Self Build - BER Cert

busibee

Hi there,

Hoping someone might be able to provide some advice. I received planning for a self-build in 2011. I have just received mortgage approval and hope to start the build by year end. I have been informed by my architect however that the oil boiler and solar panels included in the original spec no longer apply and that I need to carry out a preliminary BER and have a Building Advisory Report carried out before commencing.

I have started to look into this and have received an initial quote of €800. This seems very steep (particularly relative to the cost of the plans) so just looking to find out whether this is the norm?

Any advice would be welcome!!

BryanF

would your architect not get you 3 reputable quotes, put them to you and deal with the BER assessor ? (you'd probably make a separate agreement to pay him in these times)

busibee

Actually I just got another quote for 250 from the guy who valued our site so much happier! Our architect was pushing us to use the higher priced company......

BryanF

busibee wrote: »

Actually I just got another quote for 250 from the guy who valued our site so much happier! Our architect was pushing us to use the higher priced company......

have a look at the amount of confusion and changing of minds on this forum surrounding what renewable combination to go with - i guarantee you'll torment the BER assessor over the coming months with adjustments, ideas & questions - if your architect is recommending the higher priced consultant then there is probably a good reason - though we would need to know what included for the price to be 800? are they perhaps writing a spec also? or doing a phpp assessment also? or are they an M&E engineer? or are they going to do some detailing? or air-tightness testing? or did that price include vat btw? - you see its hard to say whats a good price is with so little info;)

busibee

Yes, the higher quote is definitely for something a lot more comprehensive. Details as follows. The lower one will just provide us with a new spec that complies. The below is €848, vat inclusive. Plumbing and Electrical Services Drawings & Specifications will cost an additional €720 inclusive.

GREEN BUILD ADVISORY REPORT
Our Green Build Advisory Report is a customised report detailing the materials and services to be
employed during the construction of your dwelling in order to achieve compliance with current building
regulations and to ensure that your home will be a comfortable and economical building to live in.
As part of this service we will carry out a Provisional Building Energy Rating (BER) to ensure building
regulations compliance and to achieve our client’s target BER, e.g. A3, A2, etc. A feasibility study will be
carried out to determine the initial investment cost, projected annual running cost and payback periods of a
number of suitable heating options, eg. air-to-water heat pump, geothermal heat pump, high efficiency
boiler and solar, etc.
We will also obtain quotations from a number of reputable contractors specialising in heat pumps,
mechanical ventilation heat recovery, etc.

BryanF

busibee wrote: »

Yes, the higher quote is definitely for something a lot more comprehensive. Details as follows. The lower one will just provide us with a new spec that complies. The below is €848, vat inclusive. Plumbing and Electrical Services Drawings & Specifications will cost an additional €720 inclusive.

so its not just a BER then!!

seems like a very reasonable for what is in included

fealeranger

BryanF wrote: »

so its not just a BER then!!

seems like a very reasonable for what is in included

It was a provisional BER the OP was looking for:). Another company trying to sell you more than you are looking for.

db

OP, as the regulations get harder to comply with, I think the services you get from your BER engineer become more important. I went down the route of getting a cheap provisional BER at the start of the build and if I had my time over I would have gone for a full service. I had to use a different BER guy to do the final cert and it turned out that I had to go to a lot of trouble to fully comply with Part L.

I would be concerned that the higher quote you got does not include the final certification and if I was paying that much I would expect him to be involved throughout the build. Whoever does your final cert will need evidence of all those parts of the construction that you can't see so it is much easier if he visits the site a couple of times.

Where I did get it right was on the sewerage where I had an engineer involved to tell the builder exactly how the septic tank and percolation should be done and there were no issues with complying with my sewerage and drainage conditions.