APE and ARE: the Documentation Required to Sell a Home

Anyone selling a property in Italy must ensure compliance with two distinct aspects, which are often confused but technically very different: energy efficiency and building compliance. Studio Tecnico Peluso handles both procedures in Modena and its province, with a single site inspection and one point of contact through to the execution of the deed of sale.

What is the APE?

The APE (Energy Performance Certificate) certifies the energy efficiency of a property, rating it on a scale from A4 to G. It is required by law (Legislative Decree 192/2005, as subsequently amended) for the sale and lease of properties and the construction of new buildings: without a valid APE, the notary cannot proceed with the execution of the deed of sale. Before 2013, this document was known as the ACE (Energy Certification Certificate) — if you have heard this term, it refers to the same requirement now regulated as the APE.

What is the ARE?

The ARE (Building Compliance Certificate) is a certified technical report, in use since 2017, that certifies the correspondence between the actual condition of the property and the building authorisations filed with the Municipality throughout its construction history — building permits, amnesties, and renovation applications. Unlike a simple cadastral floor plan (a tax document that only indicates whether you are paying the correct taxes), the ARE verifies the document that matters under the law: if you have moved a wall without filing an application with the Municipality, the property is in breach of building regulations even if the cadastral floor plan has been updated.

The difference between the APE and the ARE

It is easy to confuse the two documents because they are requested at the same time, but they answer different questions:

• the APE answers the question, "how much energy does this property consume?"
• the ARE answers the question, "was this property built and altered in compliance with regulations?"

Both are required because they address different risks: an energy-efficient property may still be in breach of building regulations, and vice versa. Notaries, banks, and informed buyers now tend to request both before proceeding.

Why both are needed to sell a property

The APE is a national legal requirement: its absence makes it impossible to execute the deed of sale and exposes the seller to penalties ranging from 3.000 to 18.000 euros. The ARE is not required by a specific national law, but it has become a decisive tool in practice: with increasingly informed buyers and banks applying strict criteria when granting mortgages, a property without a recent compliance check risks bringing negotiations to a halt or revealing problems immediately before the execution of the deed of sale, when they are more difficult and costly to resolve.

How to obtain the ARE: the technical process

Issuing the ARE requires a multi-stage technical process: a site inspection involving a dimensional and photographic survey of the property; access to municipal records to obtain all the building authorisations that legitimised its construction and subsequent alterations; retrieval of the most recent cadastral floor plans; and, finally, a comparison between the surveyed condition and the authorised condition. If everything corresponds, the technician issues the certificate; if discrepancies emerge — a relocated window or a room that was never declared — the technician identifies the most appropriate compliance procedure before proceeding with the sale.

The APE + ARE package from Studio Tecnico Peluso

Studio Tecnico Peluso offers a service that combines the following in a single site inspection:

• issuance of the APE, including calculation of the energy rating
• issuance of the ARE, including verification of cadastral and planning compliance
• a summary report identifying any issues to be resolved before the sale

This approach means that the owner does not need to engage multiple professionals at different times and reduces the risk of surprises during the final stages of negotiations.

How the site inspection is conducted

During the site inspection, the technician records the thermal characteristics of the building envelope and the type of heating system, and takes the measurements required to compare the actual condition with the filed documentation. In some cases, infrared thermography helps identify heat loss that is not visible to the naked eye, providing a more accurate energy assessment.

How Long APE and ARE Remain Valid

The APE is valid for 10 years, unless work is carried out that significantly alters the building's energy performance. The ARE does not have an expiry date in the strict sense—it records the situation at the time of issue and remains valid as long as no new undeclared work is carried out—but notaries and banks tend to require a recent one, generally no more than 6-12 months old, to ensure that it is fully up to date.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to obtain both an APE and an ARE? The APE is required by law for any property sale. The ARE is not required by any specific national law, but it is now commonly requested by notaries and banks, especially when a mortgage is involved: we always recommend obtaining it together with the APE.

Who pays for these documents? Established practice requires the seller to bear the costs, as the seller is responsible for demonstrating the compliance and characteristics of the property being transferred.

What happens if I discover an unauthorised building alteration during the ARE inspection? It must be regularised before the deed is executed, through a retrospective approval procedure or a specific building permit application. Studio Tecnico Peluso can handle this directly, identifying the fastest procedure based on the type of discrepancy found.

Can real estate agencies also entrust these applications to you? Yes, we also manage APE and ARE for agencies with multiple properties in their portfolio, providing a single technical contact and rapid response times.

APE and ARE in Modena and the Surrounding Province

Studio Tecnico Peluso issues APE and ARE in Modena and the surrounding municipalities—Formigine, Castelfranco Emilia, Nonantola, Carpi and Sassuolo—supporting private individuals and real estate agencies at every stage of the property sale process.

If you are preparing to sell or rent a property, the right time to obtain both documents is before publishing the listing. You may also wish to consider an as-built condition survey if you have any doubts about whether the floor plans correspond to the property's actual condition. Contact us for a quotation.

Also for Gifts and Inheritances

APE and ARE are not only required for property sales: they are also required for gifts, exchanges and other transfers of property rights, whether for consideration or free of charge. In these cases as well, having the documentation ready in advance prevents delays in executing the deed and protects both the party transferring the property and the recipient, who thus receives a property with a clearly defined technical and energy status.

One Site Inspection, Two Documents Prepared Together

Preparing the APE and ARE with a single site inspection, rather than engaging two professionals at different times, provides a tangible practical benefit: the time required is halved, the overall cost is generally lower than for two separate appointments, and the information collected during the survey (floor plans, measurements and characteristics of the building envelope) is used for both applications, avoiding duplication of work and therefore additional costs for the owner.