Spanish consumer organisation OCU denounces tampering in the completion of energy labels for homes. To promote house sales, it does not always carefully check whether the energy label issued is correct. OCU wants to prevent the label from becoming a box of tricks and creating a price war.
The most common shortcomings are the incorrect identification of the home’s heating and cooling production systems and the lack of specific advice on how to reduce energy consumption.
Moreover, the organisation stated that up to 11% of professionals consulted by phone agreed to certification without going to the home. This fraud, closely linked to the sale and purchase of homes, goes on and on. As Spanish newspaper EL PERIÓDICO explains, the price war has embedded itself in the practice of issuing energy efficiency certificates.
Professionals and OCU join forces to fight ‘box of tricks’
Serious professionals denounce these forgeries and this deception. They demand that the document gains relevance as a tool for evaluating and improving housing stock. Now, the OCU is also joining this demand.
The OCU has demanded that the Ministry of Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge and the relevant councils exercise more control over the professionals who produce such certificates and that these documents contain clear improvement suggestions. Otherwise, the production of energy labels will turn into a ‘box of tricks’ with no practical use for the homeowner, who pays prices that can exceed €200.
Price differences
The OCU also found large price differences in a parallel study on energy certification conducted in 25 cities. This was within the same locality, but also between cities. The average price is less than €90 in Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Seville, but in Bilbao, Burgos and Avila the cost exceeds €150.