The Law on Energy Efficiency (hereinafter: the Law) was for the first time enacted in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina on 2 February 2017. The purpose of the Law is, inter alia, to achieve sustainable energy development, mitigate adverse environmental impacts and, also, increase the security of the energy supply. The Law defines energy efficiency as the relationship between the usage of energy and achieved effect in services, goods or energy. The Law entered into force on 1 April 2017.
MAJOR NOVELTIES
The Law envisaged, inter alia, the establishment of Agency for Energy Efficiency (hereinafter: the Agency), that will be authorised to perform activities that improve conditions and measures for rational use and savings of energy, including increase of the efficiency for energy use in all consumption sectors.
According to the Law, energy audits will be performed only by legal and natural entities licensed by the Federal Ministry for Spatial Planning.
The Law also has an impact on public procurement. Namely, when public procurement is being conducted by contracting authorities financed from the budgets of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, cantons or the municipalities, they are obliged to take into consideration the energy efficiency of the goods and services as an additional selection criteria.
Furthermore, the sellers or the lessors of the buildings or specific building units (i.e. flat or apartment) are under obligation to indicate, in the sale or lease advertisement, the energy characteristics of the building or the building unit. They are also obliged to allow an insight into the energy certificate of the respective real property, prior to transfer of ownership or possession.
Regarding the newly constructed buildings and facilities, the investors will be under obligation to submit energy certificates with the request for the issuance of the use permit in order to obtain the use permit. This obligation was previously stipulated in the Rulebook on Energy Certification, however, it was not observed in practice due to lack of penalty provisions.
THE ENERGY CERTIFICATE
The energy certificate shall be issued by an entity licensed to perform energy audits, on the basis of the respective report, and it shall contain the following data: energy characteristics of the building/unit, reference values and recommendations which are technically feasible for the construction. The certificate shall be valid for a period of 10 years after its issuance.
The register of the issued certificates is kept by the Agency.
PENALTIES AND TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS OF THE LAW
For failure to comply with the Law, misdemeanour monetary fines have been prescribed in a range of BAM 500 to BAM 15,000 depending on the severity of the violation and violator.
Should the provisions of the Law be in conflict with provisions of other laws and bylaws, provisions of the Law will be applied.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
