Spain's energy performance certificate: what the letter on the listing tells you

A Spanish property listing may show a small coloured label with a letter from A to G. Sometimes the words en trámite stand where the letter would be. Both refer to the energy performance certificate (certificado de eficiencia energética), and for a buyer of a resale home it is more than a graphic. Real Decreto 390/2021 sets out who issues it, where it is registered, how long it lasts and which part of it goes into the sale contract.

The rules have just changed. Since 23 July 2026 the decree applies in the version amended by Real Decreto 659/2025, and new official templates for the certificate and the label have applied since 30 September 2026.

What is the energy certificate, and which law governs it?

A document signed by a competent technician (técnico competente). It records the energy characteristics of a building or flat, its energy rating and recommendations for technically feasible improvements (Art. 2 and Art. 8). The legal basis is Real Decreto 390/2021 of 1 June 2021, published as BOE-A-2021-9176, which sets the technical and administrative conditions for energy certificates in Spain. The articles cited here refer to its consolidated text in the BOE, last amended by Real Decreto 659/2025, in force since 23 July 2026.

A single dwelling or apartment counts as a "part of a building" (Art. 2). For flats, the certificate may rest on one certificate for the whole building, or on one or more representative flats in the same building with the same energy characteristics (Art. 6). The rating on your flat may therefore describe the block as a whole.

The technician has to visit the property at least once, no more than 3 months before the certificate is issued (Art. 6.5), and the date of that visit, a description of the checks carried out and the cadastral reference (referencia catastral) of the building or flat all appear on the certificate itself (Art. 8).

Since 23 July 2026, technicians must also file a responsible declaration (declaración responsable) with the region before they start certifying (Art. 4 ter).

Certificate or label?

The label (etiqueta de eficiencia energética) is something else. The decree defines it as the public mark showing that a registered certificate exists, together with the rating achieved (Art. 2). A label in an advert points to a certificate. It does not replace it, because the recommendations, the site visit and the cadastral reference are in the certificate alone.

Certificate

• Signed by a competent technicianArt. 2
• Rating, energy characteristics, recommendations for improvementArt. 8
• Cadastral reference, date of the site visit, checks carried outArt. 8

Label

• Public mark that a registered certificate existsArt. 2
• Shows the rating achievedArt. 2
• Belongs in every offer and advert, only while the certificate is validArt. 15

What do the two letters measure?

Homes are rated on a scale of 7 letters, from A for the most efficient to G for the least efficient. The scale is laid down in the Documento reconocido on energy rating, an officially recognised document of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition (MITECO), applicable since 30 September 2026. Each home gets one letter for each of the two main indicators. The first is annual CO2e emissions, the second annual consumption of non-renewable primary energy. Both are expressed per square metre of useful floor area per year, in kg CO2e and in kWh.

So a label carries two letters. They can differ.

What the letters estimate is fixed in law. In the decree's definition, energy efficiency is the energy, calculated or measured, that is needed to meet the building's demand under standardised conditions of operation and occupancy (Art. 2). That includes heating, cooling, ventilation, hot water and lighting. The calculation uses climate data and use profiles from the basic document on energy saving, DB HE, of the Spanish technical building code (Código Técnico de la Edificación).

Where the rating stops

The letter is an estimate under standard conditions. How much energy the previous owners actually used is a different question, and the certificate does not answer it.

Nor does it vouch for anything else. The decree says expressly that the certificate does not confirm that the building meets any other requirement (Art. 6). Planning permission, extensions and the state of the wiring lie outside it. Those questions belong to other checks, which our checklist for buying property in Spain goes through.

The class boundaries depend on the climate zone and are set as an index. There is no single figure that makes a home a D everywhere in Spain, so comparing two letters makes most sense for homes in the same area.

When must the seller have a certificate, and what must the advert show?

The duty covers existing buildings or parts of buildings that are sold, or let to a new tenant (Art. 3). It falls on the owner, who commissions the certificate and keeps the documents, although a certificate that is still in force does not have to be obtained again just because the home is now for sale (Art. 6).

The advert comes first. Whoever publishes a sale or rental offer, or allows it to be published, must include the energy rating, whether through an estate agency, a billboard, a website, a property portal, a catalogue or the press (Art. 17). The label belongs in every offer, promotion and advert for a sale or let, and it may be used only while the registered certificate is valid (Art. 15). Labels, marks or symbols that do not meet the decree's requirements and could mislead are prohibited.

Then the contract. When an existing building, or part of one, is sold, a copy of the duly registered certificate and the label is attached to the sale contract (Art. 17). For a new build sold before completion, the seller first provides the project label (etiqueta de proyecto) and, once the work is finished, the certificate of the finished building. Displaying the label on the building itself is voluntary for private homes (Art. 16).

