Energideklaration: Sweden's energy performance certificate explained
The listing has a single line: Energiklass D. Below it, perhaps a figure in kWh per square metre per year. That's it. If you come from a country with energy certificates, Germany for example, you'll recognise the format and tick the line off quickly: one official figure among many, somewhere between year of construction and plot size.
That's a mistake, and for a simple reason: this line refers to a document you can read in full before you even drive to the viewing. Free of charge, without an estate agent, without registering. The document says more about the condition of the house than the entire property description.
Every year I photograph several hundred properties for estate agents in Gothenburg and on the west coast. These days I mainly read the energy line in a listing as a pointer to what's in the actual document, and to how old that document is.
What the energideklaration actually is
Before a building in Sweden is sold, the owner has to make sure an energideklaration (energy declaration) exists. That's laid down in the law on energy declarations for buildings (lag 2006:985, § 6). It has to be shown to prospective buyers, mentioned with its energy performance figure in the advertisement, and handed over to the new owner after the purchase (§ 13). It's drawn up by a certified, independent energy expert who inspects the house and submits the declaration electronically to Boverket. It may be used for ten years after it was drawn up.
There's more in it than the class. According to Boverket, it contains the energy performance figure, the energy class, information on ventilation, the radon level (where measured) and proposals for measures that would improve energy use and the indoor climate. For a house in Bohuslän with a ground-source heat pump and an extension from the nineties, it's often the only reasonably systematic description of the building's technical systems that's publicly available before the buyer's duty to inspect kicks in.
Cost for sellers: Anticimex quotes 4,975 SEK for the energideklaration of a villa, including the inspection and the report on measures. That gives you a rough idea, not a market price; there are no official statistics on it.
The energy class is relative, not absolute
This is the first misunderstanding, and it's a fundamental one. A to G looks like a scale from good to bad, like on a fridge. In fact the scale is relative: it compares the house with the value that a new building constructed today would have to meet.
According to Boverket's regulations on energy declarations:
- A: at most 50 per cent of the new-build value
- B: more than 50 up to 75 per cent
- C: more than 75 up to 100 per cent, so exactly at new-build level
- D: more than 100 up to 135 per cent
- E: more than 135 up to 180 per cent
- F: more than 180 up to 235 per cent
- G: more than 235 per cent
Since May 2026 there's also an additional class above these, A0, for buildings that meet the requirements for a zero-emission building. You'll practically never see it in listings for existing homes.
What does that mean in practice? A house from 1962 with class D isn't a renovation case; it's roughly what you'd expect of a house from 1962. Class C means the house uses as much energy as a new building is allowed to use today, which is remarkable for an older house. And E to G doesn't automatically mean disaster, but rather: expect higher heating costs, and check in the document what's causing it. Often it's the type of heating. How much difference that makes is covered in the article on fjärrvärme when buying a house.
Since October 2026 there's a new figure in it
New regulations came into force on 1 October 2026. Boverket adopted them on 25 August, with no transition period for the energideklaration. Two changes affect you directly as a buyer.
First, energy performance is now given as an energiprestandatal instead of a primärenergital. Second, the summary has been redesigned so it's quicker to see which measures are worthwhile.
The catch: declarations are valid for ten years. The one attached to a house today may date from 2017 and be calculated under the old scheme. So for years to come you'll see both formats, and you can't simply compare figures from two documents with each other. The letter class remains more comparable than the number behind it.
The background is the EU directive on the energy performance of buildings, which had to be transposed into national law by 29 May 2026. Boverket itself says Sweden's implementation will come somewhat later. You can expect the energideklaration to keep changing over the next few years.
You can read it before you drive to the viewing
This is the part almost nobody uses. Boverket keeps a public register, and through the "Hämta energidokument" service at sokenergideklaration.boverket.se, anyone can search it and download existing declarations. No power of attorney, no login, no contact with the agent.
For you, that means: for any address on Hemnet, you can check whether a declaration exists at all, how old it is, which measures the energy expert proposed, and whether those measures have since been carried out or have been sitting untouched on paper for eight years. That's a pretty good question to ask at the viewing, and it also shows the agent that you've done your homework. If you're searching remotely from abroad, it's the cheapest research you can do anyway.
No declaration? Then section 14 applies
Sometimes there's no document at all: in inheritance cases, with properties that have been in the same hands for a long time, with houses sold without an agent. The law covers this case. If you as the buyer have asked for a declaration and the seller doesn't provide one, you may have one drawn up at the seller's expense no later than six months after you take possession (§ 14). Boverket is the supervisory authority and can order a declaration to be drawn up, backed by a fine if necessary (§ 25).
The comparison with Germany is interesting on this point. There, you can be fined up to 10,000 euros if the energy certificate isn't presented in time, isn't handed over, or the mandatory details are missing from the advertisement (§ 108 GEG, the German Buildings Energy Act). It has to be presented at the viewing at the latest. So Germany threatens a penalty, while Sweden gives you a right to self-help at the seller's expense. Both aim at the same thing, but the Swedish instrument only kicks in after the purchase, which is exactly when the information no longer helps you with your bid. So ask for the declaration in writing, and before you bid. How that fits into the process of buying a house in Sweden is covered in detail in that article.
The exception that affects many lantställen
And now the point where things don't add up for exactly the houses that buyers from abroad most often look for on the west coast.
The ordinance on energy declarations (förordning 2006:1592, § 2) exempts several types of building. Two of them are relevant here: detached buildings with less than 50 square metres of usable floor space, and, more importantly, residential buildings that are used for less than four months a year, or only for a limited part of the year if energy use is below 25 per cent of year-round use.
For a classic summer house without winter use, that can mean: no obligation to have a declaration, no document, no energy class in the listing. So a missing class in the listing isn't an oversight by the agent; it's the legal position. Conversely, the exemption no longer applies once the house is used for longer, and many properties sold as a fritidshus (holiday home) in Bohuslän are now winterised and habitable all year round. When buying a lantställe, the missing energy line is therefore above all a question, not an answer: how is this house actually used, and how do you want to use it? As a side note, Germany also exempts buildings under 50 square metres.
What the declaration doesn't do, and what you should do
The most important distinction to finish with. An energideklaration is not a condition survey. The energy expert doesn't look for moisture in the crawl space, doesn't assess the roof and doesn't check the electrics. The proposed measures are proposals, not findings of defects, and nobody is obliged to carry them out. Your duty to inspect as the buyer doesn't get any smaller; in Sweden it lies largely with you anyway, and having a declaration in your hand doesn't replace a besiktning (building inspection).
In practice, in this order:
- Enter the address in Boverket's register before you plan a viewing.
- Check the date of the declaration. Older than seven or eight years means it will soon expire, and the seller has to provide a new one before the sale.
- Compare the list of measures with what the seller tells you about renovations.
- If the declaration is missing, request it in writing: before you bid, not after.
- Read the class as a cost estimate, not a verdict, and check the type of heating separately.
For everything else, the same applies as with any house purchase here: the document is a starting point. The questions it raises are better asked at the viewing than after your bid has been accepted.
Buying a house in Sweden: practical guide: the in-depth guide to this topic is currently available in German. View it in the shop.
I'm Sebastian Schiefner, a photographer in Gothenburg, and I help people who are moving to West Sweden with finding a home and buying property. Free intro call.
