• A BER certificate is an official energy rating for your dwelling. It is similar to the energy labels that are now on all household appliances. The certificate has a scale of A1-G. A1 represents the highest level of energy efficiency and G represents the lowest.
  
  
• The energy performance of a dwelling is expressed in the following terms:
  
  
• Primary energy use per unit floor are per year in kWh/m2/yr. This figure relates directly to the A1 to G Scale
• The Associated Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions in kgCO2/m2/yr

From the 1st of January 2009, all dwellings - new and existing - require a BER certificate if being sold or rented. Dwellings in the following categories are exempted:

• officially protected buildings and monuments
• places of worship
• temporary buildings with a planned time use of two years or less
• residential buildings which are intended to be used less than four months of the year
• stand-alone buildings with a total useful floor area of less than 50m²
  
  

• An Assessment can only be carried out by Assessors are fully registered with the SEI. It is an offence for persons not registered with SEI to carry out assessments.

Building Energy Compliance Ltd. assessors are fully registered and accredited by SEI. Furthermore, a wealth of experience in the industry makes Building Energy Compliance the ideal company to serve vendors' and landlords’ BER needs.

The procedure for carrying out a Building Energy Rating assessment is known as DEAP (Dwelling Energy Assessment Procedure). In order to execute a BER assessment, an assessor will visit the dwelling and collect a variety of data about the dwelling. Based on the information gained, the assessor will calculate the Building Energy Rating. Upon completion of the assessment, the assessor will submit the assessment to the SEI’s National Administration System (NAS) for approval. A BER certificate is then generated, which the BER Assessor will deliver to the client.

A BER certificate is valid for 10 years. If the dwelling is significantly modified during that time, a new assessment will be required. A provisional assessment on a new dwelling can be carried out from the plans and specifications of the dwelling. A provisional certificate is valid for 2 years.

No, improvements are not mandatory under this legislation. A BER certificate is intended to provide the potential purchaser or tenant of a property with the energy efficiency information of an individual dwelling

No. A BER assessment of a dwelling does not take into account the specific energy usage activities of the current occupants of a dwelling.

From 1st January 2009, a BER Certificate is statutory for dwellings that are for sale or for rent. Failure to supply same will render the owner liable to prosecution and a fine of up to €5,000.