Energy performance certificate in Poland: do you need one to sell or rent?

The obligation comes from art. 11 of the Act on the energy performance of buildings. It applies to a sale agreement, the disposal of a cooperative ownership right to a flat and a lease — plus, under the Construction Law, the completion of a new building. The age of the building does not matter.

• Selling (sprzedaż)

  Required

  The seller must hand the certificate to the buyer no later than at the signing of the notarial deed (akt notarialny), and the notary records the handover in the deed. This applies to flats, houses, commercial units and other buildings, on the primary and secondary market, including the cooperative ownership right to a flat (spółdzielcze własnościowe prawo do lokalu). The buyer cannot waive the right to receive it. When you buy a new flat, the developer hands the certificate over.

  Details in Polish

• Renting out (najem)

  Required

  The landlord must give the tenant a copy of the certificate no later than at the signing of the lease. There is no exception for the length of the contract: it covers long-term and short-term lets (including holiday lets and rooms rented by the night), occasional lease (najem okazjonalny), institutional lease and commercial premises. One valid certificate can be used for consecutive tenants; each rented unit needs its own certificate.

  Details in Polish

• Gift (darowizna)

  Not required

  Not required by law. The statutory obligation (art. 11 of the Act) covers only a sale agreement, the disposal of a cooperative ownership right to a flat and a lease. The same applies to a life-annuity contract (umowa dożywocia). Some notary offices still ask for a certificate as a precaution, so check their list of documents in advance. The recipient will need a certificate once they sell or rent the property.

  Details in Polish

• Inheritance (spadek)

  Not required

  Not needed for the court confirmation of inheritance (stwierdzenie nabycia spadku), the notarial certificate of succession (akt poświadczenia dziedziczenia) or the division of the estate (dział spadku). It becomes mandatory when you sell or rent out the inherited property. A certificate belongs to the building or unit, not to the owner, so a valid one prepared earlier can still be used.

  Details in Polish

• New building (zakończenie budowy)

  Required

  Since 28 April 2023 a copy of the certificate must be attached to the notification of completion of construction (zawiadomienie o zakończeniu budowy) or the application for an occupancy permit (wniosek o pozwolenie na użytkowanie) — art. 57 ust. 1 pkt 6a of the Construction Law (Prawo budowlane), even if you build the house for yourself. Exceptions include houses up to 70 m² built on the basis of a notification (art. 57 ust. 1bb) and the buildings exempted by art. 3 ust. 4 of the Act.

  Details in Polish

Buildings that do not need a certificate

The Act exempts, among others:

• buildings protected under the regulations on the protection of monuments — an entry in the municipal register of monuments (gminna ewidencja zabytków) is not the same thing, and a typical flat in a historic tenement usually does need a certificate,
• buildings used as places of worship and for religious activity,
• industrial and utility buildings (budynki gospodarcze) with no energy-consuming installations other than built-in lighting,
• residential buildings intended to be used for no more than 4 months a year, e.g. summer houses,
• detached buildings with a usable floor area below 50 m²,
• farm buildings (gospodarstwa rolne) with EP no higher than 50 kWh/(m²·year).

Not sure about your case? Our free checker Czy potrzebuję świadectwa? (in Polish) answers in a few questions.

The certificate, the notary and the order form use Polish terms. EP, EK and EU are all given in kWh per square metre per year [kWh/(m²·year)] and are calculated one from another: useful energy → final energy → primary energy.

Energy performance certificateświadectwo charakterystyki energetycznej

The official name of the document that states how much energy a building or unit needs for heating, ventilation and hot water (in some buildings also cooling and lighting). “Certyfikat energetyczny” and “paszport energetyczny” are colloquial names for the same document.

EPnieodnawialna energia pierwotna

Annual non-renewable primary energy demand in kWh/(m²·year). It equals final energy EK multiplied by the primary-energy factor wi of the energy carrier — e.g. 1.1 for gas and coal, 2.5 for grid electricity, 0.2 for biomass. EP is the main indicator: it is the one stated in sale and rental listings. Lower is better.

EKenergia końcowa

Annual final (delivered) energy demand in kWh/(m²·year): the energy that has to be delivered — bought — to cover EU, after taking the efficiency of the heating system into account (EK = EU / η). It is the value closest to your energy bills.

EUenergia użytkowa

Annual useful energy demand in kWh/(m²·year): the heat the building physically needs to cover losses through walls, roof, windows and ventilation (minus heat gains) and to heat water. It depends on the building’s shape, insulation and ventilation — not on the boiler.

CRChEBCentralny Rejestr Charakterystyki Energetycznej Budynków

The central register of the energy performance of buildings (also abbreviated CRCEB or CHEB). Every valid certificate is generated from it and carries a unique register number on the first page; a document without this number is not a certificate within the meaning of the Act. The register also contains the public list of authorised persons.

MRiTMinisterstwo Rozwoju i Technologii

The Ministry of Development and Technology. It runs the central register at rejestrcheb.mrit.gov.pl, including the list of persons authorised to prepare certificates, and verifies certificates ex officio or on request — a buyer or tenant may also request verification (art. 36 ust. 2 of the Act).

WT 2021warunki techniczne

The technical conditions for buildings (Regulation of the Minister of Infrastructure of 12 April 2002) in the version applicable since 2021. For new buildings they cap EP at 70 kWh/(m²·year) for single-family houses and 65 kWh/(m²·year) for multi-family buildings. Existing older buildings do not have to meet this limit; the certificate shows your EP on a scale against the requirement for new buildings.

Energy class A+–Gklasa energetyczna

Polish certificates currently do not use letter classes — they show EP, EK and EU as numbers against the technical requirements. The EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive 2024/1275 (EPBD) introduces an A–G scale, and the Polish draft regulation provides for classes A+ to G. As of September 2026 the regulation was still in the legislative process, although the transposition deadline passed on 29 May 2026; certificates issued earlier keep their validity.

See what a certificate looks like: sample certificate (PDF, in Polish).

1. 1

   Choose the property type

   Mieszkanie (apartment), Dom (house), Lokal użytkowy (commercial unit), Budynek nieogrzewany (unheated building up to 70 m²) — each has its own order form.

2. 2

   Fill in a short questionnaire and attach a photo

   Details of the property, heating and installations, plus at least one photo of the building. Where you do not know something, you can say so in the form.

3. 3

   Pay online and receive the certificate by e-mail

   Pay by BLIK, card or fast bank transfer (Przelewy24 or Stripe). After the certificate is prepared and registered in the MRiT register, you receive a PDF with an electronic signature and the register number.

Where to find the data

• Usable floor area and address: the notarial deed, the land and mortgage register (księga wieczysta) or the property-tax assessment.
• Year of construction, insulation and heating in a block of flats: the building manager (zarządca) or the housing cooperative (spółdzielnia). They must make the documentation needed for the certificate available to the owner free of charge.
• A new flat: the unit card (karta lokalu) and the information prospectus (prospekt informacyjny) from the developer.
• Not needed: heating bills — the certificate is calculated for standard use, not actual consumption — and a building design, which helps but is optional.