What is BER?
This is a measure of how energy efficient your house is and will help you figure out whether you could reduce your energy bills by investing in upgrading your home.
Do I need a BER?
If your house was built after 2007, it would have got a BER at the time of construction. Houses built before this would only have a BER certificate if one of the owners had had the property assessed.
You can find out if your house has a BER through the SEAI. Visit the National BER Register and enter your BER/DEC number (on the BER/DEC certificate) or your MPRN (the ESB meter number for your house). If you find a record of a BER certificate for your property, check the expiry date to see if it is still valid (they are valid for a period of 10 years from the date of assessment, unless additional works have been carried out that impact on energy efficiency). If you require a copy of your BER certificate, you’ll need to contact the SEAI so that they can verify you are the property owners.
There are three main reasons why you might need to get a BER:
- To see if you can reduce your bills by upgrading your property
If you think your energy bills are too high, getting a BER assessment will help you identify where your home is losing energy and why you’re wasting money on excessive bills. Then you can plan to make the necessary upgrades to your home and reduce your bills. - To apply for SEAI home upgrade grants
SEAI offers a range of grants for home upgrades, including insulation, and you will need to submit a BER certificate as part of the application. - To rent or sell a house
You are legally required to have a BER to rent or sell a property. A good BER rating increases the value of your home, so you may wish to invest in an upgrade in order to reach a higher property price.
Finding a BER assessor
BER assessors are independent, which means that they have no financial incentive in recommending any particular works to be carried out on your property.
You can find an assessor on the National Register of BER Assessors on the SEAI website. You can search by county to find someone in your locality. Or, if you already have the name of an assessor, you can use the register to ensure that they are fully registered.
Ask for a quote before you engage an assessor so that you can see on paper what exactly is included in the assessment. Ask them how long the inspection will take and when it will be carried out. Also remember to ask them what documents they need from you (see ‘preparing for a BER assessment’ below).
How much does a BER assessment cost?
There is no standard fee for an assessment, so you’ll have to ask around to get current rates. Be aware that the cost is related to the size of your home.
Preparing for a BER assessment
Find documentation
It’s helpful to provide the assessor with some basic information about your house, including:
- your MPRN
- previous BER certificate/s if relevant
- documentary evidence of the age of the building
- the make and model of your boiler (and other heat sources)
- certification in relation to windows and doors
- dates and documentary evidence works carried out (like insulation, heating system installation, extensions, etc)
- details of any air tightness tests
For new buildings, the assessor will need additional details including:
- Wall, roof, and floor specifications
- Performance certificates for construction products and appliances
Documentation should include certifications, receipts, and either invoices or specification documents from the architect/engineer/contractor. In addition, all documentation must show the address, work completed, and materials used.
Where this documentation is not available, the assessor will use default values, essentially estimates, which won’t necessarily reflect an accurate picture of your house. In order to get the most accurate rating possible, it’s best to gather the above documentation before the assessor makes his visit to your home.
Prepare your home
Make sure that the assessor will be able to access all areas of the home, including the attic, garage, and basement if applicable, heating system and controls, hot press, doors, windows, meter cupboards, lighting and ventilations systems. Be aware that they may need to take photos as documentary evidence for the assessment.
What happens during a BER assessment?
A BER assessor will come to your house and make an inspection, which usually takes about an hour for an average three bedroom house.
The assessor will take note of the type of building, construction materials, space heating and water heating systems, lighting, and ventilation. They will need access to all areas of your home including the attic, garage, and basement if there is one, because they need to check the dimensions of your home, how much insulation is in various parts of the house, bathroom fittings, and whether there are any renewable energy systems.
How is BER calculated?
Using the data from their visit to your home, the BER assessor will enter the details into the BER calculation software, DEAP (Dwelling Energy Assessment Procedure), which calculates your BER rating in relation to the Irish climate, building types, construction methods, number of occupants, etc.
What does the BER result mean?
BER does NOT measure your energy usage, ie how long you leave the lights on, how often you have the heating on. BER DOES measure how well your home uses and stores energy, ie how efficient your boiler is, how well the house keeps the heat in, how much heat is lost through walls, roof, etc.
The BER certificate will grade your house on a scale from A-G, with A being a very energy efficient house and G being a house which needs a lot of upgrades to improve energy efficiency. A rated houses will have lower energy bills than G rated houses. So if your house doesn’t reach an ‘A’, you know that for a little upfront investment, you could reduce your energy bills.
Along with your BER certificate, the assessor will give you an advisory report which will give you more detail on the work required to improve your home’s energy efficiency. It also tells you how this will reduce your energy bills and carbon footprint. It may even include rough costings to help you figure out what upgrades you want to get.
Understanding the BER advisory report
The BER advisory report gives you additional information about what the BER rating means for your own property.
The report will list your current BER rating, a list of specific upgrades that your home needs to improve your BER rating to a rating of B2 or higher, and the final BER rating if you make all the listed upgrades.
For each upgrade, the report will also tell you how it will improve comfort in the house, rough cost guidelines, grant availability, and advice as to how soon you can expect to recover your investment.
The report also tells you how much of an impact the upgrades will have on your CO2 emissions.
How to improve your BER rating
The BER advisory report may include suggestions like these:
- Add more insulation to your attic
- Insulate your walls
- Replace windows and doors
- Install a heat pump
- Replace light bulbs
- Consider solar panels
Some suggestions will have more impact on your comfort and others on reducing your bills. For example, adding insulation will not only reduce your bills, it will make your house more comfy and warm. However, replacing light bulbs will only have a small impact on your bills, and not affect your comfort in the house.
If your advisory report recommends insulation, please give us a call to arrange a free consultation.
Please note that Complete Insulations cannot provide you with a BER. Only registered BER assessors can carry out BER ratings. However, if your BER certificate shows that your house needs additional insulation, we would be delighted to help, in which case, please contact us.
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