• Methodological norms (18 April 2002) for applying Law 199/2000 (published in Monitorul Oficial nr. 292 of 30 April 2002)
• Government Decision nr 941/2002 (29 August 2002) regarding the organisation and operation of the Romanian Energy Conservation Agency
• Romanian Energy Conservation Agency Decision 56 (28 May 2003) regarding the approval of an energy auditing guidebook
• Romanian Energy Conservation Agency Decision 57 (28 May 2003) regarding the approval of training manuals and examinations for trainees in the field of energy auditing
• Romanian Energy Conservation Agency Decision 58 (28 May 2003) regarding the approval of training manuals and examinations for trainees in the field of energy management
• Romanian Energy Conservation Agency Decision 59 (28 May 2003) regarding the approval of monitoring procedures for energy auditing activities, which includes
  • The establishment of a Commission of energy audit authorisation, supported by a technical Secretariat
  • The establishment of a Registry of proof of energy audits

In short, the law obliges certain energy consumers to pay for regular energy audits, with every detail of these audits being reported to the Romanian Energy Conservation Agency. The law states that:

• The 510 companies that use the equivalent of more than 1,000 toe of energy per year are obliged to:
  • Name a person responsible for energy
  • Have an energy audit carried out by an authorised person, every year
  • Develop their own energy efficiency programmes, which include short-term and long-term measures
• The 215 companies that use the equivalent of more than 200 toe (up to 1,000 toe) of energy per year are obliged to have an energy audit carried out by an authorised person, every two years
• Administrators of public buildings with a surface area greater than 1500m² are obliged to have an energy audit carried out by an authorised person, every five years
• The 110 public administration authorities of communities with more than 20,000 inhabitants are obliged to develop their own energy efficiency programmes, which include short-term and long-term measures

This new law is based on obligatory, in-depth energy audits carried out by Romanian-authorised auditors that are obliged to produce reports for the Romanian Energy Conservation Agency. In-depth audits generally offer poor value for money as they are both time consuming (expensive) and produce few additional benefits compared to troubleshooting style audits. In addition, such obligatory auditing can only provide an incentive to the auditors to prolong the duration of audits (and hence charge companies a higher price) and for them to focus on energy saving measures for which they may receive commission (for example from certain equipment suppliers).

Energy efficiency should be based on economic principles (profitability), and not on obligation. Modern companies tend to hire external experts for energy (and increasingly environmental) troubleshooting, based on confidentiality agreements and performance-related contracts.