Green lease law and regulation in Bulgaria

All developments must be planned, performed and further maintained as per the legislative requirements and the technical specifications for ensuring, among others, the energy efficiency of the construction and heat preservation of buildings (Spatial Development Act 2001).

All buildings (private, state or of municipal ownership) with a total built-up area of more than 1,000 square metres must be certified. The energy efficiency certification of buildings is performed by the Energy Efficiency Act 2008 after an energy efficiency audit under the same Act.

If the examined building does not meet the energy efficiency requirements, the owner(s) of the building must bring the building into compliance with the aforementioned requirements within three years of the date of the acceptance of the results of the energy efficiency examination.

Under the Energy Efficiency Act, the owner of the building must obtain an energy efficiency certificate for the building as of the third year of its “exploitation” (date of operation), and not later than the sixth year. Prior to obtaining such certificate, the energy efficiency of the building is certified by the energy efficiency passport of the building which is part of the building’s technical passport.

The energy efficiency certificate of the building is updated upon the performance of any and all activities leading to improvements in the energy efficiency characteristics of the building. The energy efficiency certificate of the building is valid for up to 10 years.

As mentioned above, all operational buildings with a built-up area of more than 1,000 square metres must be examined under the Energy Efficiency Act.

Exceptions to this rule are provided for in limited cases, for instance:

• buildings and cultural values falling within the scope of the Cultural Heritage Act and the Protected Areas Act;
• places of worship of the legally registered religious denominations in Bulgaria;
• temporary buildings with a planned time of use of two years or less;
• farm buildings of agricultural producers, used for agricultural activity;
• manufacturing buildings;
• residential buildings which are intended to be used as such for less than four months of the year;
• stand-alone buildings with a gross floor area of less than 50 square metres.

If the lease contract is subject to registration, upon letting of the building or a part of it, the landlord is under an obligation to provide the tenant with a copy of the energy efficiency certificate of the building or with a copy of the building’s technical passport. When selling a building it is a legislative requirement that the energy efficiency certificate must be transferred between owners.

It is not very popular. According to public information there is only one building that has LEED certification. There is no information for buildings certified under BREEAM certification.

Under the applicable legislation, there is no explicit regulation for the charging of operating costs by the landlord. Such provisions may be included in the lease contract. Usually, no distinction is made between the different types of buildings.

In general, there are two ways for charging operating costs by the landlord. The first option is for the landlord to transfer all measuring devices and accounts with the operating companies to the tenant and the tenant to pay the operating costs directly to the supply companies.

Alternatively, the landlord and the tenant may agree in the lease contract that the tenant pays a service charge, covering the operating costs. The service charge is usually calculated by the landlord on the basis of the leased area and the current operating costs. The actual amount of the service charge is calculated at the beginning of each year for the previous year and, depending on the real costs, any overpayments are deducted from the next advance payment of the service charge or any underpayments are paid by the tenant.

Under the applicable legislation, during the lease term the landlord is under an obligation to perform major repairs of the leased premises. The repairs shall not be related to the normal wear and tear of the premises or caused by the tenant wilfully. Also, the landlord must ensure undisturbed use of the leased premises by the tenant during the term. Therefore, any construction measures undertaken by the landlord for the improvement of the energy efficiency of the building which are not considered as major repairs of the building may be performed only with the consent of the tenant.

No distinction is drawn between different types of buildings.

No such standard exists in Bulgaria.

No such standard exists in Bulgaria.

The applicable spatial development, waste management and other legislation imposes a number of requirements for the construction and operation of buildings. For example, as per the Spatial Development Act, only materials which are in compliance with the technical specifications as determined in the Technical Requirements towards Products Act 1999 may be used in the construction process.

There are no standard regulations when such obligations are regulated by the lease contract.

No explicit regulations exist in legislation. The parties must agree on this in the lease contract.