FAQ's - Frequently Asked Questions
| 1 | What is a BER Certificate? | |||||||||
| 2 | What does a BER Certificate look like? | |||||||||
| 3 | When is a BER Certificate legally required? | |||||||||
| 4 | Are any buildings exempt from BER? | |||||||||
| 5 | What are the legal implications for non compliance? | |||||||||
| 6 | Who can carry out the BER? | |||||||||
| 7 | What are the benefits? | |||||||||
| 8 | Can my property fail an audit? | |||||||||
| 9 | What happens if my home gets a low rating? | |||||||||
| 10 | How can I improve my Energy Rating? | |||||||||
| 11 | How is it calculated? | |||||||||
| 12 | Who pays the cost of BER Certification? | |||||||||
| 13 | As a homeowner why should I get a BER carried out? | |||||||||
| 14 | Where can I get further information? | |||||||||
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What is a BER Certificate? A Building
Energy Rating Certificate, is a certificate, much like one you
would find on a domestic appliance (e.g. fridge) which labels
a property
with a performance rating, within bands from A1 to G, dependant on
it's efficiency.
The BER certificate is valid for 10 years.
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What does a BER Certificate look like?
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When is an BER Certificate legally required? When a property, either Residential or Commercial, is offered for sale or rent there is a legal requirement for the property to have a Building Energy Rating Certificate (BER). Since the 1st January 2007 all new dwellings require a BER Certificate prior to occupancy. A provisional cert is created from the House drawings and a Final cert when the home is complete. Since the 1st of January 2009 when an existing property is offered for sale or rent there is a legal requirement for the property to have a Building Energy Rating Certificate (BER). If you are a Landlord, with tenants in situ, prior to the 1st of January 2009, you are not obliged to obtain a BER Certificate. If those tenants vacate the property and you offer the property for sale or rent, you will require a BER Certificate.
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YES. The Energy Performance
of Building Directive (EPBD) applies to virtually all properties,
residential and non-residential, both new and existing. Article
3 of S.I. No.666 of 2006 provides exemptions for the following
categories
of buildings: Historical, architectural importance (protected structures),
religious buildings, buildings of low occupancy or size and certain
agricultural buildings. More specifically: SI 666 (2006 Exemptions) |
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| (a) | a national monument for the purposes of the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2004, including a recorded monument under the provisions of Section 12 of the National Monuments (Amendment ) Act 1994 or a registered historic monument under the provisions of the Section 5 of the National Monuments (Amendment) Act 1987; or | |||||||||
| (b) | a protected structure or proposed protected structure within the meaning of the Planning and Development Acts 2000 to 2006; or | |||||||||
| (c) | a building used as a place of worship or for the religious activities of any religion; or | |||||||||
| (d) | a temporary building as defined in Classes 10 to 13 of the Third Schedule to the Building Regulations 1997 (S.I. No 497 of 1997); or | |||||||||
| (e) | an industrial building not intended for human occupancy over extended periods and where the installed heating capacity does not exceed 10 W/m2; or | |||||||||
| (f) | a non-residential
agricultural building where the installed heating capacity does
not exceed 10 W/m2; or |
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| (g) | a stand alone building with a total useful floor area of less than 50m2. | |||||||||
| Under the European Communities (Energy Performance of Buildings) Regulations 2006 - 2008 where a building is being sold or rented the building owner and their agent are required to produce a copy of the BER Certificate and Advisory Report to prospective buyers or tenants. | ||||||||||
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Fines of up to €5,000 fine for not providing a Building Energy Rating Certificate (BER), when required. Please note the following: |
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| (a) | An
owner who is selling/renting a house is required under law to produce
a copy of the BER to prospective buyers or tenants. |
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| (b) | A
selling auctioneer would be considered to be an agent under the
regulations and therefore is required under law to be in a position
to produce a copy of the BER to prospective buyers or tenants. |
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| (c) | The Law Society issued a practice note to their members and they have interpreted that a conveyancing solicitor is an agent under the regulations. Therefore a conveyancing solicitor acting for the seller is required under law to be in a position to produce a copy of the BER to prospective buyers or tenants. | |||||||||
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Who can carry out the BER? BERs can only be carried out by BER assessors who are registered by Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI). A register of BER Assessors is available on the SEI website www.sei.ie/ber . BER assessors (usually building professionals like architects, engineers, etc.) must have successfully completed a validated training programme provided by an accredited training provider. The SEI will only publish ratings produced by registered BER assessors. There are restrictions as to what properties assessors can survey and these are listed in the Code of Practice as set out by SEI, as follows: BER Assessors are prohibited from carrying out a BER Assessment on a building – |
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| (a) | which is owned by them, or | |||||||||
| (b) | which is owned by any Connected Person, or | |||||||||
| (c) | which is to be sold or let by him or her or a Connected Person in their capacity as a sales or letting intermediary, or | |||||||||
| (d) | in any other circumstances in which they have a material financial interest in the outcome of any assessment other than the fee charged for providing the rating. | |||||||||
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What are the benefits? A BER indicates clearly the energy efficiency of a property and is of great assistance to prospective purchasers buyers or tenants to assist them in estimating the running costs of a property, therefore influencing the properties value. It also helps homeowners who wish to reduce their energy bills and help the environment by reducing their CO2 emissions.
