Energy performance certificate 2026: when landlords and sellers need one – and what a class costs

The short answer

Owners need an energy performance certificate (Energieausweis) as soon as they want to sell, or to re-let a flat, a building or a commercial unit – it must be available at the latest at the viewing and is valid for ten years. If it is missing, or the mandatory details are missing from the advert, the Building Modernisation Act (GModG) provides for fines of up to 10,000 euros.

The GModG, which replaced the GEG on 29 July 2026, changes little about the certificate in substance – the rules now sit in sections 79 to 88 GModG. What has changed is the context: the heating obligations have been reorganised under the 2026 heating law, and buyers, tenants and banks now read the efficiency class as a cost forecast.

When must an energy performance certificate be available?

Section 80 GModG names four triggers. On its wording, an existing tenancy alone does not trigger the obligation; what counts is the planned sale or a new letting.

Trigger	Obligation	Provision
New building	demand-based certificate without delay after completion	s. 80(1)
major change for which the whole building is recalculated	new demand-based certificate	s. 80(2)
Sale, heritable building right, letting, leasing	issue a certificate if no valid one exists	s. 80(3)
Public-authority use with public footfall above 250 m²	issue and display the certificate	s. 80(6)
Other heavy public footfall above 500 m² (e.g. retail, hotel)	display once a certificate exists	s. 80(7)

Small buildings with up to 50 square metres of usable floor space are exempt (s. 79(4), s. 3 GModG). For listed buildings, the presentation and display obligations in subsections 3 to 7 do not apply.

The certificate must be shown to the prospective buyer or tenant at the latest at the viewing; a clearly visible notice is enough. If there is no viewing, it must be presented without delay, at the latest on request. Once the purchase or tenancy agreement is signed, the original or a copy must be handed over (s. 80(4) and (5)). The obligation also applies to the estate agent.

Consumption-based or demand-based certificate?

The consumption-based certificate evaluates actual bills: at least 36 consecutive months, with the most recent billing period ending no more than 18 months ago, weather-adjusted and with appropriate allowance for longer vacancies (s. 82(3) and (4)). The demand-based certificate calculates energy demand from the building envelope and the heating system, independent of how occupants heat.

The choice is restricted in only one case: residential buildings with fewer than five flats and a building application filed before 1 November 1977 need a demand-based certificate unless they reach at least the level of the 1977 Thermal Insulation Ordinance (s. 80(3)). For an apartment building with five or more flats, owners always have the choice.

In practice: the consumption-based certificate is quicker to produce but depends on occupant behaviour over the last three years. The demand-based certificate takes more effort but is better suited to comparing refurbishment options. After a refurbishment it reflects the new condition immediately, the consumption-based certificate only after three heating seasons.

What must a property advert contain?

If a certificate exists when an advert is placed in commercial media, section 87 GModG requires five details:

1. Type of certificate (demand or consumption),
2. Final energy demand or consumption in kWh per square metre per year,
3. main energy source for heating,
4. Year of construction (residential buildings),
5. Energy efficiency class (residential buildings).

For non-residential buildings, heat and electricity values must be stated separately. Special rules apply to older certificates issued between 1 October 2007 and 30 April 2014 (s. 112(3)). Missing mandatory details are an offence in their own right.

Worked example: which class does an apartment building have?

Assumptions: apartment building with ten flats, 750 square metres of living space, central gas heating including hot water. Weather-adjusted average consumption over the last 36 months is 135,000 kWh.

Step	Value	Basis
Usable floor space (unknown, flat rate 1.2 × living space)	900 m²	s. 82(2)
Final energy consumption per m²	135,000 ÷ 900 = 150 kWh/(m²·a)	s. 82(2)
Energy efficiency class	E (above 130 up to 160)	Annex 10
Gas costs at 10.92 ct/kWh	around €14,740 per year	Destatis, H1 2026
Consumption at the class D boundary (130 × 900)	117,000 kWh	Annex 10
Saving down to class D	18,000 kWh ≈ €1,966 per year	own calculation

The price of 10.92 cents is the Destatis average for private households consuming more than 200 gigajoules a year in the first half of 2026; individual contracts may differ. The class boundaries in Annex 10 run from A+ (up to 30 kWh) to H (above 250 kWh). In the example, one class difference equals almost 2,000 euros of heating costs a year – exactly the difference prospective buyers and tenants work out at the viewing. In uninsulated existing buildings, the landlord’s share of CO₂ costs also rises, although it depends on CO₂ emissions per square metre, not on the certificate class.

Who may issue certificates, and what are the penalties?

Only persons listed in section 88 GModG may issue certificates, for example architects and civil engineers with a focus on, or professional experience in, energy-efficient construction, master craftspeople in building and building-services trades, and state-certified technicians with the relevant qualification. A certificate issued by an unauthorised person is itself an offence.

Fines of up to 10,000 euros apply under section 108(2) no. 2, among other things, if the certificate is not shown or shown incompletely at the viewing, not handed over after the contract is signed, or if the advert is published without the mandatory details. The federal states’ authorities are responsible for enforcement. When buying a one- or two-family house, the buyer must also attend an informational consultation with a certificate issuer if it is offered free of charge (s. 80(4) sentence 6).

What owners should do now

1. Check validity: issue date plus ten years – if the certificate expires before a planned sale or new letting, commission a new one in good time.
2. Choose the certificate type deliberately: apartment buildings with five or more flats have a free choice. Anyone planning a refurbishment is better served by a demand-based certificate.
3. Secure consumption data: for a consumption-based certificate, keep 36 months of bills ready; the most recent period may have ended no more than 18 months ago.
4. Adapt the advert template: include the five mandatory details under section 87 in every exposé and advert, including those placed by agents.
5. Translate the class into euros: indicator × usable floor space × current unit price gives the heating costs prospective buyers and tenants calculate themselves – better to know the figure beforehand.
6. Display it where there is public footfall: owners of buildings with more than 500 square metres of usable space with heavy public footfall should check whether a certificate exists and display it visibly.