portion of land occupied by the building must be identified by its referencing geographical coordinates.

03/11/2015 Resolution of D.G.R.N.

Also on November 2015, the General Directorate of  Registries and Notaries (D.G.R.N.) dedicated a Resolution to the interpretation of certain aspects covered in the reform of the Spanish Mortgage Law. It states that when the inscription of the geographic referencing coordinates that define the portion of land occupied by a building is required, the geographical boundaries and the list of geographical coordinates of the piece of land on which the building is located will also be required.

Geographical Referencing in Certificates of Antiquity

The reform of the Spanish Mortgage Law makes it convenient that Certificates of Antiquity for Buildings now include a section about geographic referencing, identifying:

• the piece of land where the building is located, unless its geographic boundaries have already been registered previously
• the portion of land occupied by the building.

Georeferenced Coordinates of the Cadastral Plot

If the simultaneous registration of the georeferenced coordinates of the cadastral plot is required, such coordinates can be obtained from a Descriptive and Graphic Cadastral Certification, which shall include them as an attachment. They can also be downloaded, in GML format, from the Cadastre website.

Georeferenced Coordinates of the Portion of Land Occupied by the Building

Normally, the architect assigned to draft the Certificate of Antiquity will have to identify the portion (or portions) of land occupied by the building subject to inscription in the Property Registry, for which he will need to develop an Alternative Graphical Georeferenced Representation. The content and the computer format for such representation have been established by resolutions of the D.G.R.N. and the General Directorate of Cadastre. The file format must be INSPIRE GML, and the information included should be similar to the one contained in the sample file provided by the Cadastre website, which can be downloaded via the following link: http://www.catastro.minhap.es/documentos/formatos_intercambio/BU%20ejemplo%20explicativo.zip.