Questionable BER cert result.

The lips

I am viewing a BER cert for a house I am interested in buying.

It has a result of C3, 221.42kWh/m2/year.

The assessor has it down as a semi-detached house while it is in fact detached, two storey with the chimney stack on its gable end.

This would surely increase the U-value of the wall area.

Also, when mentioning the efficency of the gas boiler I thought it would be normal practice to list the make/model and install date of such an important feature to efficency.

sydthebeat

The lips wrote: »

I am viewing a BER cert for a house I am interested in buying.

It has a result of C3, 221.42kWh/m2/year.

1. The assessor has it down as a semi-detached house while it is in fact detached, two storey with the chimney stack on its gable end.

This would surely increase the U-value of the wall area.

2. Also, when mentioning the efficency of the gas boiler I thought it would be normal practice to list the make/model and install date of such an important feature to efficency.

1. while this may appear as a major mistake, in reality the actual mathematical calculations occur further in the software and that may have simply been an innocent incorrect mouse click. Once that full wall heat loss elements were calculated correctly, then the rating wouldnt change at all, whether semi d or detached was selected. And no, it wouldnt affect the u values of walls at all whether its semi d or detached.

2. No, its not normal practice. The BER assessment produces its own generic report. The parameters of that report are prescribed by SEAI and have nothing to do with the assessor. The assessor actually has no control whatsoever in what information is produced in that report.

The lips

Thank you for clearing that up.

ravendude

My advice is not to trust a BER cert if you are buying a house. It can be manipulated up a few ratings.
Get one done yourself when you are getting the house surveyed.

Based on my experiences the system lacks credibility (see below).

We bought a house a year or 2 ago, - it had a rating of C1.
After the purchase, - we pumped the walls, insulated the attic, fitted a condensing boiler, zoned the heating.
When we got the BER redone (as required for the SEAI grant) - the rating came out as C2 !!! - ie. lower than what it was prior to doing all the work!.
We pointed this out to our BER assessor and he rechecked his measurements and adjusted it to a C1.

It turns out that the original rating "mismeasured" the floor area of the house somehow! The house is a dormer, - so wall area and some other variables were entered incorrectly. The 2nd BER assessor (our guy) said this was basic enough stuff.

I complained to the SEAI but got no satisfaction. They wouldn't even do an audit, - some system!

kilclon

ravendude wrote: »

My advice is not to trust a BER cert if you are buying a house. It can be manipulated up a few ratings.
Get one done yourself when you are getting the house surveyed.

Based on my experiences the system lacks credibility (see below).

We bought a house a year or 2 ago, - it had a rating of C1.
After the purchase, - we pumped the walls, insulated the attic, fitted a condensing boiler, zoned the heating.
When we got the BER redone (as required for the SEAI grant) - the rating came out as C2 !!! - ie. lower than what it was prior to doing all the work!.
We pointed this out to our BER assessor and he rechecked his measurements and adjusted it to a C1.

It turns out that the original rating "mismeasured" the floor area of the house somehow! The house is a dormer, - so wall area and some other variables were entered incorrectly. The 2nd BER assessor (our guy) said this was basic enough stuff.

I complained to the SEAI but got no satisfaction. They wouldn't even do an audit, - some system!

I wonder do you have a case for legal recourse in this instance similar to mismeasures i commercial property valuations? Can anyone enlighten?

ravendude

kilclon wrote: »

I wonder do you have a case for legal recourse in this instance similar to mismeasures i commercial property valuations? Can anyone enlighten?

I had thought about it. It cost about 4K to bring it up to C1 from the C3, so this is what I would probably be awarded at best. I tend to avoid legal action where possible so opted (with some reluctance) to let it lie.