Energy Performance of Buildings (Amendment) Regulations, 2023

L.N. 305 of 2023

BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION AUTHORITY ACT

(CAP. 623)

Energy Performance of Buildings (Amendment) Regulations, 2023

IN EXERCISE of the powers conferred by article 17(2) of the

Building and Construction Act, the Minister responsible for the

construction authority, after consultation with the Building and

Construction Authority Board, has made the following regulations:-

(1) The title of these regulations is the Energy Citation, scope,

Performance of Buildings (Amendment) Regulations, 2023 and these applicability

commencement.

regulations shall be read and construed as one with the Energy S.L. 623.01.

Performance of Buildings Regulations, hereinafter referred to as the

"principal regulations".

(2) The scope of these regulations is to further transpose

Directive (EU) 2018/844 of the European Parliament and of the

Council of 30 May 2018 amending Directive 2010/31/EU on the

energy performance of buildings and Directive 2012/27/EU on

energy efficiency; and Directive 2010/31/EU of the European

Parliament and of the Council of 19 May 2010 on the energy

performance of buildings (recast).

(3) Regulations 2, 3 and 4 shall come into force on 1st

July 2024

Provided that the said regulations shall for all intents

and purposes be deemed applicable to any buildings, building

units or building units in a building the application for

construction or renovation of which has been submitted to the

Planning Authority on, or after the 1st July 2024.

Sub-regulation (2) of regulation 2 of the principal Amends

regulation 2 of

regulations shall be amended as follows

the principal

regulations.

(a) the definition "compliance certificate" shall be

substituted by the following new definition

"compliance certificate" means a certificate issued by a

competent person in certifying that the completed building is

compliant with these regulations and with Technical Document F

(2023) Part 1 Dwellings Minimum Energy Performance and

Building Envelope Requirements, Part 2 Non-Dwellings

Minimum Energy Performance and Building Envelope

Requirements, and Part 3 Technical Building Systems, as the case

may be, and any other instructions issued by the Building and

Construction Authority;";

(b) immediately after the definition "technical building

system" there shall be added the following new definition

" "Technical Document F" means the minimum energy

performance requirements and technical building systems in force

at the time in accordance with sub-regulation (1) of regulation 5,

as may from time to time be amended, as the Building and

Construction Authority shall determine, which shall also be made

available on the Authority’s website. Wherever minimum energy

performance requirements are mentioned the said requirements

shall refer to Technical Document F.".

Sub-regulation (1) of regulation 5 of the principal

regulations shall be substituted by the following new sub-regulation

"(1) The Building and Construction Authority shall take

the necessary measures to establish minimum energy

performance requirements for buildings and building units with a

view to achieving cost-optimal levels. The energy performance

shall be calculated in accordance with the methodology referred

to in regulation 4. Cost-optimal levels shall be calculated in

accordance with the comparative methodology framework

referred to in regulation 6. The design of buildings, the

construction, the renovation and the technical building systems

shall be compliant with Technical Document F (2023) Part 1

Dwellings Minimum Energy Performance and Building

Envelope Requirements, Part 2 Non-Dwellings Minimum

Energy Performance and Building Envelope Requirements, and

Part 3 Technical Building Systems, as the case may be, and as

may from time to time be amended, as the Building and

Construction Authority shall determine. Technical Document F

(2023) shall be made available on the Authority’s website.".

Regulation 9 of the principal regulations shall be amended

as follows

(a) sub-regulation (1) thereof shall be substituted by the

following new sub-regulation

"(1) For the purpose of optimising the energy use of

technical building systems, establishing system requirements

in respect of the overall energy performance, the proper

installation, and the appropriate dimensioning, adjustment

and control of the technical building systems which are

installed in existing buildings, the system designer shall

follow Technical Document F (2023) Part 3 Technical

Building Systems, as updated and approved from time to

time by the Building and Construction Authority.";

(b) sub-regulation (2) thereof shall be substituted by the

following new sub-regulation

"(2) System requirements are established for new,

replacement and upgrading of technical building systems and

shall be applied in so far as they are technically,

economically and functionally feasible, in accordance with

Technical Document F (2023) Part 3 Technical Building

Systems, as updated and approved from time to time by the

Building and Construction Authority.";

(c) sub-regulation (5) thereof shall be substituted by the

following new sub-regulation

"(5) When new building services are installed in

buildings, the owner has to provide the Building and

Construction Authority with a certificate, issued by a

warranted engineer, declaring compliance with the

applicable minimum energy performance requirements as set

in Technical Document F (2023) Part 3 Technical Building

Systems.".

