Generic Steps - Conducting a BER assessment
View details of the BER Case Study 1
View details of the BER Case Study 2
View details of the BER Case Study 3
View details of the BER Case Study 4
Before the assessor arrives………
The house owner should have the following on hand:
1) The electricity bill - the MPRN on the bill is required from this to process the BER certificate.
2) The year that the house was built and the year that any extensions were built will be needed
3) The assessor needs to access all rooms and measure all windows throughout the house. The assessor will also need to access the attic, the boiler room and hot press.
When the assessor arrives………..
It is recommended that the house owner should request to see the following:
1) The public liability and professional indemnity cover of the assessor
2) A copy of the assessor certificate and assessor number.
3) Some form of company ID.
During the house survey/assessment ……
The assessor will typically cover the following steps:
1) Count the number of chimneys and vents in the house.
2) Measure the length and width of the house to obtain the floor area of each storey. The area of the exposed and semi exposed walls are also measured. The height of each floor is measured to obtain the volume of each floor area. Each extension is measured separately.
3) The living room area is also measured to obtain the floor area (as this is considered to be a part of the dwelling that is used most frequently.
4) The number of light bulbs are counted (excluding all plug-in lighting). Account is taken of the number of low energy light bulbs.
5) All windows are assessed to obtain the length and width, type of window and frame, thickness of glazing if double gazing etc.
6) The oil/gas boiler is surveyed to obtain the relevant boiler efficiency from the HARP database. The assessor must also search for a manual or automatic shut off valve to separate the space heating from the hot water. This may be found near the boiler or in the hot press.
7) The size of the hot water cylinder in the hot press is noted to calculate the volume.
8) The type of insulation on the hot water cylinder is noted along with any controls.
9) The number of room thermostats are noted along with the thermostatic radiator valves (TRV’s).
10) The type and thickness of the walls are noted along with year of construction for the house and each extension in order to calculate the u-value. House plans could be useful for assisting with this step.
11) The thermal mass of the dwelling is calculated by noting the type of floor, external walls, separating walls, and internal partition walls.
On a standard 3 or 4 bed semi-detached, this process would be expected to take approximately one hour.
To produce the BER certificate……..
Once all measurements above are noted, the assessor must then input the data into the DEAP software. The DEAP software is the SEI specific software used to calculate a building energy rating for an individual dwelling and is made up of approximately 18 separate sections.
The result of the data calculated by the DEAP software is then uploaded onto the SEI system. A series of checks are completed and it can take a couple of days to 1 week for the BER certificate and advisory report to be issued.
The advisory report provides the homeowner with advice on how the energy performance of the home could be improved.
A BER certificate is valid for up to 10 years provided that there is no material change to the dwelling that could affect its energy performance.
For a Provisional BER, the maximum term of validity is 2 years.
Also, the records of all assessed dwellings must be kept for a 10 year period by the assessor.
The cost of the assessment includes the €30.38 SEI fee for publishing the BER certificate report.
GLOSSARY
MPRN is the electricity bill meter number
HARP refers to the Home heating Appliance Register of Performance database and this covers efficiencies of product/appliances
TRV’s refers to thermostatic radiator valves.
Dwelling Energy Assessment Procedure (DEAP) is the official Irish procedure for calculating and assessing the energy performance of a building.