Breaches can be penalised under Art. 21, which refers to the twelfth additional provision of the Land and Urban Rehabilitation Act, Real Decreto Legislativo 7/2015, and to the consumer protection act, Real Decreto Legislativo 1/2007.

What does en trámite on a listing mean?

Literally, "in progress". It is not a rating, since the scale runs from A to G. By the decree's definition a label exists only once a certificate has been registered, and Art. 17 asks adverts for the rating itself. Whether a listing marked en trámite meets that duty is for the competent regional authority to judge.

For you, the useful question is whether a certificate has been issued yet and when it will be registered, because the copy attached to your contract has to be a registered one.

Which properties are exempt?

Art. 3.2 leaves out a few cases:

• officially protected buildings, where improvement work would alter their character or appearance unacceptably
• temporary structures with a planned period of use of 2 years or less
• detached buildings with less than 50 m² of total useful floor area
• buildings bought for demolition or for a renovation as defined in Art. 3.1 d)

For the last group, the owner files a responsible declaration with the competent body of the region. A lived-in flat that is being resold fits none of these groups. A small detached cottage under 50 m² does.

How long is a certificate valid, and when does it count?

At most 10 years. With a G rating, at most 5 years (Art. 13.1).

The clock is only half of it. A certificate has legal validity once it is duly registered with the competent body of the autonomous community (comunidad autónoma) where the building stands (Art. 6.6). A signed PDF on its own is not enough. The region sets the deadline for filing; where it sets none, the fallback is 1 month from the date of issue. Renewal or updating is the owner's responsibility, on conditions each region sets for itself (Art. 13.2).

1. 1Site visitat most 3 months before issueThe technician visits the property at least once (Art. 6.5)
2. 2Issuedate on the certificateSignature, rating from A to G, recommendations (Art. 8)
3. 3Registrationregional deadline, otherwise 1 monthLegally valid only once registered (Art. 6.6)
4. 4Adverts and offerswhile the certificate is validGive the rating, show the label (Art. 15 and 17)
5. 5Sale contractat signingCopy of the registered certificate and the label attached (Art. 17)
6. 6Expiryafter 10 years at most, 5 with a GRenewal is up to the owner (Art. 13)

Two details on the certificate decide whether it still holds on the day you sign: its date of issue and its letter. The periods above come from the consolidated text of RD 390/2021 in the version in force since 23 July 2026. For a specific home, the certificate entered in the register of the region, with its own issue date, and that region's information are authoritative.

Where is the certificate registered, and can you look it up?

With the region.

Each autonomous community keeps the register for buildings on its territory, and the decree gives that register two jobs: technical and administrative control, and access to information on certificates for citizens (Art. 6.6). The region also checks certificates by sampling, through an independent control system. MITECO publishes a list of the competent body in each region.

In the Balearic Islands the register is kept by the Directorate-General for Circular Economy, Energy Transition and Climate Change (Dirección General de Economía Circular, Transición Energética y Cambio Climático). It offers a public search of registered certificates, by cadastral reference. Letters in the reference must be entered in capitals.

Our guide to the Spanish cadastral reference shows how the reference is built. A Claronda property check gives you the reference the cadastre holds for the plot, along with other official data on the property.

New templates since 30 September 2026

New official templates for the certificate and the label apply from 30 September 2026, according to an information note (nota informativa) from MITECO. There are now 3 types of label: one for the project, one for the finished building and, for the first time, one for existing buildings. Listings for older homes can therefore show two different label designs, depending on when the certificate was issued.

In the Balearic Islands, the regional government states that certificates issued and registered before 30 September keep their validity under the rules that applied when they were issued.

What should you ask before you buy?

Ask the seller, before you sign anything, for:

1. A copy of the registered certificate together with the label, and not only the advert.
2. The date of issue and both letters. Check them against Art. 13.1: no more than 10 years old, or 5 years with a G.
3. The cadastral reference on the certificate, compared with the one in the nota simple and in the draft contract.
4. Whether the rating covers the flat itself or rests on the whole building or a representative flat (Art. 6).
5. If the listing says en trámite: when the certificate will be issued and when it will be registered.

Then check the regional register yourself, in the Balearic Islands through the public search. Read the recommendations section as well. It lists the improvements the technician considered technically feasible for that home.

Buying at a court auction follows a different route. Art. 17 ties the attachment to a sale contract, and the decree does not say expressly whether that duty applies to a court-ordered sale. The public register search still works for anyone who knows the cadastral reference. Current court auctions are listed on our auctions page.

In short

Spain's energy certificate is governed by Real Decreto 390/2021, as amended by RD 659/2025 with effect from 23 July 2026. Homes get two letters from A to G, for CO2e emissions and non-renewable primary energy, estimated under standard conditions. A certificate counts only once the region has registered it, lasts up to 10 years, or 5 with a G, and a registered copy with the label is attached to the sale contract. For a specific home, the entry in the regional register is authoritative.