BER advisory missing insulation info?

Second Captain

Hi,
I have just downloaded the BER advisory report (DEAP Version is 3.2.1.) for a house I am considering purchasing. The property in question is an ex-corporation terrace house in general good nick with fairly recently completed external insulation. It has a C3 BER rating which is much better than most similar properties.

However, while the report includes the usual sort of efficiency figures and suggested improvements in the sections about the lobby, floors, water and space heating, some of the sections on the 'building elelments', namely the walls, windows and doors, only contain the usual generic text. There are no u-value figures mentioned at all and no advice statements - not even 'no specific action is required'.

Is this normal? I understand that the report is produced by the software. Is it possible to produce a report without putting in any data about the insulation? Or does it simply say nothing if the insulation is at a level that no advice is relevant. I assume that the external insulation is contributing significantly to the decent rating so its remarkable that there is no mention of it in the report.

BryanF

Yes normal
Yes, insulation or lack of can assumed based on the year of construction, if there is external insulation great!
I'd assume there is a good boiler and a large % living area that's helping the rating?

The BER system and advisory report is generic. Do not expect this to give you any real info on your house.

sydthebeat

it usually states something like:
Part of the XXXX area in this dwelling has a U-Value of greater than or equal to XXXXXX.
near the end of the paragraph

does yours?

Rabbo

The assessor can suppress those statements being included on the advisory report. I wouldn't worry too much about it

caesarthechimp

I have suppressed similar info in a couple of assessments in order to avoid any possible hassle with the owner (who is the one paying for the BER Cert)

In this situation it is likely that the contractor was "claiming" a particular U-value for the walls post-insulation, and may have stated that U-Value on the grant forms which were handed back to the owner.

The BER may not have been given access during the job and/or sufficient certified documentation afterwards to be able to credit the house with this same U- value.
Lets say, the BER assessor might have found that there was 100mm of external insulation, but there was not sufficient proof to say exactly what type of insulation it was. Even though the assessor might have asked for it.
So then you don't want to put yourself in a situation where you are in open disagreement with the contractor's claims, because no good can come from that

In a nutshell, the house would be "at least" C3, but could actually be slightly better (possibly C2 even) if more exact info on the insulation was available.

Second Captain

Thanks for the informed responses. A little more insight into how BER ratings are arrived at has been gleaned, though it just seems to increase the size of the accompanying pinch of salt.

Rabbo

Second Captain wrote: »

Thanks for the informed responses. A little more insight into how BER ratings are arrived at has been gleaned, though it just seems to increase the size of the accompanying pinch of salt.

For sure. And I say that as an assessor