Regulation 23 of the principal regulations shall be amended Amends

regulation 23 of

as follows

the principal

regulations.

(a) paragraph (a) of sub-regulation (1) thereof shall be

substituted by the following new paragraph

"(a) After an EPC has been registered in the EPC

register in accordance with sub-regulation (3a) of regulation

29, no person shall either in writing, drawing or in any other

manner alter, cancel, or add anything to the registered EPC,

or to any related advisory report, or to a printed copy of a

registered EPC, or to any related advisory report or entry

made therein.";

(b) immediately after paragraph (a) of sub-regulation (1)

thereof, as amended, there shall be added the following new

paragraph

"(aa) A separate new EPC and, or related advisory

report shall be registered in the EPC register in accordance

with sub-regulation (3a) of regulation 29 to cater for

amendments to an already registered EPC and, or a related

advisory report. This may be done by the same or a different

assessor, as the case may be. Upon registration of the

amending EPC and, or related advisory report, the previously

registered EPC, and or related advisory report shall cease to

be valid.";

(c) immediately after paragraph (b) of sub-regulation (2)

thereof there shall be added the following new paragraph

"(ba) A separate new inspection report shall be

registered in the inspection reports register in accordance

with sub-regulation (3b) of regulation 29 for any

amendments required to a previously registered inspection

report, after the period referred to in paragraph (b) has

elapsed. This may be done by the same or a different

inspector, as the case may be. Upon the registration of the

amending inspection report, the report previously

registered shall cease to be valid.".

Sub-regulation (11) of regulation 25 of the principal

regulations shall be substituted by the following new sub-regulation

"(11) A person whose registration has been suspended or

terminated in accordance with sub-regulation (10) may, within

fourteen days from the said suspension or termination, appeal to

the Board of the Building and Construction Authority against the

decision regarding the suspension or termination taken by the

Building and Construction Authority, in accordance with article

12(1) of the Act.".

Immediately after paragraph (6) of regulation 26 of the

principal regulations there shall be added the following new sub-

regulation

"(6a) A person whose registration has been suspended or

terminated in accordance with sub-regulation (6) may, within

fourteen days from the said suspension or termination, appeal to

the Board of the Building and Construction Authority against the

decision regarding the suspension or termination taken by the

Building and Construction Authority, in accordance with article

12(1) of the Act.".

Regulation 29 of the principal regulations shall be amended

as follows

(a) immediately after sub-regulation (3) thereof there shall

be added the following new sub-regulations

"(3a) In the EPC register, an EPC shall be registered

as a single record, together with the related advisory report,

with an EPC registration number that for monitoring and

verification purposes shall be identifiable to the unique

registration number of the EPB assessor who issued and

registered that same EPC

Provided that in accordance with regulation 25,

only registered EPB assessors may access the EPC register to

calculate, generate and register EPCs and related advisory

reports, with the approved calculation methods and software

in accordance with regulation 21.

(3b) In the register of inspection reports for heating

or air-conditioning systems an inspection report shall be

registered as a single record, with an inspection report

registration number that for monitoring and verification

purposes shall be identifiable to the unique registration

number of the inspector of heating or air-conditioning

systems who issued and registered that same inspection

report

Provided that in accordance to regulation 26,

only registered inspectors of heating or air-conditioning

systems may access the register of inspection reports for

heating and air-conditioning systems to register inspection

reports carried out in accordance with regulation 21.";

(b)

sub-regulation (4) thereof shall be amended as

follows

(i) immediately after paragraph (b) thereof there

shall be added the following new paragraph

"(ba) Unrestricted

access,

without

the

possibility to modify content of the EPC register and,

or to the register of inspection reports for heating and

air-conditioning systems, to enable independent

control, monitoring and verification of EPCs and, or

inspection reports in accordance with Schedule II,

shall be granted to the competent authorities or

bodies to which the Building and Construction

Authority has delegated responsibility, in accordance

with sub-regulation (2) of regulation 32, to

implement the independent control systems.";

(ii) paragraph (c) thereof shall be substituted by the

following new paragraph

"(c) other than as provided for in paragraphs

(a), (b) and (ba), a data file or other extract from a

register relating to an EPC for a particular building or

an inspection report for a particular heating or air-

conditioning system, shall only be made available to:".

