About BER

If you are going to sell residential property or rent it to a new tenant you will need a BER Cert. It's the law. An exception occurs in the case of listed buildings (for example some Georgian houses and certain other buildings subject to preservation orders).

Why? The BER Certificate will make transparent to prospective new owners or tenants the probable running costs of the building. The cert will also predict the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the building over the course of a year.

In addition to providing the BER Certificate the BER assessor must issue an Advisory Report which contains some standard advice on insulation and draught proofing. Enrate also offers a Recommendation Report specific to your property, which details the areas where deficiencies occur and suggests some possible cost-effective remedies.

BER Certificate

The BER cert is now required when renting, selling or building property.

Features:

This is the final cert for a completed dwelling, predicting annual energy usage and CO2 emissions. A Provisional Cert is also available for planning permission purposes. A BER assessor can calculate the certificate for a new build project "off the plans" using the supplied specifications and measurements. In the case of an existing dwelling, a visit and survey is always necessary.

If we have received payment at the time of the survey, the BER Cert and advisory report will be emailed to you as a PDF file within one to two days following the survey. The original is held on a national database at Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEAI). You can forward the BER immediately to your estate agent or solicitor. They will print off as many copies as neccessary or incorporate it into their promotional material.

Benefits:

• For the builder: a good BER rating justifies the additional expense of installing higher grade insulation and more efficient heating systems. Previously there was no incentive to do this as the final market price was not generally affected by these factors. (This is why the BER system had to be brought in).

          Secondly it verifies compliance with Building Regulations Part L.

• For landlords/vendors: Although you are also required by law to get a BER, there are other reasons. A good rating such as a B3 or C1 will enable you to achieve a better price. It will help you get payback for improvements and upgrades to your premises. However a poor BER cert could be a liability. Location will always be the primary factor in property dealings, but we can assume that if there are two similar properties in the same area, the one with a better BER will attract more viewings, spend less time "on the market", and command a premium in terms of price.
• Tenants/purchasers: Although these are not directly involved in getting a BER they stand to benefit from the BER Cert. They can legally demand a copy of the BER Cert before viewing which will give them a good idea of the future running costs of the property. Previously each prospective purchaser/tenant would have had to commission their own separate survey to find out this information.
• For Society: Reducing their CO2 footprint is a concern for many people. Irelands housing stock, which in the past was often constructed of poor quality materials (typically the hollow concrete block), will improve dramatically in the next few years. Any house built after 2008 must generate some of its own energy through renewables (e.g. solar panels) and have 40% better insulation. This will gradually reduce our consumption and importation of damaging fossil fuels while at the same time allowing the population to benefit from lower fuel bills.

How can I get a good BER Rating?

Download a BER Leaflet by SEAI