Opinions wanted on SEAI Audit

stevo30

Ive attached the file which i submitted to seai for my living room audit

It was deemed inadequate by them no other reasons. I have had over 10 living room audits and always sent similar drawings and never had a problem.

I have emailed asking why it was inadequate and warranted one penalty point, surprise surprise no reply :mad: and we can't discuss audits over the phone.

Anyone have an image of what they send in for living room sketch's or opinions on this matter. thanks.

sydthebeat

ive never had a "living room" audit... how exactly do they phrase it?

No6

Perhaps it should have been shown on the survey sheet of the entire house so it would be shown in context with it, however if that is the size of the living area then I would appeal the penalty point on the basis that that is what is actually there and that similar information has been deemed accecptable by auditors in the past and reference previous audits. They have now farmed out the auditing to third parties, former assessors so they could be even worse than they were last year!!

Toplink

I would say you should have submitted as part of the full drawing of the ground floor.... not that it makes any difference but thats just my opinion.

stevo30

sydthebeat wrote: »

ive never had a "living room" audit... how exactly do they phrase it?

Thats the phrase they use 'living room audit'

stevo30

Toplink wrote: »

I would say you should have submitted as part of the full drawing of the ground floor.... not that it makes any difference but thats just my opinion.

I see what your saying and if it was my first audit id assume that was the problem, but ive submitted similar drawings for previous audits and had no problem so i can't understand why it doesn't suffice now

alles

Hi there.

I got a penalty point for a living room audit also at one stage.

The reason given was that the assessor name or number was not present on the sheet provided. Nothing was said about the calculation itself.

I see that there is no assessor number/name on the sheet you uploaded here either, so that might be the reason? When you get the email from SEAI they are very particular about saying to read the audit request _very_ carefully before submitting details. Check the original email and see does it have a request for your auditor name or number, as well as the floor area calculation.

Gavin

stevo30

alles wrote: »

Hi there.

I got a penalty point for a living room audit also at one stage.

The reason given was that the assessor name or number was not present on the sheet provided. Nothing was said about the calculation itself.

I see that there is no assessor number/name on the sheet you uploaded here either, so that might be the reason? When you get the email from SEAI they are very particular about saying to read the audit request _very_ carefully before submitting details. Check the original email and see does it have a request for your auditor name or number, as well as the floor area calculation.

Gavin

Hi, There was 3 other sheets i sent in to seai with the assessor info etc just didn't bother uploading them here so thats not the reason for the point either.

Ive sent 3 emails to them asking for a better reason and i also stated i was appealing the point but still no response. Headwrecking stuff.

caesarthechimp

Looks fine to me, if your ID and the job ID are referenced somewhere on another page.

stevo30

Enrate wrote: »

Looks fine to me, if your ID and the job ID are referenced somewhere on another page.

Yea my id and job details were submitted on the BER survey form. Still no reply from them, gonna ring them tomorrow and demand to speak to some one in charge, sick of waiting for a reply.

caesarthechimp

Its hard to comply if they won't say what they want. Let us know how you get on.

Count1

stevo30 wrote: »

Ive attached the file which i submitted to seai for my living room audit

It was deemed inadequate by them no other reasons. I have had over 10 living room audits and always sent similar drawings and never had a problem.

I have emailed asking why it was inadequate and warranted one penalty point, surprise surprise no reply :mad: and we can't discuss audits over the phone.

Anyone have an image of what they send in for living room sketch's or opinions on this matter. thanks.

I have just recently submitted a livingroom audit to them and I expect to hear back from them soon as to whether it meets the requirements. The only thing I can think of is that they wanted to see the living room as part of the whole dwelling in order to ensure you have selected the correct room as livingroom. However if this was the case they should by now have told you that and/or raised it on previous audits. Try looking back over the last audit results you got. Did they indicate that your Assessor number etc was not on the drawings you submitted?

I have queried/appealed an audit before and it took about a month for them to get back to me and accept that I was correct.

It is understandable that that they will not deal with appeals over the phone but they need to move quicker with their correspondance.

Best of luck

shanered

I also got a single penalty point for a living room audit, nothing to back it up, just a penalty point.

sydthebeat

shanered wrote: »

I also got a single penalty point for a living room audit, nothing to back it up, just a penalty point.

what does it say on the audit report??

under audit:- item /comment section??

muffler

sydthebeat wrote: »

what does it say on the audit report??

under audit:- item /comment section??

Keep up at the rear please.

You thanked this yesterday

sydthebeat

lol guess i wont get an answer then

muffler

sydthebeat wrote: »

lol guess i wont get an answer then

Kinda difficult alright :pac:

Poor Uncle Tom

sydthebeat wrote: »

what does it say on the audit report??

under audit:- item /comment section??

muffler wrote: »

Keep up at the rear please.

You thanked this yesterday

sydthebeat wrote: »

lol guess i wont get an answer then

muffler wrote: »

Kinda difficult alright :pac:

There's hope yet......;):p

caesarthechimp

Chimney breast area should be deducted from the living room area.

sydthebeat

Enrate wrote: »

Chimney breast area should be deducted from the living room area.

not entirely correct... from DEAP....

"....small chimney breasts, where they affect the total floor area by less than 10% overall, can all be ignored for the purposes of total floor area
measurement."

