Pre-assessment quote for SEAI grant

mel123

Hi All

I want to apply for the SEAI grant to get air to water grant. First off i have to get an assessment done. Ive got quote of €1200 (i get 200 back), is this in and around the going rate for people who have already completed it? Also to add, he said he can use my BER from when I bought the house to do his assessment so he hasnt 'charged' me for this.

bullit_dodger

Just FYI: BER assessments are good for 10 years, then they become invalid. It's not so much that he hasn't charged you for old one, but more that the old assessment should have the same values if he generated it from scratch again.

€1200 for a BER assesment though ? Is that what you've been quoted? Seems a bit rich. Usually in about €300 or so as I recall. Had one completed there about 6 weeks ago and guy took 20 mins. Measured a few things (external walls) height, took note of the window type (double glazing, etc), looked at the chimney, lagging jackets, insulation......and was gone. He then typed it into the computer back in the office and it spat out the numbers.

Mine was included in the overall solar installation quote, so I don't know the specific price, but yeah.....€1200 seems a bit pricey.

iniall

I've a technical assessment being done next week. The charge (upfront) was €676, with €200 back after/if the heat pump is installed. I thought it was expensive compared to just getting a BER assessment done, but I guess there's a lot more work involved...? I only have my own limited experience to go on, but at almost twice what I was charged, yeah, €1200 does seem excessive.

mel123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119116490#Comment_119116490

Wow your paying half what i am being quoted. Would you mind DM'ing me the name of the company you are using or a copy of the quote with your details blocked out. My quote is very detailed i feel like im being taken for a ride.

iniall

PM sent.

mel123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119116419#Comment_119116419

Thanks Dodger. Its actually more than just a BER, so maybe after all its reasonable. The SEAI site says i need:

Before you apply for a heat pump system grant, you must select an independent, SEAI Registered Technical Advisor. They will carry out a technical assessment of your home, and will advise you on what steps you need to take to make your home heat pump ready.

The grant is worth €6500, but then if you have to pay approximately €1000 for this pre inspection and all that, i suppose really its worth €5,500. Nothing to be sniffed at for sure.

Curiousness99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119117185#Comment_119117185

Depends how much of the remaining 5.5k the installer is pocketing

Curiousness99

I got a quote of just undeR €600 for a pre assessment on a 3500 square ft house in Dublin. And another €300 to do the BER once the heat pump is installed and work compete

Assessor commented prices had gone up a lot since the grants were launched earlier this year🤑

Irish Steve

All depends on the figures you end up spending. I had a quote earlier for a heat pump, the actual device is on offer from several sources at under 5K, but fitted (and they were incredibly vague about what was actually needed, their price came in at €18.5 K, so yes, there's some serious gouging going on at the moment. If you then add on a quote for close on 15K for a pretty basis solar panel system, and it's clear that being an approved one stop shop is being seen by some as a licence to print money. I won't be going with that option, not at those prices.

Dtp1979

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119116676#Comment_119116676

Hold on, what exactly is the 1200 for?

mackers10

I’ve been getting in touch with the one stop shops listed on the SEAI website and the quotes for initial assessments are in no way consistent…makes no sense to me. The lowest quote I got was €123 and the highest was almost €800. The others were €400/500 approx.

Then the professional fee’s I was quoted differed as well! From €1200 to €6500.

So it’s hard to know who to go with. Also very few reviews online for these companies. So if anyone has gone with the one stop shops, I’d be grateful to hear your experiences.

mackers10

Was this quote from one of the companies listed on the SEAI website?

I’ve been contacting them as well, so would be good to get an idea of the different quotes. PM me if you want 😊

mackers10

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058247484/pre-assessment-quote-for-seai-grant

Was this quote from one of the companies listed on the SEAI website?

I’ve been contacting them as well, so would be good to get an idea of the different quotes. PM me if you want 😊

mackers10

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119116490#Comment_119116490

Hi

Would you mind PM’ing me as well with the company you got quote from? Thanks!

