The BER system was designed to benefit all of those involved in the selling or leasing of property – but is it being implemented, asks CONOR POWER

ON PAPER AT least, the Building Energy Ratings (BER) system was to bring significant change to the way property was sold and let. Introduced in January 2009, it was to provide a clear report on how energy efficient homes were, benefiting purchasers, vendors, landlords and tenants alike.

No house could be put on the market, either for sale or to let, without the certificate, which would be provided by well-trained professional assessors.

However, many estate agents regard the system as somewhat dysfunctional, with some going so far as to deem it a waste of time. Very few tenants or purchasers ask for it, they say, and the certificate is only produced towards the end of a sale along with all the other necessary legal documentation, thus rendering the notional function of the certificate null and void. The agent is not supposed to advertise a property for sale or let without a BER certificate. The building control officer of the local County Council or local authority is meant to enforce the implementation, but anecdotal evidence from talking to auctioneers would suggest the majority of houses for sale still do not have a BER certificate, more than two years after it became compulsory.

“I think the implementation and the enforcement of it are, at this point in time, almost non-existent,” says Kilkenny auctioneer David Fitzgerald. “The roll-out of it was very poor and I haven’t seen, to date, any quality checking in terms of how accurate or otherwise the certs actually are.”

“In terms of implementing the BER, it’s going in the right direction,” says SEAI (Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland) chief operations officer Brian Motherway, who insists that audits on assessors’ reports are carried out continuously. “We’ve hit 200,000 BERs, which shows a lot of progress from zero just a couple of years ago.”

“I’m sure there are plenty of cases where vendors and landlords have their houses up for sale or rent illegally without BER certificates,” says Dr Motherway. “But we have to keep it in mind that that’s probably a relatively small minority of cases.”

“I don’t have a problem with the system,” says Tralee auctioneer Ger Carmody. “I think it’s important – it encourages householders and purchasers to practise energy efficiency, but in a technology that’s evolving so quickly, I wonder if, in another 14 years, we’ll be condemning these energy-efficient passive houses as unhealthy – where there’s very little air circulating in them.

“In the mid-1990s, it was policy to give builders incentives to install storage heating . . . Now sustainability technology has moved on and the same electric storage heaters will drag your BER score down. I don’t know if you’d even get a ‘D’ if you have them in your home.”

The cost involved in getting a BER certificate from a qualified BER assessor can vary greatly from as much as €400 or as little as €100 ex VAT – a low price, given that €25 of that must be passed on by the assessor to the SEAI.

“Prices vary like crazy, and I get the impression that, in their desperation to get work, some assessors are offering a rate that doesn’t make sense,” says experienced Cork city auctioneer Andy Moore. “It’s like a race to the bottom. If the price is so low, I don’t see how they could be carrying out the task properly.”

Associate director of DNG Brian Dempsey isn’t so sure that the quality of the report is a function of the price, but does accept that there are “discrepancies” in assessments.

As part of a nationwide marketing group, Dempsey says paperwork, such as BER certificates, has to be kept up to date.

“I notice a substantial difference in the way things are done outside Dublin and the way things are done inside Dublin, and that goes across the whole nature of the business, including the BER System.”

Savills director Ronan O’Driscoll says he is satisfied with how the BER system is implemented. Although there is a growing number of younger purchasers and tenants asking for it, he says it’s still not a priority for most.

“In an awful lot of cases, the buyer doesn’t even ask for it.”