No6

sydthebeat wrote: »

not entirely correct... from DEAP....

"....small chimney breasts, where they affect the total floor area by less than 10% overall, can all be ignored for the purposes of total floor area
measurement."

I generally ignore them, just more damn measurements!!!

caesarthechimp

sydthebeat wrote: »

"....small chimney breasts, where they affect the total floor area by less than 10% overall, can all be ignored for the purposes of total floor area
measurement."

True, but for the purposes of living room area they are deducted, according to technical guidance issued since this thread started. Possibly this answers the question raised by the OP?

sydthebeat

Enrate wrote: »

True, but for the purposes of living room area they are deducted, according to technical guidance issued since this thread started. Possibly this answers the question raised by the OP?

thanks enrate, i stand corrected.

the march 2011 technical bulletin includes the following statement:

"Accuracy of Living Area Measurements
Bay windows, chimney breasts and other small areas within the living room area must be included in the living room area measurement. DEAP Appendix S4 states that “Small bay windows, small porches, small door entrances or recesses, small chimney breasts, where they affect the total floor area by less than 10% overall, can all be ignored for the purposes of total floor area measurement.”
However, this text from DEAP Appendix S4 does not apply to measurement of the living room area."

No6

I wish they would make up their minds!! when i started I was meauring everything including Chimney Brests, then there was some advice somewhere to ignore them so i did, not it seems they have changed their mind again, worse than a woman getting dress to go out!!!

sydthebeat

same for me no.6

on my training course we were explicitly told to ignore features such as chimney breasts, and measure to what was the obvious wall. These technical bulletins seem to not more than goal post shifters.

One of the more scary ones was included right at the end of teh july 2011 technical bulletin.
If doing an assessment where the client is applying for a grant under the Better Energy Homes Scheme...
"if the assessor feels the completed works ... do not conform to the standards in the Better Energy Homes Scheme Code of practise and technical specification they are still obliged to carry out the BER but should notify SEAI of their concerns via the Better enegy homes help desk.

so not only are we constantly having the procedure augmented and altered, risking penalty points... but now we're also supposed to be versed in that 48 page document... plus all the ancillary documents which go with it (eg Uk energy savings trust docs and BRE docs) and are supposed to act as SEAI inspectors on grant jobs as well !!!!!!!!!!!

happy bed time reading!!

sydthebeat

JESUS, im getting so peed off with these bloody audits....

they have increased in frequency so much that i have had two on at any one time for the last few months.... WTF!!!!!
is there no end to this???

im getting to the point of putting in an offical complaint against SEAI constantly changing the goal posts with the BER scheme.

picorette

Agreed, Syd. Of late, I always have one on , & I don't do that many. Surely they should only be auditing a percentage of them, not almost every one - or do they keep at you until they strike lucky ?

topcatcbr

I too am seeing about every second BER cert Audited. It has become rediculous. I see today the system is down. This is to integrate the new 3.2 software. I also see they have "updated" the U-Value defaults. Does this mean all the previous defaults were incorrect.

No6

I went through a bad spell earlier in the year too, are you getting single point audits, desk audits or practice audits. I had a desk audit last year, took nealry a week to put the stuff together for it very painful!!!

topcatcbr

No6 wrote: »

I went through a bad spell earlier in the year too, are you getting single point audits, desk audits or practice audits. I had a desk audit last year, took nealry a week to put the stuff together for it very painful!!!

Single point audits

I wouldnt mind but i have been passing them. No desk or Practice Audit so far.

muffler

Slightly off topic here but its not easy on the applicants for insulation grants either. I was just completing an online application for my brother and part of their T & C's states

• I hereby consent to my name, address and grant details (including amount and nature of measures adopted) being made available to the public and other authorities by SEAI.

WTF :eek:

Damn thing is you have to accept or no grant :mad:

bikewiddow

Kinda from another angle but auditing all the same, around 6 weeks ago, we recieved a grant payment for wall and attic insulation from SEAI.
Last week we received a letter from them saying we have been selected to be audited.
Does anyone know exactly what this would entail.
Incidentally, the BER assessor said when he gave us the completed forms, that he really hoped this one wasn't picked for auditing. Not sure why he said that. Maybe its because the insulation to the existing house was done at the same time as a large extension was being built, so not straightforward. Hope its not a bad sign....... We bought the insulation ourselves and had it fitted by a registered contractor. Its a domestic house.
Thanks,

muffler

bikewiddow wrote: »

Kinda from another angle but auditing all the same, around 6 weeks ago, we recieved a grant payment for wall and attic insulation from SEAI.
Last week we received a letter from them saying we have been selected to be audited.
Does anyone know exactly what this would entail.
Incidentally, the BER assessor said when he gave us the completed forms, that he really hoped this one wasn't picked for auditing. Not sure why he said that. Maybe its because the insulation to the existing house was done at the same time as a large extension was being built, so not straightforward. Hope its not a bad sign....... We bought the insulation ourselves and had it fitted by a registered contractor. Its a domestic house.
Thanks,

The audit would be carried out to inspect the works done by the contractor and possibly the BER assessor. I dont think you have anything to worry about personally.

I had an inspection of my works carried out after the grant had been paid and both the plumber and the contractor who carried out the insulation had to return to complete a few small items.