BER sales and rental guidelines
Find the requirements and guidelines for including a property's Building Energy Rating (BER) in sale and rental advertisements.
Legal requirements
The BER certificate provides potential buyers and tenants with an indicator of the energy efficiency of a property to assist in decision-making when seeking to rent or buy a property. The BER advisory report provides recommendations on how to improve the BER of the property.
The BER Regulations (SI 243/2012) require:
- all buildings that are constructed, sold, or rented to have a valid BER certificate and advisory report. This applies to both residential and commercial properties.
- all sales and rental property advertisements to include the BER.
There are some exemptions to these requirements.
Exemptions
The following buildings do not require a BER:
- national monuments
- protected structures or proposed protected structures
- places of worship or buildings used for the religious activities of any religion
- certain temporary buildings
- industrial buildings not intended for extended human occupancy with a low installed heating capacity (≤10 W/m2)
- non-residential agricultural buildings with a low installed heating capacity (≤10 W/m2)
- stand-alone buildings with a small useful floor area (<50m2)
The responsibility for obtaining a BER certificate lies with the landlord or property owner.
Prospective tenants and buyers can request a copy of the BER certificate and Advisory Report and can input the BER number here to check it against the BER on the National BER Register.
Enforcement of these requirements is the responsibility of each local Building Control Authority. If the BER is not available or not included in the advertisement in accordance with the SEAI BER Advertising Guidelines, you should notify the local building control authority for the area where the property is located.
National BER RegisterBER Information displayed in property advertisements
When reviewing advertisements of properties for sale or rent you should see the BER rating (A1-G) along with other prescribed content (dependent on the particular medium) in a prominent location in each specific advertisement.
The prescribed content for each of the following types of BER information is provided in the BER Advertising Guidelines:
- BER Alphanumeric Rating Motif: The motif comprises the BER emblem & the BER Alphanumeric Rating (A1-G).
- BER Alphanumeric Rating Text: The prefix “BER:” must precede the BER Alphanumeric Rating when it is displayed in text.
- BER Number: BER nine-digit number as displayed on the BER cert. You can input the BER number here to check the National BER Register and review the BER certificate and advisory report.
- Energy Performance Indicator (EPI): The EPI is displayed on the BER certificate and is the energy required for space heating and cooling, water heating, ventilation and lighting. It is expressed in kilowatt hours per m2 of floor area per year (kWh/m2 /yr).
Artwork files for displaying a BER
Estate agents and landlords can select the BER artwork files you require and download them in zip format. These contain the correct images for displaying a BER.
Open the zip files
Zip files are compressed folders containing several folders and files. You may need to download a data compression tool, such as WinZip, to open the file.
Select your image type
The zip files contain both EPS and PNG file types. PNG file types can be viewed using most images viewers. EPS files are generally only viewed using illustration software such as Adobe Illustrator.
View the images
- Click on a link e.g. 'A Rating artwork files'. Depending on the setup of your system you should be able to view or download the files contained within the zipped file.
- Open the 'A_BER' folder.
- Open the folder 'A_BER_RGB_Web_and_PC' . In order to view the motifs immediately, the 'Web_and_PC' folder must be selected to view or download.
- Open either the dual or single folder, depending on the type required.
- Open the 'PNG' folder.
- Double click on the rating that you want to view. This should open automatically in your default image viewer. If not you should consult with your system administrator or an IT specialist.