You are selling or letting your home, and you need an EPC: a call to an assessor, one quote at €120, another at €240 for exactly the same property. How can such a gap be explained? The answer is in two words: the price of the EPC is unregulated. No fee is set by the State. Yet behind this free pricing lies a tightly regulated profession — a certified assessor, insured, subject to an annual cap and a mandatory site visit. Here is who carries out your EPC, what it really costs in 2026, and how to choose well.
The stakes are not minor. Now that the EPC (the French DPE — Diagnostic de Performance Énergétique, France's Energy Performance Certificate) is legally binding and conditions the right to let, the label you obtain engages your liability — and that of the professional who issued it. Knowing who carries it out, at what price and under which rules means giving yourself the means not to overpay for a sloppy assessment, nor underpay for a document that exposes you legally.
€100 to €250: that is the price range for a home EPC in 2026 according to ADEME. An unregulated, free price — depending neither on an official scale nor on the reliability of the result.
What this article covers
Who can legally carry out an EPC and what obligations bind the certified assessor, why its price is unregulated and what makes it vary twofold, how the State has framed the profession since 2025 (COFRAC certification, a cap of 1,000 EPCs a year, a blacklist), and the steps to choose a reliable professional without overpaying.
Who can carry out an EPC: the certified assessor
An EPC cannot be carried out by just anyone. The law reserves this act to a certified property assessor. Article L.271-4 of the French Construction and Housing Code (CCH) requires that the diagnostics of the technical diagnostic file — including the EPC — be issued by a person "offering guarantees of competence and having appropriate organisation and resources", holding a certification.
This certification is issued by a body accredited by COFRAC (the French accreditation committee), after a theoretical and practical examination. It is valid for seven years and requires mid-cycle surveillance — the professional must prove they maintain their level. The assessor appears in the official directory of certified assessors, available online, and their competence certificate has carried, since summer 2025, a QR code allowing its validity to be checked.
Three obligations also structure the profession:
| Obligation | Content | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Certification | Issued by a COFRAC-accredited body, valid for 7 years | CCH art. L.271-4 and R.271-1 |
| Independence | No link to the seller, the estate agent or a renovation firm; commission-based referral banned | CCH art. L.271-6 |
| Insurance | Professional liability insurance is mandatory | CCH art. L.271-6 |
Independence is a cardinal requirement: the assessor must have no interest in skewing the result, and is forbidden from taking a commission from an estate agent or a renovation firm that recommended them (CCH art. L.271-6). An assessor "imposed" by the agency, and paid by it, is precisely the kind of situation the law seeks to avoid. Finally, professional liability insurance is mandatory: it covers the loss in the event of an error, which only makes sense because the EPC has become binding.
Why the EPC is binding — and what that changes
The legal framework of the EPC has changed profoundly. Born of the European directive on the energy performance of buildings, the EPC long had only an informative value. Since 1 July 2021, it has been legally binding: like the other diagnostics, its information engages the liability of the seller and the landlord, and a wrong assessment can ground a legal action. The calculation method itself was overhauled by the decree of 31 March 2021, which defines the 3CL-DPE 2021 methodology (conventional calculation of home consumption) applicable to all homes.
This binding nature explains why the profession is so tightly regulated. An EPC is no longer just another sheet in the file: it is a document that determines the right to let (the progressive ban on "thermal sieves" — passoires thermiques — under the Climate & Resilience Act of 22 August 2021), influences the sale price through green value, and conditions access to certain grants. A misclassification is therefore no longer trivial; it can be costly for all parties — and can open, where there is a loss, a remedy against the assessor whose EPC is wrong.
The validity period of an EPC is ten years (CCH art. D.126-19), subject to the transitional provisions that shortened the validity of the oldest EPCs. Beyond that, or after works altering the home's performance, a new assessment is needed to sell or let.
⚠️ Mind the 2026 coefficient. The order of 13 August 2025 (published in the Official Journal on 26 August 2025) lowers the primary-energy conversion coefficient of electricity from 2.3 to 1.9, from 1 January 2026. In practice, many electrically heated homes gain a class with no works at all. If you have an EPC carried out in 2026, check that the method applied incorporates this new coefficient.
What an EPC costs in 2026 and what makes the price vary
First point: the price of an EPC is not regulated. Every assessor sets their own fee freely (service-public.gouv.fr). ADEME puts the usual range between €100 and €250 for a home. There is no official scale, no imposed "normal" price: two professionals can charge twice as much for the same service.
