Reliability of the DPE: let's remain vigilant and committed to the professionalization of the diagnostic sector

The entry into force of this decree is scheduled for July 1, 2024. Professionals in the sector have actively participated in the reflection by multiplying the proposals while warning the administration about the economic impact of the new provisions. SIDIANE notes some notable progress but maintains its reservations and will remain very vigilant on the economic and social consequences for diagnosticians.

The decree of August 3, 2023 defines the new certification criteria for diagnosticians working in the field of energy performance diagnosis (EPD), their training organizations and the requirements applicable to certification bodies. It modifies the decree of December 24, 2021 on many points. All diagnosticians and their companies must prepare now for a significant reinforcement of initial and continuous training as well as of the monitoring system. These provisions will apply from July 1, 2024, with a transition period of 6 months.

From now on, the initial training will have to last 8 days for a certification without mention and reach 10 days for a certification with mention. Over a 7-year cycle, continuing education will be 4 days and 6 days respectively. The controls will be more numerous: it will now be necessary to provide for 3 controls on the structure and 3 documentary monitoring.

Some progress has been made compared to the initial project which was unacceptable and dangerous. For the first time, our supervisory authority was able to listen and made concessions to the professional organizations in the sector. Nevertheless, the text as a whole reinforces the constraints on the professionals and the companies of the real estate diagnosis. Once again the sector will have to adapt, moreover, in a context of real estate crisis.

SIDIANE considers that the strengthening of training was necessary, as was the standardization of training content and examinations. These modifications go in the direction of the professionalization of the trade of the diagnostician and will make it possible to unify the practices. Nevertheless, SIDIANE affirms that the decree goes too far and that the new provisions will have an unbearable economic impact. A better dosage would have been possible.

SIDIANE maintains its reservations and its warnings about the dangers posed by the decree to the sector:

• The decrease in the number of diagnosticians when there is a shortage, with an entry fee that is economically unsustainable, as is the cost of monitoring certification;
• The increase in the price of ECD that will inexorably bear the owners and landlords, including social, very reluctant to any additional cost. The latter are worried;
• The inefficiency of the monitoring system as it is imagined does not allow to sanction the few non-professional diagnosticians who tarnish the image of the profession.

SIDIANE will be very vigilant as to the concrete economic and social consequences of this decree on independent diagnosticians and companies in the sector. The decree intended to strengthen the sector by more professional training on the one hand should not weaken it by limiting its profitability and therefore its ability to develop, to hire, to create vocations.

SIDIANE will alert the Government and the DHUP to the difficulties observed on the ground and calls with all its wishes for the creation of a committee to implement and monitor the reform.

SIDIANE once again expresses its calls for in-depth reforms to strengthen the professionalization of the sector and the reliability of ECD:

• The adoption of a digital longitudinal control of diagnosticians (from the ADEME database) and the strengthening of sanctions until the removal of those who fail in their professional obligations;
• The establishment of a completeness index to strengthen the reliability of the DPE, thus empowering the owner and all the other actors of the DPE;
• The adjustment of the computer tool used to carry out the calculations of the DPE, in particular on two issues: that of small surfaces, which are today too often credited with a penalizing energy label. And that of the existing old building from before 1948.
• The adoption of company certification for the real estate diagnosis sector as it exists and attests to its effectiveness in other regulatory professions.

In general, SIDIANE calls for the establishment of a real master plan involving the entire real estate chain, the only way to put the DPE back at the heart of energy renovation. It will continue its firm and constructive dialogue with the public authorities on all subjects requiring better structuring of the sector to respond to urgent challenges of general interest: the housing crisis, energy renovation and depollution of existing buildings.