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Can my property fail an audit? The Building Energy Rating Certificate (BER) is not designed as a pass or fail test of your property but allows for the grading of the property into the different performance bands. Your property will not fail* the assessment but may, regrettably, achieve a poor rating. There are steps you can take to improve your rating (see How can I improve my Energy Rating?). * The assessment does check whether your property conforms to the specific building regulations as they apply to your property and it's age and may show that your property does not meet building regulations.
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What happens if my home gets a low rating? There is no obligation on the owner of a property to improve a low rating. However, a low rating indicates that improvements in energy efficiency can be made which will lead to cost saving for the occupier so it makes both financial and environmental sense to make what cost effective changes one can. As the scheme
becomes more established it will undoubtedly be used as criteria fro
purchasers and tenants alike when choosing which property is best for
them.
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How can I improve my Energy Rating? With the Building Energy Rating Certificate (BER) comes an advisory report. This outlines recommendations which if undertaken will improve the energy performance of the property. Cost effectiveness is highlighted in the report so you would see that insulating your hot water cylinder will have a high payback at a low cost. You may choose to implement none, some or all of these recommendations. The recommendations typically cover areas such as: - Insulation
of walls, attics or floors.
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How is it calculated? The calculation takes into account the buildings fabric, ventilation, space heating, water heating, and lighting, when calculating a BER. The dimensions of the property coupled with the above elements are used to formulate the energy rating. The property is evaluated not on the basis of how you live in it but rather on how a typical level of occupancy would use it. For example, when lighting is assessed, the assessor will look at the fixed lighting only to see what proportion of low energy light fittings are installed. Lamps etc. are specific to you and are not included in the survey. Having said that, it is advisable to have low energy fittings in your lamps, if applicable, as this will reduce your electricity consumption. The rating
is expressed in the form of performance bands, within bands from
A1 to G, dependant on it's efficiency.
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Who pays the cost of BER Certification? The property owner. The responsibility for obtaining the certificate rests with the owner and so they are obliged to pay the costs associated with obtaining the Building Energy Rating Certificate (BER).
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As a homeowner why should I get a BER carried out? Since the 1st of January 2009 when an existing property is offered for sale or rent there is a legal requirement for the property to have a Building Energy Rating Certificate (BER). A Building Energy Rating Certificate (BER) for a homeowner who is not selling or offering the property for rent is not required by law. However they can indeed commission one which will allow them to assess where improvements can be made in terms of insulation as well as lighting, heating and the hot water system. This can be done by way of an Energy Audit and is less expensive compared to a BER as the actual certificate is not issued and so the costs payable to SEI are not incurred.
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Where can I get further information? Further information is available from Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI) and the SEI website www.sei.ie/Your_Building/BER |
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If there are any further questions you would like addressed, why not contact us at info@abcer.ie |
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HOME | Why? | BER
Certs | SEI Grants | FAQ's | Location | Contact
us | Links | Disclaimer SEI
Registered BER Assessor
ABC
Energy Ratings, No.10 Brooklands, Lannagh Road, Castlebar,
Co. Mayo. | Tel:
094-9026767 | Fax:
094-6027066 | Mob:
086-6645096 | info@abcer.com