Energy label for commercial property
Different rules apply to commercial property than to homes. Offices even have a statutory minimum since 1 January 2023. Below you can read when you need a label and what it costs.
Contents
When does a commercial property need an energy label?
A commercial building needs a valid energy label when sold, let or handed over. In addition, a separate obligation applies to offices, regardless of whether you do anything with the building.
The label C obligation for offices
Since 1 January 2023 an office building must hold at least energy label C. The obligation applies to offices from 100 m² of usable floor area. If the property does not comply, it may formally not be in use as an office, and the municipality enforces that.
The exceptions are set out in article 3.87 of the Besluit bouwwerken leefomgeving. They include monuments and provisionally protected monuments, buildings not intended to be heated or cooled for people, buildings used for worship and religious activities, offices used for no more than two years, stand-alone buildings with a usable floor area under 50 m², and buildings in which the office function is less than 50% of the total usable floor area. Demolition or conversion within two years is not a separate exception, only a way to show that the use is temporary. The obligation also does not apply to an office with a valid older label with an energy index of 1.3 or better. If the measures needed for label C take more than 10 years to pay back, the measures that pay back within 10 years are sufficient.
Which label does your property have now?
Existing labels are held in EP-Online, the national register. If your property is not in it, an assessment is needed. A label from before 2021 was calculated with a different method but stays valid until its expiry date; for the label C obligation it counts if its energy index is 1.3 or better.
What does an energy label for a commercial property cost?
A commercial label is priced per property, because the assessment depends heavily on size, the number of installations and the number of building functions. On this platform you state the property type and see immediately which assessors handle commercial work and what they charge.
An assessor handling commercial property holds a separate certificate (EP-U). See what an EPA assessor does for the difference from a home assessment.
Commercial property in numbers
| Label C obligation for offices | Mandatory since 1 January 2023 |
| Floor area threshold | From 100 m² of usable floor area of office space and associated rooms combined |
| Exceptions | Monuments, use of no more than two years, buildings used for worship, stand-alone buildings under 50 m², and buildings where the office function is less than 50% of the usable floor area |
| Enforcement | The municipality, which can prohibit use as an office |
| Assessor certificate | EP-U for commercial buildings |
| Required when | Selling, letting and handover |
Frequently asked questions
Does the label C obligation apply to every commercial property?
No, only to office buildings from 100 m² of usable floor area of office space and associated rooms combined. Other commercial functions, such as a workshop or a shop, are not covered.
What happens if my office does not have label C?
The property may formally not be in use as an office. The municipality enforces this and can prohibit that use.
My property is partly an office. Does the obligation apply?
Only if the office function occupies 50% or more of the total usable floor area of the building. If it is less than 50%, the property falls under the exception.
Why is a commercial label more expensive than one for a home?
The assessment is more involved: more installations, more building functions and often several floors with their own climate zones. That is why commercial work is priced per property.
Sources
The rules and definitions on this page come from the official sources below. Last checked on 24 September 2026.
- Government of the Netherlands, energy labels for homes and buildings
- Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), energy labels for homes
- EP-Online, the national register of registered energy labels
- Besluit bouwwerken leefomgeving, articles 3.87 and 3.87a: the label C obligation for offices and its exceptions, wetten.overheid.nl
Commercial property too.
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