Energy performance certificate (CPE): when it is mandatory, how long it is valid, who issues it

The energy performance certificate (CPE) appears in three situations that you often encounter: a building is sold or rented, a new building is accepted on completion, an existing building undergoes major renovation. The text below follows Law no. 372/2005 on the energy performance of buildings, republished, in the consolidated form of 25 July 2024 (after Law no. 238/2024), and the Mc 001-2022 methodology. It is not legal advice: for a specific case, the text of the acts decides and, if needed, a lawyer.

What a CPE is

The law defines it (art. 3 point 3) as a document prepared according to the methodology for calculating the energy performance of buildings, which indicates the energy performance of a building or building unit and contains the calculated primary and final energy consumption, including from renewable sources, as well as the quantity of CO2 equivalent emissions. For existing buildings, the certificate also contains recommended measures for reducing consumption and for increasing the share of renewable sources.

The Mc 001-2022 methodology (§5.1) states that certification means placing the building in one of the 8 energy classes and that the certificate is completed according to the object assessed: one model for a building or building unit, another for an apartment. The certificate has page 1, Annex 1 (recommendations for reducing consumption) and Annex 2 (technical data). How the classes are read is covered in the guide Energy classes A-G explained.

For which buildings it is mandatory (art. 21 para. 1)

The certificate is prepared for:

• buildings and building units in the categories in art. 7 para. (1) that are constructed, sold, rented or subject to major renovations. The categories are: residential, collective or individual, offices, education, health, hotels and restaurants, sport, commerce and other building functions with human occupancy;
• buildings owned or administered by public authorities or by institutions providing public services;
• buildings in which a total useful area of over 250 sq m is occupied by a public authority and is frequently visited by the public.

"Major renovation" means, according to art. 3 point 9, works on the building envelope or on its technical systems whose costs exceed 25% of the taxable value of the building, excluding the value of the land.

For which buildings it is not mandatory

Art. 8 para. (1) lists categories for which the minimum requirements are not mandatory: protected buildings and monuments, places of worship, temporary buildings used for up to 2 years, buildings used for less than 4 months a year and stand-alone buildings with a useful area under 50 sq m. For them, art. 21 para. (4) allows the certificate to be prepared at the written and justified request of the beneficiary, in which case an energy audit report is also required. For buildings with industrial and agricultural use, outdoor garages and spaces open on one or more sides (art. 8 para. 2) neither a certificate nor an energy audit report is prepared. The methodology adds that for existing buildings declared "ruin" in the land register, certification is not mandatory.

Who issues it and how long it is valid (art. 21 para. 2)

The certificate is prepared and issued by the energy auditor for buildings, at the request of the investor, owner or administrator, and is valid for 10 years from the date of issue entered in the certificate. The law makes one exception to the 10 years: the situation in which, for a building that has a valid certificate, major renovation works are carried out that change its energy consumption. The auditor is a natural person attested by the competent ministry (art. 3 point 23 and art. 30 para. 1).

The unique registration code

• Certificates issued without a unique registration code issued by the Ministry of Development, Public Works and Administration are null and void by law (art. 21 para. 8).
• The auditor enters the certificates, with the unique code, in his or her own register (art. 31 para. 1) and sends them to the ministry, in editable electronic format, within at most 30 days of preparation (art. 31 para. 2).
• Preliminary certificates, made before acceptance as a simulation for designers or builders, are provisional and are not uploaded with a unique number to the ministry's database (art. 21 para. 4^1).

Sale and letting (art. 22 and 24)

• Before the contract is concluded, the owner must make a copy of the certificate available to the prospective buyer or tenant (art. 22 para. 1).
• On a sale, the owner hands over the original certificate to the new owner (para. 2); when registering the sale-purchase or lease contract, the owner submits a copy to the competent tax authority (para. 3).
• Sale-purchase contracts concluded without complying with para. (1) are subject to relative nullity, according to the Civil Code (para. 4).
• Advertisements for sale or letting must state information from the certificate on the performance indicators in art. 6: the specific total primary energy consumption, the energy class, the CO2 equivalent emissions index or class and the specific total energy consumption from renewable sources (art. 24).

New buildings and acceptance (art. 23)

For buildings under construction, the certificate is prepared at the investor's care, is presented in the original to the acceptance commission at the completion of the works, is attached in copy to the acceptance record and forms part of the technical file of the construction. An acceptance record not accompanied by a copy of the certificate is null and void by law (para. 2). If a building is sold before acceptance, the seller provides the buyer with information on energy performance in the form of a certificate without a unique code, not registered in the national database, with the rule above to apply at acceptance (para. 3).

Public buildings (art. 25)

For buildings owned or administered by public authorities or in which institutions providing public services operate, the valid certificate is displayed in a place accessible and visible to the public. The threshold used to be 500 sq m; starting from 9 July 2015, it applies to buildings with a total useful area of over 250 sq m (art. 25 para. 1-2).

Check at the source

The law is amended periodically, and the text above is the one read on the legislative portal on 6 October 2026. Before relying on a date, a threshold or a penalty, open the act. The calculation rules are explained in the guide How a CPE is calculated under Mc 001-2022, and the methodological basis in Mc 001-2022: what the methodology contains.

For an energy audit that goes coherently through all the steps, from the building data to the certificate, Annex 1, Annex 2 and the calculation summary under Mc 001-2022, you can see the complete workflow in the Zephren calculation program.