Sub-regulation (3) of regulation 32 of the principal

regulations shall be substituted by the following new sub-regulation

"(3) (a) Further to an independent control and the

official report issued in accordance with item 6 of Schedule II,

on the basis of errors or lack of detail identified in EPCs or

inspection reports within the respective samples, the Building

and Construction Authority may take the following actions

(i) revoke the respective EPC or inspection report

in accordance with regulation 22;

(ii) a new EPC incorporating amendments

necessary shall be registered and issued by the respective

assessor in accordance with paragraph (aa) of sub-

regulation 1 of regulation 23. Amendments shall be carried

out to the satisfaction of the Building and Construction

Authority. All expenses related to the new EPC shall be

borne by the respective assessor. The new EPC shall be

registered within fourteen days. If the assessor does not

comply with these requirements within this period, he shall

be removed from the list of registered assessors until full

compliance with this sub-regulation is achieved;

(iii) impose a fine (multa) in accordance with

regulation 40;

(iv) suspend or terminate the registration of the

relevant EPB assessor in accordance with sub-regulation

(9) of regulation 25;

(v) suspend or terminate the registration of the

relevant inspector of heating or air-conditioning systems in

accordance with sub-regulation (6) of regulation 26;

(b) Decisions of the Building and Construction Authority

in accordance with paragraph (a) may be appealed in accordance

with article 12(1) of the Act. These decisions provided under

article 12(1) of the Act shall be subject to the right of appeal

before the Building and Construction Tribunal in accordance with

the provisions of Part VIII of the Act, or the Court of Appeal

(Inferior Jurisdiction) in accordance with article 47 of the Act, as

the case may be.".

Schedule II of the principal regulations shall be substituted Substitutes

Schedule II of

by the following new Schedule

the principal

regulations.

"Schedule II

(regulation 32)

Independent control systems for energy performance certificates

and inspection reports

1. The competent authorities or bodies to which the Building

and Construction Authority has delegated the responsibility for

implementing the independent control system for inspection reports of

heating and air-conditioning systems shall, on a yearly basis, make a

random selection of at least a statistically significant percentage of all

the inspection reports issued annually and subject those reports to

verification.

2. The competent authorities or bodies to which the Building

and Construction Authority has delegated the responsibility for

implementing the independent control system for EPCs shall, on a

yearly basis, make a random selection of all the EPCs issued annually

and subject them to verification.

3. (1) The sample shall be of a sufficient size to ensure

statistically significant compliance results to a confidence level of 95%

and a margin of error of 5%. Temporary files shall not to be considered.

(2) The following equation shall be used to determine the

sample size for monitoring and verification purposes

Where

n = Sample size

N = Total amount of EPCs or inspection reports issued in the

year being verified

Z =

Critical value of the normal distribution at the

required confidence level. For a confidence level of 95%, Z = 1.96

p = Sample proportion

e = Margin of error

4. The sampling plan shall be designed so as the number of

EPCs or inspection reports to be monitored and verified are weighted

proportionally, to the extent possible, to the number of EPCs or

inspection reports issued in the year being verified by every assessor or

inspector, as the case may be.

5. The verification shall be based on the following options or

on equivalent measures

(a) a validity check of the input data of the building used

to issue the EPC and the results stated in the certificate;

(b) a check of the input data and verification of the

results of the EPC, including the recommendations made;

(c) a full check of the input data of the building used to

issue the EPC, full verification of the results stated in the

certificate, including the recommendations made, and an on-site

visit of the building, if possible, to verify consistency between

specifications indicated in the EPC and the building certified.

6. The sampling plan, the sample size and the results of the

monitoring and verification conducted in implementing the

independent control shall be recorded in an official report to be

submitted to the Building and Construction Authority. For compliance

results to be traceable, the official report shall indicate, for each of the

EPCs or inspection reports analysed within the sample, the assessor or

inspector’s unique registration number, the certificate or report

registration number, and the type of error or lack of detail identified.".

In the principal regulations, in the Maltese version only, the

word "ħtiġiet" shall be substituted by the word "rekwiżiti", wherever it

occurs, and the relative articles shall be substituted accordingly.

€0.72