Building Energy Certificate

MysticalSoul

Does anyone know if as an owner-occupier, would I be required to get an evaluation of my property done if renting out a room in my apartment? I imagine as it is under licensee it would not be a requirement, but just thought I would check just in case...

Eurorunner

@irishamethyst: your right - no legal obligation as its a license agreement rather than a tenancy.

tHE vAGGABOND

search on this forum [and on the net in general] for the rent a room scheme.

The various in's and out's have been covered before..

The_Conductor

If you're ever renting out the property in full, or selling it, you will require a Building Energy Rating Certificate- but not for renting a room out.......

When you're getting a BER cert- the evaluator/inspector will give you a list of possible remedial actions you can make to improve the energy rating of the building- which in many cases can be simple little things- that do not necessarily involve massive outlays. For this reason alone- it could well be worth your while having an inspection- it may save you a reasonable amount in the medium term.........

MysticalSoul

tHE vAGGABOND wrote: »

search on this forum [and on the net in general] for the rent a room scheme.

The various in's and out's have been covered before..

Thanks. The BEC is only a requirement though as of 1 January 2009, so very little information on that, that I have seen so far.

MysticalSoul

smccarrick wrote: »

If you're ever renting out the property in full, or selling it, you will require a Building Energy Rating Certificate- but not for renting a room out.......

When you're getting a BER cert- the evaluator/inspector will give you a list of possible remedial actions you can make to improve the energy rating of the building- which in many cases can be simple little things- that do not necessarily involve massive outlays. For this reason alone- it could well be worth your while having an inspection- it may save you a reasonable amount in the medium term.........

Thank you. Am going to look into the costs of getting an inspector to evaluate it. Cheers.

bertie1

So far I have got prices in Cork for a BER cert ranging from Euro300.00 - 400.00. Personally I think it is a rip off, you know by the look of a property if it is new house it will be easier to heat than an old one , its just another cost that is a form of blackmail on a landlord just like registering with the tenancy board.
All these extra costs will one way or another be paid by the tenants in the long run.

Energysaver

bertie1 wrote: »

So far I have got prices in Cork for a BER cert ranging from Euro300.00 - 400.00. Personally I think it is a rip off, you know by the look of a property if it is new house it will be easier to heat than an old one , its just another cost that is a form of blackmail on a landlord just like registering with the tenancy board.
All these extra costs will one way or another be paid by the tenants in the long run.

The BER is for the benefit of the tenant not the landlord. Although generally older houses cost more to heat than new ones, it isn't that simple. It's possible to implement relatively cheap measures to significantly improve the rating of a house and so an older house may have a better rating than a newer one.

A landlord should be able to get a BER cert for €200 to €300 depending on the size of the property (and maybe less). A BER lasts 10 years so that works out at a cost of between €20 - €30 per year. The difference between energy costs for a B1 rated 3 bed semi (110m2) and a D2 rated one is €1,555 per year according to SEI (A guide to Building Energy Rating leaflet).

If I were a tenant, I would be more than happy to pay an extra €30 rent per year if it allowed me to choose between renting the B1 house and the D2 house - a net saving of €1,525 per year. It's a no brainer.

mrgaa1

It takes over a thousand euro to complete the course, another thousand for insurance. When you pass the course and are ready to register its 1000 euro to register and 100 euro a year to keep up the membership. You need access to a computer and probably broadband. Laptop around 600 euro and broadband at 300 a year or so.
To complete a BER the assessor will have to visit the house. So the assessor will need a vehicle to get there and back. Lets say 1 hour travel in total.
The assessor will need a ladder to gain access to the attic to check insulation details. A good collapsable ladder that is small and easy to carry is about 150euro.
The assessor will take about one-two hours to complete the survey to ensure that room measurements etc.. are correct and to do visual checks. The assessor may need to gather more information on the clients behalf if they don't have that info to hand - e.g. type of glass in windows, heat recover system details, boiler details, checkinig plans against what is actually built, if the house is old but has a new extension then two different calculations take place ....
Then there is thermal mass bridging calculations to work out which can take up 1 hour to do.
Once the assessor completes the survey using the DEAP software and are ready to upload a 25 euro charge is levied by SEI which is direct debited from the assessors account. A report is made ready and then given to the client.
The assessor has insurance on the work and insurance on a vehicle to pay for. The assessor needs to make some sort of living lets say 30 euro an hour at 5 hours - 3 on-site and two at home preparing the report. Then the cost of the report is 25. All of a sudden you can see where 300-400 euro a report comes from. Obviously if its a new build then the cost should be less - i'd say 250-300 as plans should reflect whats there - but older more complicated buildings will need more work.
Due to the fall in the housing sector most assessors will be working as something as else so the list of costs below have to be covered.

If an assessor did one a week at 300 euro a week then thats 15k.
1250 of that goes to SEI for each assessment
2500 for insurance
500 for car maintenance.
training and registration will have to be paid off over 3 years or so so lets say thats 650 a year.
Fuel will be about 1000
Mobile calls - lets say 50 a month - 600
So thats 6,500
This leaves 8500 - 170 euro per assessment.

So if the assessor only does 25 a year at 300 there is still 6500 ( will vary slightly )to pay for regardless of anything else. 25*300 = 7500 meaning the assessor makes 1000

Training and registration
Insurance - car, personal and indemnity
Travel - fuel
25 euro charge
wages - include tax

I hope this helps a bit

20goto10

smccarrick wrote: »

When you're getting a BER cert- the evaluator/inspector will give you a list of possible remedial actions you can make to improve the energy rating of the building- which in many cases can be simple little things- that do not necessarily involve massive outlays. For this reason alone- it could well be worth your while having an inspection- it may save you a reasonable amount in the medium term.........

Call me cynical but that sounds like a nice way for them to set things up for a 2nd visit....and a 2nd €300-€400. Put up a pair of curtains to help keep the heat in and I'll pop out again and bump up your rating :rolleyes:

The_Conductor

20goto10 wrote: »

Call me cynical but that sounds like a nice way for them to set things up for a 2nd visit....and a 2nd €300-€400. Put up a pair of curtains to help keep the heat in and I'll pop out again and bump up your rating :rolleyes:

In all fairness- I'd imagine that an enhanced rating would impact very positively on the rental potential of the property- sure, there might be an additional charge- but given that the property has already been surveyed, I'd imagine it would be minimal. If it did cost a little for remedial action to improve the energy rating of the property, and recertification- I for one, would be happy to pay (as long as I wasn't fleeced.......)

Boggle

If you are doing the BER just to meet legal requirements, then just go for the cheapest as its prety useless/irrelevent for new builds - although I haven't taken the couse on existing buildings which may have been better.

If you're doing the rating to have a comfortable home then get someone to do an assessment which involves thermographic inspections and blower door tests as anything less is meaningless.

If you want to a quick job on the cheap, light some incense and check near windows, doors, sockets, where pipes come through walls, etc to see if there's a draught (do it on a windy day ideally). If there is then seal the hole and you'll have a more comfortable home for nothing. There was some ?California? state website which described some decent ways to save energy on the cheap but cant remember what it was...