Energy performance certificate validity: 10 years — and when you really have to renew it

There is an energy performance certificate (Energieausweis) in your folder of documents, and on it is a date that is getting closer. This article is for owners of a residential building who want to know what that date means. The answer up front: less than most people assume.

Two misunderstandings persist stubbornly: that an expired certificate obliges you to have it renewed, and that any renovation invalidates it early. This article clears up both.

#How long is an energy performance certificate valid — and from which day?

An energy performance certificate is issued for a period of validity of ten years, counted from the day of issue. That is set out in § 79 (3) sentence 1 of the Building Modernisation Act (Gebäudemodernisierungsgesetz, GModG),1 and the period applies to consumption certificates (Verbrauchsausweis) and demand certificates (Bedarfsausweis) alike, regardless of the version of the Act.

You do not have to calculate anything: § 85 (1) GModG requires both dates in the document — date of issue and expiry date.5 What counts is the date of issue, not the day you placed your order.

Where these details appear on the form is shown in the article on the layout of the energy performance certificate template. Ten years is also the European upper limit: Article 19 (13) of the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive does not permit a longer period of validity.12 Whether you need one at all is decided by the occasion — which occasions these are is set out under energy performance certificate duty.

#Energy performance certificate expired — do I have to renew it?

No. The Building Modernisation Act does not require you to hold a valid energy performance certificate at all times. § 80 (3) GModG formulates the duty as a condition: a certificate must be issued “if a valid energy performance certificate does not already exist for the building”.2

Renew yes, extend no. The Act knows neither extension nor updating: the expired certificate is not carried forward but issued anew — its own data collection, its own registration number, ten years again.1 Anyone who does not present it in time or does not hand it over commits a regulatory offence; the range of fines is covered in Energy performance certificate and fines.

An existing tenancy triggers nothing: § 80 (3) sentence 1 GModG links the duty to the fact that a property is to be let, leased or leased under a leasing arrangement, and the certificate is presented to the prospective tenant at the viewing at the latest (§ 80 (5) in conjunction with (4)).2 Without a change of tenant neither applies; from 2027 the extension of the contract becomes an occasion in its own right. What is often overlooked instead is the certificate that expires during the marketing — presented at the viewing, handed over after the contract is concluded, both with a valid document.

#When does it lose its validity early?

The Act names exactly one reason. § 79 (3) sentence 2 GModG: the certificate “loses its validity if a new energy performance certificate becomes necessary under § 80 (2)”.1 Nothing further is in the Act.

The difference lies in the subordinate clause of § 80 (2).2 Under it, an energy demand certificate must be issued “if, applying § 38 (1) and (2), calculations under § 38 (3) are carried out for the entire building”. Both must come together — the alteration under § 363 alone triggers nothing. § 38 is the alternative route of proof: instead of each building element, the whole building is assessed in an energy balance, and it may exceed the reference building by no more than 40 per cent (§ 38 (1)).4

That is exactly how the federal GModG portal reads it: anyone who complies with the building element requirements does not need a new certificate, and the building services do not trigger one anyway.9 The shorthand “insulated façade equals new certificate” leaves out the second condition.

Two cases are confused with this: when selling a building intended for demolition, the duty to present may be waived — but that does not make the certificate invalid.9 And a change of use only becomes a trigger from 2027, and even then only with a whole-building energy balance: the condition of § 80 (2) applies to both alternatives.

#Is a new certificate worthwhile after a renovation?

Often yes — for practical reasons, not legal ones: the old certificate describes the building before the renovation until a new one is available.

This is most evident in the listing: for a residential building § 87 (1) GModG requires the energy efficiency class stated in the energy performance certificate.6 If it shows the class from before the insulation, the renovation you paid for remains invisible. The consumer advice centre (Verbraucherzentrale) therefore advises keeping the certificate up to date: it is not mandatory, but it is sensible, because up-to-date details improve the chances when letting and selling.11

Which type is the right one is set out in the comparison of the two types; after a renovation there is much to be said for the demand certificate, because a consumption certificate first needs three billing periods.

#Do old certificates remain valid — and what changes in 2027?

Yes. No provision ends a validly issued energy performance certificate because of a change in the law. § 79 (3) GModG remains untouched by the amending Act of 23 July 2026,10 and § 112 (3) in the version applicable from 1 January 2027 specifically regulates which details belong in the listing if the certificate was issued before that day.10 In the version applicable today, the same subsection still concerns certificates from the years 2007 to 2014.8

On 1 January 2027 Article 2 of the amending Act enters into force.10 The period does not change; the rest does.

One change is reported wrongly particularly often: the new A to G scale applies only to non-residential buildings; residential buildings keep A+ to H. Details in Energy efficiency classes A to G for non-residential buildings.

#Conclusion: the expiry date is information, not an instruction

An energy performance certificate is valid for ten years from issue. If nothing is coming up, the expiry has no consequences; you only have to renew it when a sale, new letting or a display is due — and then in good time before the first viewing. It only ends early after a structural alteration with a whole-building energy balance.