BER certificates and assessments in Ireland

The essentials

Find your rating, then plan the improvement

A Building Energy Rating (BER) compares calculated energy performance under standard assumptions. It does not predict your electricity or heating bill.
New certificates use A0, A, B, C, D, E, F and G from 24 May 2026. A valid older certificate does not need replacing just because it uses the previous scale.
Get the advisory report as well as the certificate. It recommends improvements; a survey and design turn them into work suitable for the house.
Before insulation is covered up, agree with your assessor what product records, measurements and photographs will support the next BER.

A Building Energy Rating (BER) describes a home’s calculated energy performance. The certificate gives the rating; the accompanying advisory report recommends ways to improve it. Start by finding both documents, rather than ordering insulation from the letter alone.

What the rating tells you

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) runs the BER scheme. Its BER explanation describes a calculation based on the building and its systems, including heating, hot water, ventilation and lighting. It uses standard assumptions about occupancy and heating so homes can be compared. Your actual bills also depend on how you live in the house and the energy prices you pay.

The certificate’s energy performance indicator expresses calculated annual energy use per square metre of floor area, in kWh/m²/year. A kilowatt-hour (kWh) is a unit of energy. The primary-energy figure includes energy used to produce and supply the energy consumed at home. Ask the assessor to explain it alongside the letter; it is not a forecast of the units on your electricity bill.

The scale changed in May 2026

Certificates issued from 24 May 2026 use A0, A, B, C, D, E, F and G. A0 identifies the most efficient buildings without fossil-fuel use; G is the least efficient end. The previous subdivisions, such as A2 and B2, no longer appear on newly issued certificates.

A valid older certificate can still be used. You do not need to buy another assessment simply to change the label. SEAI’s scale-change guidance also explains that the One Stop Shop post-works target changed from B2 to B, while the minimum required energy-efficiency improvement stayed the same. Ask the provider to check the current scheme conditions against your project, rather than translating an old letter yourself.

Find an existing BER before booking another

Use the National BER Register with either the BER number on the certificate or the Meter Point Reference Number (MPRN) on the electricity bill. Check the address and expiry date, then download the certificate and advisory report.

For a domestic BER published before 6 July 2021, the register needs the MPRN to retrieve the advisory report. If you are buying or renting and do not have it, ask the owner or agent for the report.

An existing-home certificate lasts up to ten years, unless changes affect its energy performance. SEAI gives an extension or new heating system as examples. Tell the assessor about any insulation or other work since the survey; an old certificate may no longer describe the home. See SEAI’s validity and retrieval guidance.

When should you arrange an assessment?

Selling or renting: the owner is responsible for obtaining a valid BER and advisory report, and sale or rental advertising must include the required BER information. Some buildings are exempt, including protected structures. Check SEAI’s advertising rules and exemptions before relying on an exemption; being an old house alone does not establish one.

Planning improvements: use an existing report as the starting point. If it is missing or the house has changed, ask a registered assessor whether a new BER and upgrade advice would help. State that you need advice before work, so the appointment answers that question rather than only recording a finished home.

Claiming an individual insulation grant: the Better Energy Homes application guide requires a post-works BER after the funded work is complete. Arrange the assessor when the work is booked, allow time for publication and the grant forms, and ask who completes each section of the Declaration of Works. This is the scheme’s completion form, signed by the homeowner, contractor and BER assessor. Follow your grant offer’s deadline.

An early planning assessment and the required final assessment serve different purposes. Ask whether both are needed for your route and what each costs. Our grant guide explains the application order, including approval before work starts.

Book the right service and compare its full price

Follow SEAI’s assessment steps and registered assessor search. Assessors are independent professionals, rather than SEAI employees. Ask at least three for a written quote and delivery date. Compare their total prices including VAT, expenses and publication, and ask about any return visit.

Describe the house, extensions, known upgrades and why you need the assessment. Ask the quote to state whether it includes a discussion of improvement options, a calculation of a proposed package, or only the assessment and standard report. Confirm how the assessor’s independence from the installer is maintained.

For several coordinated upgrades, compare a One Stop Shop home energy assessment. A One Stop Shop is an SEAI-registered provider that manages home energy upgrades. Its assessment includes a BER, a technical upgrade report, estimated costs and a heat-pump technical assessment. You can take the report to another registered provider and do not have to proceed with the recommended works. Ask what the assessment costs after any confirmed support.

