Where are the BERs?

A hugely underwhelming 20,988 building energy ratings (BERs) have been issued for new homes in total since the scheme started, according to the latest SEAI domestic BER status report.

 

BERs have been mandatory since 1 Jan 2007 for all new homes either at the point of offer on a new house or prior to the first occupancy in the case of a self-builder.

Such a low figure may in part be explained by planning exemptions - if you applied for planning prior to 1 january 2007 and your house was substantially complete by 30 June 2008, you would have been exempt from the requirement to have a  BER.

And of course the housing market has tailed off spectacularly over the last few years. However 51,274 house completions were logged in 2007, 26,420 in 2008, and 20,357 in the first three quarters of 2009, according to the Department of the Environment's housing statistics bulletin.

Many if not most of the 51,274 houses built in 2008 were probably exempt from the BER requirement. It's also possible that some of the housing completions from 2009 and even 2010 were "substantially complete" - namely constructed up to wall plate level - by 30 June 2008. In spite of all of the permutations of exempted properties, the thought nonetheless persists that a total of less than 21,000 BERs for new homes is some distance short of total compliance.

How can this be verified? Is there a way to get data not just on house completions, but on the planning application and completion dates in each case? What hope can we have that the 2008 building regulations are being complied with if people aren't even bothering to get a BER?