On 19 July 2012 the Senate (the Upper House of the Czech Parliament) passed an amendment to the Energy Management Act (No. 406/2000 Coll.). Now the bill heads for the President's signature. If the President signs it (or refuses to sign, but the Parliament overrides his veto), the bill becomes law with most of its provisions effective from 1 January 2013. The new law would govern the obligations connected with the so called "energy performance certificates" of buildings, as it implements EU directive No. 2010/31/EU into Czech law.

General regulation of the certificates, which is already in place, shall remain unchanged. The certificate informs about the energy performance of a building or its part, while the performance is calculated using a standardised method and has to be executed by energy experts (newly to be called "specialists") listed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The certificate is executed for a building as a whole, applies to each of its parts (units) and is a mandatory part of the technical documentation of a building. The certificate also forms part of an application for a building permit or a structure report. The certificate remains valid for 10 years after its execution, unless it expires in connection with major structural modifications of a building.

The amendment expands the variety of situations when a responsible subject has to ensure the execution of the certificate. So far developers, owners and condominiums of owners have to ensure the execution of the certificate only in cases of construction of a new building and major structural modifications of existing buildings with a floor area larger than 1000 square meters if the modifications affected its energy performance.

Construction and major structural modifications of buildings

From 2013 developers, owners and condominiums of owners will be required to ensure the execution of the certificate in connection with the construction of a new building or major structural modifications of existing ones no matter how large their floor area is.

Selling and renting of buildings

From 2013 owners and condominiums of owners will also have to ensure the execution of the certificate in cases of selling or leasing a building or an integral part of the building. This obligation shall also apply to existing buildings with no certificate executed during their construction or major structural modification. Furthermore, the certificate or its certified copy has to be shown to a potential buyer or tenant before entering into an agreement and once the agreement is concluded the contracting party has to obtain the certificate. Finally, a seller or landlord also has to ensure that data stated in the certificate is presented in promotional materials. The idea is that the certificate provides information important to a decision on buying or renting a building or its part as it provides comparable details about its operating costs.

Special rules for existing administrative and residential apartment buildings

Special rules shall apply for existing administrative and residential apartment buildings that are being used. From 2015 onwards developers, owners or condominiums of owners will have an obligation to ensure the execution of the certificate for these buildings no matter if they are being leased, sold or modified.

Sanctions for non-compliance with the regulation

A breach of the obligations stated above shall constitute an administrative offence, for which individuals can be fined up to CZK 100,000 (approx. EUR 4,000) and other legal entities may be fined up to CZK 200,000 (approx. EUR 8,000).

This article was written for Law-Now, CMS Cameron McKenna's free online information service. To register for Law-Now, please go to www.law-now.com/law-now/mondaq

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The original publication date for this article was 20/07/2012.