By 2030, the Décret tertiaire (France's tertiary decree on energy savings in commercial buildings) requires a -40% cut in energy consumption from the buildings it covers[1][1]RegulationLégifrance, “Decree No. 2019-771 of 23 July 2019 on obligations to reduce final energy consumption in commercial buildings” (Décret tertiaire)See in sources ↓. An energy performance contract (EPC, called CPE in France) promises to guarantee part of the way. It is a contractual agreement between a building owner and an operator: a guaranteed drop in consumption against a baseline, with or without works. Everything depends on what it measures. Here are the three forms of EPC, its measurement chain and the clauses to reread before signing.
What an EPC commits to: definition, guarantee and three forms
Definition and regulatory framework of the EPC
The EPC (energy performance contract) is a contractual agreement between a building owner and an operator. The operator commits to an improvement in a building's energy efficiency, measured against a baseline. The works, supplies or services involved are paid according to the level of improvement achieved[2][2]RegulationEUR-Lex, “Directive (EU) 2023/1791 on energy efficiency (recast)”, Art. 2, point 33, which replaces Directive 2012/27/EU (Art. 2, point 27) since 12 October 2025See in sources ↓.
The Grenelle law I (France's 2009 law stemming from the Grenelle environment forum) made it a tool for renovating public buildings[3][3]RegulationLégifrance, “Law No. 2009-967 of 3 August 2009 on planning for the implementation of the Grenelle environment forum” (Grenelle I law)See in sources ↓. Since the ELAN law and the Décret tertiaire, it also serves as a lever for the Décret tertiaire's -40% target for any private project subject to it[1][1]RegulationLégifrance, “Decree No. 2019-771 of 23 July 2019 on obligations to reduce final energy consumption in commercial buildings” (Décret tertiaire)See in sources ↓. For public buyers, it takes the form of a global performance contract (marché global de performance) or an energy performance partnership contract (marché de partenariat de performance énergétique). Finally, the works carried out can qualify for CEE energy-savings certificates (certificats d'économies d'énergie), in support of a low-carbon pathway.
Did you know? Directive (EU) 2023/1791, which replaced Directive 2012/27/EU on 12 October 2025, defines the EPC around “works, supplies or services”[2][2]RegulationEUR-Lex, “Directive (EU) 2023/1791 on energy efficiency (recast)”, Art. 2, point 33, which replaces Directive 2012/27/EU (Art. 2, point 27) since 12 October 2025See in sources ↓. The three French forms derive from it. It also requires an improvement that is “verified and monitored during the whole term of the contract”[2][2]RegulationEUR-Lex, “Directive (EU) 2023/1791 on energy efficiency (recast)”, Art. 2, point 33, which replaces Directive 2012/27/EU (Art. 2, point 27) since 12 October 2025See in sources ↓.
Who offers an EPC, who signs it and for how long?
The building owner, public or private, signs with an energy service company (ESCO) or a third-party investment company: this is the landscape of who operates EPCs. The investment is carried either by the owner or by a third party. The term is set by the time needed to pay back the investment and then measure the result.
For a public service facility, the arrangement falls under public procurement: a call for tenders, then an EPC as a public contract. The French EPC observatory (Observatoire des CPE) tracks its rollout.
What does an EPC guarantee that an operating contract does not?
A P2-type HVAC maintenance contract (P2: operation and routine maintenance) commits to means: visits, adjustments, call-outs. Even the incentive clause of a P1 P2 P3 operating contract (P1: energy supply, P2: operation and maintenance, P3: major repairs and replacement) guarantees no level. The EPC, by contrast, commits to a measured obligation of result.
This energy performance guarantee covers a gap against an adjusted baseline, never an invoice. Many building owners sign up for contractual energy performance believing they are buying a lower bill.
Your bill can go up while an EPC is being fully honored.
Services EPC: a guarantee carried by operations, without works
The services EPC is the least capital-intensive type of contract: an EPC without works. The guarantee rests on adjustments, removing manual overrides, consistent sequences and well-kept HVAC maintenance. To improve the result, the operator works on the existing installation. That still requires the BMS to let it do so.
Supply-and-services EPC: equipment supplied, then operated under guarantee
The supply-and-services EPC adds the supply of equipment to operations: boiler, heat pump, controls, occupancy detection. The risk lies in confusing two effects: the gain from new equipment and the gain from how it is run. Require the guarantee to cover the kWh consumption of the whole, measured after a tested handover of the equipment.
Works-and-services EPC: a renovation program under guarantee
The EPC with works covers replacing HVAC equipment or insulation: a heavy investment and its financing. The global variant runs from design to construction and then operation. Add a commitment in tCO2e and the arrangement becomes a carbon performance contract. Carrying out the works remains the moment when the guarantee is won or lost.
Comparing the three forms from the building owner's point of view
The table below rereads the three forms from the building owner's side, criterion by criterion. It compares modes of commitment: who commits, who pays, who runs the BMS, who sets the baseline.
