Tuesday 11 June 2013

Energy Efficiency Certificate IS OBLIGATORY in Andalucía

Page 1 of the official notice,
full text here
ANDALUCÍA There is a very dangerous rumour going around that says that the Certificado de Eficiencia Energética is not obligatory. This may have been started by something called the Citizen's Advice Bureau for Spain, presumably run by someone called Myra Azzopardi Swainson (See what it says here). The fact is, however, that it IS OBLIGATORY to present one when selling or renting out your property. We say this with the authority vested in the Junta de Andalucía, whose official bulletin, the Boletín Oficial de la Junta de Andalucía, says that Decree 2/2013 of January 15 'will come into force on June 1, 2013'. It also says that a Register for these certificates will be available as from that date. The date of June 1 is in just about every news item around that date (RTVE, Spanish Radio & TV; El Mundo, one of the country's leading newspapers; Idealista, a widespread property listing with pertinent articles; Fincadmin.com, the leading property administration company; etc. etc. etc.) The confusion may arise from>>>the fact that only three out of all the autonomous regions of Spain had a register ready by June 1. As we said here on May 31, the three regions were - and may still be - Andalucía, the Balearics (i.e. Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza, etc) and Castilla y León.

It is likely that things may have been 'unofficially' eased for those regions that didn't have a register ready on June 1. But that does NOT apply to the regions that do have a registry, such as Andalucía.

In addition, and because the rumour is rife (PLEASE CIRCULATE THIS ITEM AMONG THOSE PEOPLE YOU MAY HAVE SENT MISINFORMATION TO), we consulted two lawyers specialising in conveyancing: both confirmed that it IS OBLIGATORY in Andalucía. One of these was consulted, in fact, as Prospero was translating for a client who was in the process of completing on a sale.

Misinterpretations and confusion
What is astounding is how information on the Internet can easily get twisted, either by not reading a complete item, or by bad info to start with, or by people who always know better but don't have the necessary language efficiency - and then come to the likes of Translation HELP or CampoPulse for clarity but are reluctant to pay for it.

4 comments:

PROSPERO said...

These are the Spanish equivalent of the UK's Energy Performance Certificates - all mandated by the EU. (See the UK Govt. website: https://www.gov.uk/buy-sell-your-home/energy-performance-certificates)

Unknown said...

What have the laws in the UK got to do with the laws in Spain?

Regards,
Myra Azzopardi.

PROSPERO said...

Hello, Myra! (May I call you that?) Thanks for your comment, but this is not just a UK or a Spanish law - it is an EU directive that must be obeyed (you know, stand at attention and all that). It is in fact the same regulation that is current in the UK under a different name, is all.

Unknown said...

I think we should all be aware by now, that Spain does not always adhere to the EU directives. Therefore I rarely, if ever, mention the EU laws in relation to Spain.