Consumption certificate costs: why the bills set the price

If you are selling or newly letting a residential building, the consumption certificate is the cheaper of the two energy performance certificates. Its price, however, is decided not by the building but by your ring binder: it depends almost entirely on how complete your consumption bills are.

This article answers five questions: what the consumption certificate costs in 2026, why quotes differ so widely, which documents you need, when you may not use it — and whether the cheaper document pays off.

#What does a consumption certificate cost in 2026?

The consumption certificate (Verbrauchsausweis) is the energy performance certificate (Energieausweis) that is based on the measured consumption of past years; the Act calls it the energy consumption certificate (Energieverbrauchsausweis) and regulates it in § 82 of the Building Modernisation Act (Gebäudemodernisierungsgesetz, GModG).2 With us it costs 69.90 € for a residential building. Express processing (39.99 €) and postal delivery (9.99 €) are additional services, not components of the certificate.

On the market prices vary more widely. The ADAC quotes approx. 50 to 120 euros for a detached house and approx. 100 to 400 euros for an apartment building (as of 29 July 2026);14 the consumer advice centre (Verbraucherzentrale) speaks of “just under 100 euros” (as of 9 October 2025).13 Both are market observations — there is no official price statistic. The comparison with the other certificate types is in the overview what an energy performance certificate costs.

#Why do quotes differ so widely?

Because a consumption certificate is not a fixed service but a chain of legally prescribed work steps. Each one takes time — and each one can be left out without it being visible in the finished PDF.

The climate factor is not an estimate: the German Meteorological Service provides it for every delivery postcode. A certificate that skips it shows too high a figure after a cold winter — and that figure then appears in your advertisement.

#Which documents do you need — and what happens if there is a gap?

This is the real cost driver. § 82 (4) GModG permits three data sources: heating cost statements for the whole building, other suitable consumption data such as bills from the energy supplier, or a combination. On top of that come two time limits that must both be met.2

In practice this means: have the heating cost statements for the last three periods ready, or with your own heating system the gas, oil or district heating bills. For oil the delivery invoice is not enough — bought is not consumed. What is needed is the tank level at the beginning and at the end of the period.

If a gap remains, there are two outcomes. The harmless one is the follow-up question: you request the missing year, and processing is delayed. The expensive one is switching the certificate type. The federal GModG portal makes clear that a consumption certificate is not permitted if the last bills are too old or the vacancy factors exceed their maximum values.10 What the demand certificate costs is set out in what a demand certificate costs.

#When you may not use a consumption certificate at all

Two cases exclude it regardless of your documents. For a new building a demand certificate (Bedarfsausweis) must be issued (§ 80 (1) GModG) — there is no consumption to evaluate there yet. And for small old buildings § 80 (3) sentence 2 GModG requires a demand certificate: residential buildings with fewer than five flats, building application before 1 November 1977.1 This does not apply if the building meets the requirement level of the Thermal Insulation Ordinance (Wärmeschutzverordnung) of 1977 or has reached it later.

Which certificate type gives the better information depends on your plans, not on the price: the comparison consumption or demand certificate sets out the criteria side by side.

#Is the cheaper certificate worth it?

Yes — as long as it is correct. It is legally fully valid and the right choice for the vast majority of existing buildings. The risk lies not in the certificate type but in the data.

Responsibility is shared, and to your disadvantage: you are liable for the data you provide (§ 83 (3) sentence 1 GModG).3 Anyone who does not ensure that it is correct commits an administrative offence; § 108 GModG provides for up to 10,000 euros for this.7 Added to this is what is not in the Act: corrections, a replacement certificate — and, in a sale, a buyer who relies on an incorrect figure. Measured against that, the price difference between two quotes is the wrong lever.

#Conclusion: the price is in your ring binder

A consumption certificate for a detached house costs around 50 to 120 euros on the market, and this range describes the available data, not the building. If three consecutive billing years are available and the most recent bill is less than 18 months old, it is the quickest route to an energy performance certificate. If a year is missing, it does not become more expensive — it becomes impermissible. So check the documents before comparing prices, not afterwards.