Instruments that have been put in place

Since 1 January 2008, the mandatory form of energy performance certification for buildings in the Netherlands has been the "energy label" (Energielabel). When selling or leasing a building, building owners are obliged to provide the purchaser or tenant with an energy label. As stated in “Green certification”, it is prohibited to use certain office buildings without, at a minimum, energy label C. An energy label is valid for 10 years after issuance. Therefore, the certificate cannot be older than 10 years from the date that both parties signed the purchase or lease agreement. Since 2009, the label establishing a building's energy performance has needed to be displayed in a visible place for public view in the following types of buildings: (i) public buildings with a floor area of more than 250 square meters; (ii) public government buildings with a floor area of at least 250 square meters; and (iii) all other types of public buildings (e.g., schools, hospitals, stores, supermarkets, restaurants, hotels) with a floor area of at least 250 square meters.

Since 1 January 2015, a "final energy label" has been mandatory upon the sale, lease or delivery of residential units. The label displays a dwelling's energy performance and lays down which energy-saving measures can be taken for that particular dwelling. The label categories range from A to G (A being the highest level, with few energy-saving measures possible, and G being the lowest level, requiring several energy-saving measures). The validity term of the label remains at 10 years. In addition, at the beginning of 2015, all owners of residential properties in the Netherlands that previously failed to request energy labels received "temporary" energy labels for their dwellings. The authorities sent out these temporary energy labels during the first months of 2015 to about 5 million owners of residential properties. These temporary energy labels permit market players to explain to owners of residential properties how they can make their dwellings more energy efficient. These temporary energy labels do not have a formal status and merely amount to data indications with regard to the dwelling (i.e., information from the Land Register). Since 1 January 2015, owners of residential properties have been obliged to request final energy labels from the authorities upon the sale or lease of existing dwellings. As such, also beginning 1 January 2015, the authorities have been enforcing this obligation by controlling the issuance of an energy label upon the sale, new lease or delivery of a building. Failure to comply with this obligation will lead to penalties of up to EUR 900 for individuals, and penalties of up to EUR 20,250 and a ban on using the building in question for companies.