WacoKid

Got a pre-assessment quote for €676 also. This is for a full one stop shop assessment though (roof, windows, heating etc.). Hard to imagine you have to pay the same amount for a sub set of this.

With One Stop Shop you need to engage with a provider on the SEAI website as they manage the grant payments to SEAI. All grants are paid up front and you just pay the One Stop Shop the difference. They then pay the SEAI contractors.

They will get the SEAI contractors in place for you, or you can get your own SEAI contractors, and they will just manage the relationship. Its all early days with this grant type and it's being worked out, but there may be a difference in the fees the One Stop Shop providers charge. Basically they are managing your interaction with SEAI for grants and nothing really more.

iniall

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119143348#Comment_119143348

PM sent.

arch_stanton

I had one done this week on behalf of a one stop shop for 675. The assessor said I should have a report back in about 10 days.

I’m not optimistic about the retrofit costs. The OOS have an estimator tool on their site about potential costs and gains. Even a rough ballpark figure is coming out very high. Adding 2kW of solar on the calculator estimates costs of €6,200 after grant whereas going independently you’d get 5kW for that money

WacoKid

OSS quote back after technical assessment done. Ridiculous to put it mildly. I can only go on my own limited understanding of what something may cost but it seems like price gouging to me. Fair to say I won't be progressing this any further, and likely to disengage with the whole OSS process and go it alone.

mel123

Sorry guys, the new boards and the notifications are **** so i missed if anyone was looking.

Basically so far i have got two parts done with the company and now i can apply for the grant with the SEAI. Ive got all the paperwork etc.

Im not doing the full retrofit/one stop shop, im availing of two grants, the heat pump and the solar panels.

I will say the whole thing is a bit of a joke, but anyway im going with it cause the grant is worth a fair chunk.

BoardsMember

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119143383#Comment_119143383

I was quoted 8k as a fee by an OSS. Scenario was I get my contractor to do everything, they just apply for the grants. Its as economical for me to go the individual grant route and forego the OSS only grants for floors, doors, windows. It's all a total swizz. It just happens to net out nearly the same, so the OSS shops have realised people doing renovations can't really be expected to use OSS contractors, but they're being creative in how to fleece those use cases, to be fair to them.

WacoKid

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119296230#Comment_119296230

On paper is may have looked all good for SEAI but the implementation of it is a different story. I will proceed with individual grants also and give the whole OSS a miss.

headtheball14

I've been on to all of the oss. Only one came out and was not impressed. They were interested only if I was getting the air to water pump installed. Otherwise gave some to my.mind slightly dodgy recommendations.

Ventilation they recommended trickle vents in Windows with kitchen and bathroom dcv ?? They said I would have to do external insulation partially and then cavity insulation. When I said I thought that would mean I wasn't eligible for a grant he said yeah that's right but that external would be too expensive because I had some brick at the front. Only worked with one window supplier so if I wanted anything else no go.

Total waste of time

Meeoow

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119366410#Comment_119366410

Were you waiting long for a response. I mailed them on their contact forms about 4 weeks ago, and haven't heard back yet.

headtheball14

I had a call from this one within about two weeks and one other called me after about a month but said they were only interested if I was getting an air to water heat pump too. It took about 6 weeks before the one company came out.

My house is an e Ber so should be possible to improve it but the companies really only seem interested in particular types from what I can see.

It's really not working as a model from what I have experienced. Sad thing is I would have made more incremental improvements in last few years but the grants were only available if you brought the house up to a minimum standard which would have meant significant expense. Now doesn't seem to be possible to get anyone to do the work .

poker--addict

Are these technical assessments standardised or is the quality and output variable? Hard to explain the price differences mentioned above? Also far easier to pick someone if they are all delivering more or less the same thing?

Meeoow

Over 6 weeks ago now that I contacted the one stop shops. Still no word. I think I'll go ahead and apply for the individual upgrades myself. It's hardly a good show to offer one stop shop if there are only a handful of providers to cover the country.

I mailed SEAI a query and they just sent me on the link to their website, which I already read.