Three forms of EPC, read from the building owner's side
Seven qualitative criteria: who commits, who pays, who runs the BMS, who sets the baseline.| Criterion | Services EPC | Supply-and-services EPC | Works-and-services EPC |
|---|---|---|---|
| What the operator commits to | Consumption reduction achieved through operations and adjustments | Consumption reduction, energy supply included | Consumption reduction after works, then operation |
| Who carries the investment | No heavy investment: the effort is on operations | Investment limited to the equipment supplied by the operator | The building owner or a third-party financer |
| Who operates and configures the BMS during the contract | The operator / O&M contractor | The operator, both equipment supplier and O&M contractor | The operator or the O&M contractor it appoints |
| What the baseline is based on Reread this first |
Measured and adjusted consumption histories | Consumption histories before equipment replacement, adjusted | Consumption before works, adjusted |
| Main risk for the building owner | Gains capped by an unreliable BMS | Gain attributed to the new equipment, with no lasting operational tuning | Long lock-in tied to paying back the works |
| Point to check before signing | Condition of the meters before freezing the baseline | Tests of the supplied equipment before the first review | Tested handover of the equipment |
| Operational lever without works: manual overrides and inconsistent sequences | Main lever of the contract | Lever present, often overshadowed by the new equipment | Lever often forgotten behind the works |
The most revealing row remains who sets the baseline. When the operator writes it alone, it also writes the level of its future bonus. Whatever the type of contract, this row deserves an independent review before signing.
For public buyers, the global performance contract carries these same commitments within public procurement.
How does an EPC unfold, from the audit to measuring the result?
Energy audit: make the data reliable before setting the target
The energy audit opens the EPC. Before any discussion of targets, it checks the meters and the BMS histories: data gaps, duplicates, invisible drifts. An energy efficiency target set on false data is negotiated in a vacuum.
Our order never changes: make it reliable first, optimize second. Setting up the contract waits until the measurement holds.
Baseline: the commitment is only as good as the baseline
The baseline sets the period that will serve as the yardstick. It is adjusted according to variables: heating degree days (HDD, called DJU in France) for climate[4][4]Technical documentationEVO, “IPMVP Core Concepts”See in sources ↓, occupancy, operating hours. On top come non-routine adjustments: change of use, extension, new tenant. On a new building, the baseline rests on a calculated level. That leaves the question the building owner avoids: who sets it? The details are in baseline and heating degree days.
Works, handover and commissioning of the equipment
When the EPC includes works, the handover decides what follows. A tested handover is worth more than a declared one: functional tests, verified sequences, useful alarms. Commissioning and then the warranty year (année de GPA, the defects liability period) validate the delivery of the works program. Equipment accepted without tests skews all the measurement that follows.
Measurement and verification: the IPMVP chain, from the meter to the savings calculation
From the meter to the bonus: six links, one question
Hover over or select a link. Each approximation is passed on to the next link.- Data
- Baseline
- Calculation
An EPC is a measurement contract first and foremost. The measurement plan relies on IPMVP, the measurement protocol published by EVO: International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol[4][4]Technical documentationEVO, “IPMVP Core Concepts”See in sources ↓. This international measurement protocol structures a chain of six links, from the meter to the bonus. At each one, the same question arises.
The last link converts the calculated gap into a bonus or a penalty. It inherits all the approximations of the five before it. IPMVP options A, B, C and D[4][4]Technical documentationEVO, “IPMVP Core Concepts”See in sources ↓ change nothing about this rule. A meter that drops out at the first link gets paid for at the sixth.
Cost, financing, advantages and limits of an EPC
How much does an EPC cost and how much does it pay back?
The operator is paid out of the savings it generates. Measurement is part of the overall cost of the contract. The only financial line that matters is read in cash flow: verified savings minus the cost of the contract.
The ministry cites an example where a 25% reduction is expected after two years[5][5]RegulationFrench Ministry for the Ecological Transition, “Energy performance contract”, EPC pageSee in sources ↓. It is an illustration, not an average. On a small commercial site, the payback period gets noticeably longer. On the climate side, the gains are read in tCO2e, with a reduced carbon footprint and avoided greenhouse gas emissions.
Financing the project: equity, third-party financing and certificates
With equity, the building owner pays for the works and keeps all the gains. Third-party financing avoids this cash outlay. In return, the operator repays itself from the savings and the commitment gets longer.
CEE energy-savings certificates (certificats d'économies d'énergie) complete the financing solution with a premium calculated on the CEE energy savings credited. For a local authority, Law No. 2023-222 opens third-party financing within public procurement, on an experimental basis for five years from March 2023 and in the form of a global performance contract[6][6]RegulationLégifrance, “Law No. 2023-222 of 30 March 2023 opening third-party financing to the State, its public institutions and local authorities to support energy renovation works”See in sources ↓.
