Government still unable to enforce mandatory energy certificates – NAO

The Building and Construction Authority has failed to implement almost every recommendation made by the National Audit Office over weaknesses in the enforcement of mandatory Energy Performance Certificates, with auditors finding that long-standing shortcomings remain unresolved years after they were first flagged.

A new NAO follow-up audit gives the government a zero per cent implementation rate on Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs), with eight of nine recommendations classified as “not implemented” and the remaining one registering only “insignificant progress”.

EPCs provide an energy-efficiency rating for buildings and are required in various circumstances, including for properties being sold or rented and following certain major renovations.

The original audit found a weak control environment and an absence of an adequate audit trail linking Planning Authority applications with the certificates eventually issued. The situation meant the authorities could not even establish how many planning applications requiring an EPC had actually obtained one.

Years later, the NAO found that nothing had changed.

The audit found that there is still no integrated system linking PA approvals to EPC records, no reliable real-time picture of compliance and no structured enforcement mechanism.

A digitised system that the government had previously indicated would be implemented by June 2023 is still to be introduced.

The scale of the problem is highlighted by the fate of a backlog of planning applications.

The original audit found that officials examining applications in 2020 were still processing those filed in 2017. The latest audit found that the manual exercise had been discontinued in 2020 due to restructuring and a lack of resources.

As a result, planning applications submitted after 2016 have not been formally verified to establish whether the required EPC was obtained, according to the NAO.

The BCA, which falls under the responsibility of Minister Jonathan Attard and has been turned into a refuge for Labour activists and canvassers, also remains unable to say how many EPCs are still pending.

Enforcement in the rental market is equally problematic.

Despite landlords being required to present an EPC to tenants for both long- and short-term rentals, the NAO found “no progress” since its original audit.

‘There are still no adequate controls, data-sharing arrangements or legislative measures allowing the BCA to ensure compliance. No formal agreements have been signed with either the Malta Tourism Authority or Housing Authority, leaving the BCA unable to provide auditors with a readily available list of rented residential and short-let properties as of December 2025’, the NAO said.

Despite legal requirements, no fines are currently being imposed on defaulters.

The BCA told auditors it seeks to avoid penalties because these require criminal court proceedings. It also has no specific department responsible for EPC monitoring and enforcement.