The factors that make the price vary
Three main factors explain the spread in fees:
| Factor | Effect on price |
|---|---|
| Floor area and property type | A house takes more survey time than a studio; the price rises with area and complexity (attic, outbuildings). |
| Location | Density of assessors and travel cost: fees are often higher in under-served rural areas than in competitive cities. |
| Bundle of diagnostics | The EPC is rarely alone (asbestos, lead, electrics, gas…): a bundled "sale pack" reduces the EPC's unit cost. |
To these factors add the professional's cost structure. The EPC has become markedly more complex since the 2021 reform, then with method adjustments such as the electricity coefficient moving from 2.3 to 1.9 on 1 January 2026. An established assessor, properly insured and who takes the time to visit the home, does not have the same cost structure as a high-volume operator. But this logic does not mechanically translate into a better result: paying more does not guarantee a more reliable EPC.
Price does not predict reliability
This is the most counter-intuitive point: no official source establishes a link between an EPC's price and its quality. The EPC relies on data entered by the assessor — floor areas, insulation, heating type, joinery, year of construction — and on regulatory calculation conventions. Two professionals who measure or interpret a wall's insulation differently will arrive at two different labels. The thoroughness of the survey outweighs the size of the quote: it is what makes reliability, and it cannot be read off the price.
To go further on this point, the article is a more expensive EPC more reliable? details what the data says.
How the State has framed the profession since 2025
Faced with the explosion in the number of assessments and checks revealing many anomalies, the State launched a reliability plan in 2025. Three measures now structure the practice of the profession: a production cap, tighter controls, and greater transparency.
The most striking measure is the cap of 1,000 home EPCs over a rolling twelve months, introduced by the decree of 28 July 2025. Beyond this threshold, the assessor risks suspension of their certification: the idea is that a professional producing hundreds of assessments a month cannot do them all seriously. It is a direct response to over-production, identified as a factor in recurring inconsistencies.
In parallel, penalties are tightening: a breach can now lead to inclusion on a public blacklist (on the order of eighteen months, more for repeat offences), and ADEME automatically flags atypical EPCs using statistical tools. A QR code appears on every EPC to verify its validity online, and the assessor's competence certificate carries one too.
These signals echo what our own analyses reveal: across millions of assessments, some profiles are physically very improbable — an entire old building rated A while heated by electric convectors, for instance. These atypical signatures, which a serious assessor does not produce in series, are precisely what the controls seek to spot. The price paid is not part of the equation: it is the professional's rigour that makes the difference.
How to choose your assessor
Before hiring a professional — and therefore even before looking at the price — run through these criteria. They protect your label, and so your sale or your letting.
What to check before hiring: the certification (official directory + the certificate's QR code), the professional liability insurance certificate, the absence of any link with the agency or renovation firm, the commitment to physically visit the home, and two or three quotes to gauge the market — without choosing on price alone.
Certification is the absolute prerequisite: the assessor must appear in the official directory and hold a valid COFRAC certification. Scan the QR code on their certificate to confirm it in seconds. Then ask for their insurance certificate and make sure of their independence — an assessor recommended and paid by the agency should be avoided (CCH art. L.271-6).
Above all, insist on a physical visit of the home: it is mandatory, and an assessment rushed through in a few minutes or done "from plans" produces sloppy data. A professional who takes the time to inspect the attic, to measure, to photograph and to ask about the building's history legitimately inspires more confidence. Finally, compare two or three quotes to gauge the fair price (ADEME's order of magnitude is €100-250), but never pick the lowest bid on price alone.
Verify your EPC before you commit
Paste your EPC number: the OneDpe verification tool checks the assessment's authenticity (ADEME registration number, QR code), compares it with similar homes in the same area and flags the inconsistencies that warrant a second opinion — before you commit to a sale, a purchase or a rental.
To go further: how to choose a reliable assessor in 5 checks.
Conclusion
The EPC is carried out by a COFRAC-certified assessor, independent and insured, subject since 2025 to a cap of 1,000 assessments a year and a mandatory visit of the home. Its price, however, is unregulated: €100 to €250 per ADEME, with no fixed rate and no established link to the quality of the result. What separates a good assessment from a bad one is not the size of the bill, but up-to-date certification, independence and the thoroughness of the visit.
The useful reflex: check the certification and compare quotes before hiring, then confront the label obtained with reality. The OneDpe EPC check verifies your assessment's authenticity and points out the inconsistencies to clear up before any transaction.