Keep the evidence before insulation is hidden

A new layer may be impossible to measure once the wall or floor is closed. Ask the assessor before work starts what evidence they will accept, then put responsibility for providing it in the installer’s written scope. SEAI’s homeowner checklist covers:

The home’s address, MPRN and any previous BER documents.
Records of the original construction date and extensions, plus available plans.
Insulation product, thickness and area covered, supported by suitable invoices, signed work records or specifications and photographs as agreed with the assessor.
Heating equipment details, window and door performance certificates, and any test report measuring unwanted air leakage.

Keep your own copies. Ask the assessor to check whether the file is sufficient before the final visit. Missing evidence can require default values: cautious assumptions based on the age and construction of the home. Those can produce a poorer rating than properly evidenced upgrades. A contractor’s promise of a better letter does not replace the records.

For the survey, arrange safe access to rooms, the attic, heating and hot-water equipment, vents and meter cupboards. Tell the assessor about inaccessible areas in advance; do not create unsafe access just to complete the appointment.

Turn the advisory report into a work plan

The advisory report is a starting point for discussion with a building professional. Review its recommendations with the assessor: which parts of the house perform poorly, what package is proposed and which improvements could be staged?

Then ask a suitable surveyor or retrofit designer to inspect the house and specify the work. A retrofit designer plans improvements to an existing building. Ask them to resolve damp, ventilation and how insulation meets at windows, floors and roofs before asking installers to price the same scope. The report’s cost indications are not a contractor’s quote or grant approval.

For traditional stone or solid-wall buildings, choose a professional with relevant experience; a target letter alone does not show that a method will suit the materials. For a future heat pump, ask for the appropriate suitability assessment and heating design. Our whole-house planning guide explains those roles and a practical sequence.

How insulation changes the result

Insulation reduces calculated heat loss through the treated part of the building. The effect depends on what was there before, how much is treated and how it connects to the rest of the home. There is no reliable rule that an attic job always adds one band or that wall insulation guarantees a particular rating.

Ask the assessor to compare the existing home and your proposed package using the energy calculation. Ask which construction details and evidence that projection assumes. Compare comfort, disruption and complete price alongside the projected rating, and keep the proposal for the final assessment.

SEAI’s upgrade guidance recommends reducing heat loss first and retaining adequate ventilation. Draught sealing must preserve deliberate fresh-air supplies and any air needed by fuel-burning appliances. Have the designer include ventilation in the work and quote.

Your next step

Download your existing certificate and advisory report, gather the upgrade records and choose the assessment that fits your plans. After the new assessment, check the published documents and ask the assessor about any unexpected inputs or recommendations. Keep the complete file for later work or a sale.

Use the contractor guide to request comparable quotes for the agreed work.

Common questions

How long does a BER last?

An existing-home BER is valid for up to ten years unless changes affect the home’s energy performance, such as an extension or a new heating system. Check its expiry date on the National BER Register and tell your assessor about work since the survey. The change to the A0–G scale alone does not invalidate an older certificate.

Will attic insulation move my home up a BER band?

There is no fixed band improvement for one measure. The starting insulation, the area treated and the rest of the home affect the result. Ask your assessor to compare the existing home with the proposed work in the energy calculation before relying on a promised rating.

Can I use a BER from before the work for my insulation grant claim?

Better Energy Homes insulation grants require a post-works BER, carried out after the funded work is finished. Arrange that visit when booking the work and ask the assessor to complete the relevant Declaration of Works sections. A previous certificate does not show the completed upgrade.

What if the new BER is worse than I expected?

Ask the assessor to explain the inputs, evidence and advisory report. Check whether missing insulation records led to conservative assumptions, and provide any supporting documents for the assessor to review. If a query remains unresolved, contact SEAI’s BER helpdesk through its assessment guidance linked in the sources.

Work out your own numbers

Grant total: add up what each SEAI route pays for your upgrades.
Which grant route: five questions to find where to apply first.

Sources and review

Reviewed by Rudy Greene on 31 October 2026. Sources were last checked on 30 October 2026. The review checks published guidance; ask a contractor to survey and design the work for your home.