Advantages and stakes: a contractual result to report in OPERAT
The EPC provides a guarantee of result and a transfer of technical risk to the operator. Above all, it provides proof: a measured reduction, to be declared in OPERAT (the French government platform for reporting consumption under the Décret tertiaire) under the obligation stemming from the ELAN law[1][1]RegulationLégifrance, “Decree No. 2019-771 of 23 July 2019 on obligations to reduce final energy consumption in commercial buildings” (Décret tertiaire)See in sources ↓. The link between EPC and Décret tertiaire lies in this proof.
For the energy transition of the portfolio, the same measurement documents the low-carbon pathway. Avoided greenhouse gas emissions and carbon footprint then become defensible in front of an auditor.
When is an EPC a bad idea?
On a new building, no consumption has been measured yet. The baseline is therefore calculated and open to dispute. Alterea in fact reserves the EPC for “existing buildings”[7][7]Studies and reportsAlterea, “Energy performance contract”, EPC pageSee in sources ↓. Unreliable meters or tenant turnover make the adjustments unverifiable. A small site struggles to hold its payback period.
Then there is lock-in. The operator can set the baseline, carry out the works and then measure the result. In that case, the building owner no longer has a single expert on its side. Making the existing installation reliable first then remains the safest solution.
What to check before signing an EPC
The points to obtain from the operator before signing
Nine points to obtain from the operator
Tick the ones your draft contract already covers.No points covered yet. Each empty box marks a clause to rewrite before you commit.
Nine points are negotiated from the call for tenders onward, from access to data through to reversibility at the end of the contract. Tick the ones your draft contract already covers: the counter shows what remains to be obtained.
An empty box does not prevent you from signing: it marks the clause to rewrite before you commit. Two points are not negotiable: access to raw data and a measurement plan written before setup. Without them, nobody will recalculate the gains. When drafting, check your EPC template against this list, line by line.
What Foobot brings to the building owner facing an EPC
BMS advisory: a review on the building owner's side before signing
With BMS advisory, we review the draft contract from the building owner's side. We examine the baseline, the adjustment variables, data access and the handover conditions. We are not a party to the contract and operate no EPC. Our team can therefore support the building owner with no conflict of interest with the operator.
The guarantee is only as good as its baseline
An energy performance contract does not guarantee a bill. It guarantees a gap against an adjusted baseline. That gap is only as good as the meters, the adjustments and the hand that writes them.
Before the works as before signing, ask three questions: who sets the baseline, who measures, who can verify? If the answer is the operator three times over, the contract needs renegotiating.
Start by making the meters that will carry the measurement reliable. Then have the draft reviewed by someone who is not a party to the contract.
have your EPC reviewed before signing
Further reading:
FAQ - energy performance contract
EPC: can an energy performance contract be applied to a new building?
Yes, with a strong reservation. On a new building, no consumption has been measured yet. The baseline therefore rests on a level calculated by simulation. The commitment then covers a model, to be recalibrated on the first years of actual operation.
What is a heating services EPC (services energy performance contract)?
It is an EPC without works, limited to heating. The O&M contractor commits to a drop in consumption. To achieve it, it works on adjustments, heating curves, manual overrides and HVAC maintenance. The guarantee covers operations, not equipment.
What types of project are eligible for an EPC?
Any project on an existing building whose consumption can be measured may be eligible. This covers optimizing operations, replacing HVAC equipment or renovating the envelope. The type of contract follows from the project. The prior energy audit shows which one holds up.
What is the scope of an EPC?
It concerns public and private building owners: offices, education, healthcare. On the public side, it goes through public procurement and often covers public service buildings. In practice, it mainly targets existing buildings, which have a measured history.
EPC and CEE: what are the differences?
The EPC is a contract: it commits to an obligation of result on a measured reduction. CEE energy-savings certificates (certificats d'économies d'énergie) belong to financing. They entitle the holder to a premium calculated on CEE energy savings, for standardized actions. The two can be combined.
Sources and references
7 sources.- [1]Légifrance, “Decree No. 2019-771 of 23 July 2019 on obligations to reduce final energy consumption in commercial buildings” (Décret tertiaire)July 2019↑ 1 2 3
- [2]EUR-Lex, “Directive (EU) 2023/1791 on energy efficiency (recast)”, Art. 2, point 33, which replaces Directive 2012/27/EU (Art. 2, point 27) since 12 October 2025September 2023↑ 1 2 3
- [3]Légifrance, “Law No. 2009-967 of 3 August 2009 on planning for the implementation of the Grenelle environment forum” (Grenelle I law)August 2009↑
- [5]French Ministry for the Ecological Transition, “Energy performance contract”, EPC page↑
- [6]Légifrance, “Law No. 2023-222 of 30 March 2023 opening third-party financing to the State, its public institutions and local authorities to support energy renovation works”March 2023↑