Building Energy Certs

R

rustbucket

Registered User
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Hi

Im know Building Energy certs are required for all new builds. But are they required for refurbs?

I have had an offer accepted on a house that has completely been refurbished. It has been finished to a very high standard and I have been told that it does not require a BE Cert as it is a refurb.

I am a little worried as I had a surveyor out to look at the house. although he was impressed with the work he said he could not understand why thet had not finished the rest of the house to the same standard

Problems
  • Attic insulation insufficient (minimum required is 300MM and this house only has 75mm and is missing completely in some places)
  • No water vapour barrier in attic
  • No insulation on water tank
He thought this was strange and is concerned at the lack of attention when doing a job of this size, particulalry to the attic where most heat is lost.

Is this something I should be worried about? Do refurbs require a BE Cert?
Should I be concerned that maybe other areas of the house that have been refurbished have not been done properly?

He said the rest of the house looks fine although there is no way to be sure to check vapour barriers and insulation of external walls without further and more expensive investigation

Cheers
 
Hiya

Building Energy Rating certificates are not currently required for a newly refurbished house. .

However! A BER certificate will be required for a sale of this house house after 1 January 2009 therefore if you go on to sell this house after that date you will need to get a BER cert. If, from what you are saying, this house will end up with a low energy rating (you need to look into this) then it could affect your ability to sell the house/the value. I think it will take a while before purchasers get fully clued into these certs but it is definitely something you should bear in mind when buying a house.

Regards
 
seen a site advertised in my local paper yesterday called has all the information for home owners dates etc for a ber cert and really everything you need to know about it all, I found it a great help for understanding it all anyway:) hope it helps!
 
A bit off topic, one that many people have not picked up on yet is if they are renting out a property they will need a BER cert. A new property to be rented requires one now, an older property will require one from Jan '09.

To the OP - it's not the lack of BER cert that would really worry me, but the lack of consistency in the work - but you know that yourself. I would be trying to avoid it.

D
 
I'm currently renting a house that looks fabulous on first visit, it's really well laid out, high ceilings, attention to detail in lights, doors etc, but living in it it seems the architect and the actual builder where cut from very different cloth. Little things like no sealant around the bath, and big things like very poor sound insulation would make me very worried about what else was skimped on. It doesn't matter to me as it's just a temporary home but would make me very wary when buying of inconsistancies. Maybe I'm just cynical but I would see it as a sign that there would be constant problems with the house as it go older.
 
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