Commonwealth law, every state
Commercial building energy ratings when office space is sold or leased
Under the Building Energy Efficiency Disclosure Act 2010, a constitutional corporation that owns or leases a disclosure affected building must not offer to sell, let or sublet it unless a current building energy efficiency certificate for it is registered, and its advertisements must include a current energy efficiency rating. Under the Determination in force since 4 July 2016, a building is disclosure affected from 1 July 2017 when at least 75% of its lettable area is used for office-type work and that space is at least 1,000 square metres; that Determination is due to be repealed on 1 October 2027.
General information, not legal advice. This is the Commonwealth Act (Compilation No. 8, 14 October 2024), its Regulations (Compilation No. 3, 20 March 2024) and its Determinations of 2016 and 2026, as registered on the Federal Register of Legislation. Penalties are given in Commonwealth penalty units, as the Act states them.
The longest a certificate can stay current.
Who the duty falls on
The duties in sections 11 and 15 bind a constitutional corporation, which the Act defines as a corporation to which paragraph 51(xx) of the Constitution applies. The duty in section 12 falls on any owner or lessee, an individual included, when the one asking for the certificate is a constitutional corporation. They do not reach an offer between an entity and its wholly-owned subsidiary, or between wholly-owned subsidiaries of the same entity.
Short leases sit outside the certificate and advertising duties: an offer, an invitation or an advertisement that proposes a term of 12 months or less, and never more while it continues, is not caught, and options to extend count towards the term.
Which buildings
“disclosure affected building means a building, other than an exempt building, that is: (a) used or capable of being used as an office; and (b) of a kind determined by the Minister under subsection 10(1) to be disclosure affected.”
Building Energy Efficiency Disclosure Act 2010, section 3The kind is set by the Disclosure Affected Buildings Determination 2016. From 1 July 2017, a building is disclosure affected when both of these hold: at least 75% of its net lettable area (or gross lettable area, where net is not available) is for administrative, clerical, professional or similar information-based work, support facilities included; and that space measures at least 1,000 square metres. An area of a building is caught on the same terms.
Three kinds are not disclosure affected at all: a new building whose Certificate of Occupancy has not issued or is less than 2 years old; a building that has had a major refurbishment and whose Certificate of Occupancy is less than 2 years old; and a building, or an area, held under a strata title system. These are outside the definition, which is different from the exemptions a person applies for, below.
A date to watch: 1 October 2027. A certificate made in January 2025 deferred the sunsetting of three instruments, so that they are repealed on 1 October 2027: the Regulations, the Building Energy Efficiency Disclosure Determination 2016, and the Disclosure Affected Buildings Determination 2016 that sets the 1,000 square metre figure. The first of those two Determinations has since been repealed by the Determination of 2026. Check the Federal Register for what replaces the others before relying on them after that date.
Three duties
| Duty | What it asks | Maximum civil penalty |
|---|---|---|
| A certificate before the offer (s 11) | An owner offering to sell or let, or inviting offers, and a lessee offering to sublet, must have a current certificate registered for the building or the area first. | 1,000 penalty units |
| A copy on request (s 12) | A prospective buyer, lessee or sublessee that is a constitutional corporation, with an interest in good faith, may ask in writing for a copy of the registered certificate, which must be given as soon as is reasonably practicable. | 350 penalty units for an individual; 1,000 for a body corporate |
| The rating in the advertisement (s 15) | An advertisement for sale, lease or sublease must include a current energy efficiency rating, set out the way the Secretary has determined. | 1,000 penalty units |
The certificate and its twelve months
A certificate sets out the building’s energy efficiency rating, a lighting energy efficiency assessment for the building or the area, its start day, the period it is current for, and any other information the Secretary determines. That period is capped: “the period set out in the certificate must be a period of no more than 12 months beginning on the start day set out in the certificate.”
Since 15 May 2026, section 8 of the 2026 Determination has listed further contents, among them the owner’s name, the street address, the date the certificate ceases to be current and the NABERS Energy rating. Certificates are recorded on the Building Energy Efficiency Register, which must be kept electronically and made available for inspection on the internet.
The rating comes from the NABERS rules for offices (version 5.2, April 2025), or, where section 6 of the 2026 Determination allows it, from a current NABERS Energy rating already certified under them.
How the rating reads in an advertisement
Under section 5 of the 2026 Determination, the rating is a whole number or a half, worked out under the NABERS rules with 0 as the lowest, followed by the words “-star NABERS Energy rating”. It must be displayed prominently in each advertisement: clearly visible, not obscured, and with the number and words at least as large as most of the advertisement’s text.
Exemptions a person applies for
The Secretary may exempt a building or an area from sections 11, 12 or 15 in three situations: it is used for police or security operations; it is non-assessable, because its characteristics make a rating or a lighting assessment impossible; or circumstances prescribed by the Regulations apply.
The Regulations prescribe two. An unsolicited offer (in short, one that came out of negotiations someone else started, when the owner or lessee had not offered, invited offers or advertised in the 6 months before; regulation 5A sets out every condition) can bring an exemption of up to 12 months, which the Secretary may extend for a further 12 while the negotiations continue. A major refurbishment, one an accredited assessor says will move the base building rating by at least half a star, brings an exemption of 12 months from the day it is granted.
Compilation No. 3 of the Regulations (20 March 2024) prints a fee of $350 for an application, except one based on an unsolicited offer. The Regulations index their fees to the consumer price index, so the amount payable today may differ.