The CTE was created by Law 38/1999 with the purpose of establishing the basic quality requirements for buildings and their installations.

This RD introduces a new basic energy saving requirement relating to the minimum provisions for electric vehicle charging infrastructure, under the new Section HE6 “Minimum provisions for electric vehicle charging infrastructure” of the Basic Document DB-HE on “Energy Saving”.

Specific amendments:

• Article 15.6 of RD 314/2006 (CTE) previously stated that “in buildings with high electrical energy consumption, electrical energy generation systems from renewable sources shall be incorporated for own use or supply to the grid”, and it now states “buildings shall have electrical generation systems ...”. In other words, this no longer only applies to buildings with high electricity consumption, but to all buildings in general.

• A new point 15.7 has been added created: “Basic requirement HE 6: Minimum provisions for electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Buildings shall have a minimum infrastructure that enables the recharging of electric vehicles”. It also refers to all buildings in general.

• Part 2 of the RD, Section HE 0, scope of application :“Interventions in existing buildings, extensions in which the surface or built volume of the unit is increased by more than 10%, when the total extended surface exceeds 50m2” has been amended to delete the word “total”, i.e. when the surface exceeds 50m2 without further details. It might not seem a major change, but it means that when an existing building is extended by 50m2 of floor space, these obligations shall now apply to the whole building, bearing in mind that this in principle only applies to new buildings, not to previous existing buildings.

• In Part 2, Section HE 5, the scope of application is greatly extended. This section requires buildings to incorporate systems for the generation of electricity from renewable energy sources, which was previously only required for non-domestic buildings, and now applies to all buildings. Furthermore, it used to apply for new buildings or extensions or complete refurbishments of more than 3,000m2, and now it is 1,000m2. The surface area includes the internal car park of the building and does not include outdoor common areas.

A new Section HE 6 has been added, relating to electric vehicle charging infrastructure. This section will apply to buildings with an indoor or outdoor parking area in both new or existing buildings with change of use, extensions of more than 10% and 50m2 affecting the parking area, renovations of more than 25% and affecting the parking area, or interventions in the electrical installation of more than 50% of the installed power. However, non-residential buildings with a parking area of 10 parking spaces or less, and residential buildings with a parking area of 20 parking spaces or less are excluded.

• Although this new Section HE 6 refers to the Low Voltage Electrotechnical Regulations, it details that cable conduction systems for the future supply to recharging stations must be installed in residential buildings for 100% of the parking spaces, and for 20% in the case of non-residential buildings. In addition to this, one charging station must be installed for every 40 parking spaces or fraction.

• Apart from the above-mentioned amendments, there are a large number of technical changes.

• The First Transitional Provision establishes that this regulation will not apply to buildings that have already applied for a municipal building permit when the law enters into force.

• The Second Transitory Provision establishes that work for which a building permit is applied for within 6 months of the RD coming into force may voluntarily apply the law, and the Third Transitory Provision establishes that it will be compulsorily applied to work for which the application for a building permit is submitted after 6 months from the date of entry into force.

Antoni Faixó
Energy Area