is the apparent or relative age of a component or structure. Effective age may the same as actual or chronological age, but it may also be different.

A house that has an actual age of five years may only have an effective age of two years if the house were well-maintained, updated, and redecorated to stay current. In other words, the five year-old house may compete with houses that are only two years old because the improvements have been kept current.