BER system has a "credibility" problem, says Fine Gael Senator
The BER system has a “fundamental credibility problem”, a Fine Gael Senator has said, warning that two assessors can arrive at different ratings for the same home.
Speaking about the issue this week, Fine Gael Senator Seán Kyne said the system is “not an objective standard”, adding that it can lead to inconsistent outcomes for homeowners.
Notably, Kyne is Fine Gael’s candidate in the upcoming Galway West Dáil bye-election.
Kyne outlined his concerns with how Building Energy Ratings (BER) are currently assessed, particularly where documentation is unavailable, stating that the process can rely heavily on assumptions.
“The BER system as it currently stands has a fundamental credibility problem,” he said.
“Two assessors can visit the exact same home and potentially arrive at two different ratings, simply because the system relies heavily on default values and assessor judgement when documentation isn’t available.
“Its not an objective standard and means that homeowners end up paying the price for it.”
He pointed to the methodology used by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), where assessors must fall back on default values based on the age and type of a property if supporting documentation cannot be produced.
Kyne said this can result in homeowners receiving ratings that do not reflect actual upgrades carried out to their homes.
“If you carried out insultation works years ago but can’t find the invoice, then the assessor will default to conservative assumptions about your home’s energy performance,” he said.
“You could end up with a rating that doesn’t reflect the reality of your home. That’s deeply unfair and it undermines public confidence in the entire system.
“We need to move toward a system where the rating is determined by what is actually in the building, not merely based on the paperwork which is available on the day. The SEAI need to update its methodology to reflect modern standards.”
Kyne also called for an increase in the level of grants available under SEAI retrofit schemes, arguing that current supports are not sufficient to encourage widespread upgrades.
“The available grants don’t go far enough, particularly older properties in rural areas which require deep retrofits and face the highest costs,” he said.
“We need to be ambitious with the grant levels. Increasing them along with better financing options and a BER system we can trust will drive uptake.”
He said the issue is particularly evident in Galway West, where many homes require significant retrofitting to meet modern energy standards.
“In Galway West we have a lot of homes without access to the gas network and dependent on oil or solid fuel heating, with poor insulation,” he said.
“These households need retrofits urgently. The State needs to make the system easier and more affordable.”
The BER system is used to measure the energy performance of homes across Ireland, with ratings influencing property values, eligibility for grants, and compliance with climate targets.
The SEAI administers the scheme and provides guidance to assessors, while also overseeing retrofit grant programmes aimed at improving energy efficiency in residential buildings.
Significantly, a recent ESRI report claimed that “actual energy consumption has been found to vary little between BER ratings (around 10,800kWh/year on average)” – though senior politicians have pushed back on this claim and defended retrofitting as an alleged cost saver.
