Penalties for a sale advert with no energy rating, or the wrong one
Publishing a letter that no registered, in-force certificate backs is a very serious infringement. Showing the label without its required minimum format and content is a minor one. And the publisher answers for it, even where it was only an oversight.
The three pieces of the regime
The penalties are not in the certification decree but in DA 12ª of RDLeg 7/2015, and they split like this.
- Very serious (3.d): advertising a rating that no registered, in-force certificate backs.
- Minor (5.f): showing the label without the required minimum format and content.
- Liability (6): obliged parties answer "aún a título de simple inobservancia" - for simple failure to observe.
Why an invented letter is worse than no letter
Because an advert with no rating is an omission, and an advert with a rating nothing backs is an assertion. The rule reserves its most serious category for the second. That is counter-intuitive for a lot of people in the trade, who fill the letter in "so the advert looks complete" and worsen their position by doing it.
The case that comes up most
"Certificate pending", with a class beside it. The certificate has been commissioned, the technician has given an estimate, and somebody publishes it while the paperwork arrives. There is no bad faith in it and it makes no difference: until it is registered, there is no letter to publish.
The same goes for an expired certificate. The property has not changed, but the letter in the advert is no longer backed by anything in force.
How much
We do not publish amounts here. We have not read the DA 12ª bands in the gazette article by article, and this page exists precisely so as not to repeat unchecked figures. What is checked is the grading of the infringement, which is what determines the band.
Be wary of any page that gives you a round number without saying which article it comes from. Figures circulate in this sector that belong to a different rule, a different region, or a bill that was never passed.
Whose file it lands in
The publisher's. Art. 17.3 of RD 390/2021 names estate agencies and property portals, and DA 12ª.6 removes the argument about intent. The owner has their own duties; the advert is yours.
How it is actually avoided
By checking the book against the register before anyone else does: which properties have no certificate, which have an expired one, and which are advertising a letter different from the one on record. That third group is the one nobody looks at, and the one that lands in the very serious band.
Check a licence number
Free, no sign-up, nothing stored. Try VUT/MA/102186.
Sources
- Real Decreto Legislativo 7/2015, Ley de Suelo y Rehabilitación Urbana, DA 12ª — 3.d very serious, 5.f minor, 6 liability for simple failure to observe
- Real Decreto 390/2021, art. 17.3 and art. 21 — the duty to publish the rating, and the reference to the penalty regime
Verified against the sources above on 2026-09-20. LicenceDesk is operational guidance, not legal advice.
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