Which properties are exempt from an energy certificate?
Art. 3.2 of RD 390/2021 lists five cases, and every one of them is conditional. None exempts an ordinary flat for being small, for being let a few months a year, or for being old - those three are the exemptions people cite and they do not exist.
The five cases, and what each one demands
Every letter carries a condition attached. The exemption is not for a type of building: it is for the building that also meets the condition.
- Protected (3.2.a): the protecting authority must have determined that efficiency work would unacceptably alter the building's character or appearance.
- Temporary (3.2.b): a planned use of two years or less.
- Industrial, defence or agricultural (3.2.c): non-residential, and of low energy demand.
- Under 50 m² (3.2.d): it must be a FREE-STANDING building.
- Bought for demolition or major works (3.2.e): for demolition or for works under art. 3.1.d, declared to the region by responsible declaration.
The 50 m² one, which is the most often misapplied
It says free-standing building. A 38 m² studio in a block of twelve is not a free-standing building; it is part of one. However small, it does not qualify.
What can qualify is a detached outbuilding, an independent annexe, or a separate structure under 50 m². If what you are selling has neighbours above, below or beside it, it needs a certificate.
The "under four months a year" one is gone
It existed, which is why it is still quoted. Art. 2.2 of RD 235/2013 excluded dwellings used for less than four months a year, on a responsible declaration by the owner:
Edificios o partes de edificios existentes de viviendas, cuyo uso sea inferior a cuatro meses al año, o bien durante un tiempo limitado al año y con un consumo previsto de energía inferior al 25 por ciento de lo que resultaría de su utilización durante todo el año, siempre que así conste mediante declaración responsable del propietario de la vivienda. RD 235/2013, art. 2.2 - repealed
Which decree killed it, also usually told backwards
RD 390/2021 repealed RD 235/2013 outright and did not carry that exemption forward: the art. 3.2 list does not contain it. So it was the 2021 decree that removed it, not the 2013 one that contained it. A small thing, but it separates people who have read the rule from people who have read a summary.
Age is not an exemption either
There is no exemption by year of construction. A 1970 flat offered for sale needs a certificate exactly as a 2020 one does. What age changes is the letter that comes out, not the obligation.
If you think a property is exempt
Record it with the specific case and the condition holding it up, not as "exempt" on its own. The condition is yours to hold, and the moment it stops being met the exemption falls away. That is why, when one of your records claims an exemption, we show it with its condition beside it rather than taking it as settled.
Check a licence number
Free, no sign-up, nothing stored. Try VUT/MA/102186.
Sources
- Real Decreto 390/2021, energy performance certification of buildings (consolidated) — art. 3.2, the five exclusions, and the repealing provision
- Real Decreto 235/2013 (repealed), art. 2.2 — the under-four-months exemption, no longer in force
Verified against the sources above on 2026-09-20. LicenceDesk is operational guidance, not legal advice.
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