Learning Outcomes for the Non‐Domestic BER Examination Introduction
Learners who intend to sit the Non-Domestic BER Examination must be able to:
•
Explain key objectives and the background to the EPBD
•
Demonstrate the ability to undertake limitation of primary energy use and or CO2 emission
calculations required by the Building Regulations Part L and as outlined in the associated Technical
Guidance Document to the Building Regulations Part L
•
Demonstrate the ability to accurately collect data from plans, specifications and physical
surveys to correctly calculate BERs and associated CO2 emissions performance using the NEAP
methodology and software for both new and existing non-domestic buildings of varying complexity
•
Produce BER Certificates and Advisory Reports for non-domestic buildings
•
Explain the significance, in BER terms, of varying the specifications for non-domestic buildings
Structure of Learning Outcomes Units
The specific learning outcomes are grouped into 8 units:
Unit 1 Building Energy Rating (BER) in Ireland
1.1
Background to the EPBD
1.2
Building Regulations Part L and Technical Guidance Document to Part L
1.3
BER Administration
1.4
Non Domestic National Administration System (NDNAS)
Unit 2 Non-Domestic Energy Assessment Procedure (NEAP)
Unit 3 Building Geometry
Unit 4 Building Fabric
Unit 5 Building Services
Unit 6 Sustainable Technologies
V1 November 2011 Unit 7 BER Assessments
Unit 8 Advisory Reports
1 Building Energy Rating (BER) in Ireland
1.1 Background to Building Energy Rating
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Explain the key objectives of the EPBD
Describe what the EPBD requires in terms of BERs
Describe the process that has been adopted for implementing Articles 3 to 7 of the
EPBD in Ireland
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Identify the appropriate legislation published to date to implement Article 7 of the
EPBD in Ireland
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Identify the types of buildings which are exempt from BER requirements
Explain the meaning of a BER to a client in terms of energy efficiency, the limitations
and constraints and validity of the energy assessment

Differentiate between the BER for non domestic buildings and Display Energy
Certificates (DEC)s for large public buildings
1.2 Building Regulations Part L and Technical Guidance Document to Part L
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Identify the Buildings Regulations that various buildings were constructed to.
Describe the requirements of the Building Regulations that relate to heat loss and
thermal performance
Explain how all applicable versions of the Technical Guidance Documents to Part L of
the Building Regulations (TGD L) can be used to demonstrate compliance with Building
Regulations Part L
Describe how the Part L primary energy use and/or CO2 emission limitations are
calculated for applicable non domestic buildings
Describe the Part L requirements which the NEAP software can and cannot
demonstrate conformance with
Differentiate between Part L4(a) compliance requirements and EPBD Article 7 BER
requirements
List the requirements of Building Regulations Part L that are applicable to all non
domestic buildings and list those requirements that are only applicable to non
domestic buildings that have specific planning permission and construction dates
Describe an assessor’s obligations under the Code of Practice where a building being
assessed is found not to conform to the requirements of Part L
1.3 BER Administration
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Describe how the BER scheme is administered in Ireland
Outline the roles of the key statutory bodies responsible for administering BER in
Ireland
Describe the process for registering as a BER Assessor
Describe the obligations that an assessor accepts or agrees to by accepting the Code of
Practice for BER Assessors
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Describe the grounds upon which SEI may terminate or suspend an Assessor’s
registration
List the types of buildings that an assessor is prohibited from assessing under the
Section 6 of the Code of Practice

Describe the rights and powers reserved by SEAI where an assessor is found to have
not acted in an independent manner

Explain the type of information that an assessor and client should agree in writing with
a client before commencing any BER assessment
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Describe the data storage requirements that are included in the Code of Practice
Describe implications the current data protection legislation has for assessors
Describe the type of audits an assessor may be subject to under the BER Quality and
Assurance program
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Describe assessors obligations under the BER monitoring and auditing scheme
Describe the key elements of the BER complaints, disputes and appeals procedures
Describe an assessor’s legal duty for health and safety in the workplace as required by
legislation
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Identify the risks associated with surveying a building
Describe the actions to take to minimise or mitigate risks to people, property or
information while conducting a BER assessment including a survey
1.4 Non-Domestic National Administration System (NDNAS)
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Describe the key functions of the NDNAS
Demonstrate how to manage a NDNAS account
Demonstrate how to upload a BER assessment to the National Administration System
Explain why NDNAS may return errors or notices on an uploaded assessment
Describe what assessors are accepting responsibility for when they choose to publish a
BER rating
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Demonstrate how to search for a BER within an assessors account
Explain how BER Certificates and Advisory Reports are published
Explain how the NDNAS charges for published BERs
Differentiate between a Provisional BER and BER that represents the building as built.
Describe the circumstances where a Provisional BER must be published on the NDNAS
2 Non Domestic Energy Assessment Procedure (NEAP)
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Describe the key principles, assumptions, limitations and constraints of NEAP
Outline the relationship between NEAP, sbem, isbem, approved DSMs tools and
approved sbem software interfaces
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Describe the importance of ensuring that the correct version of an approved software
tool and associated reference material is used in any BER assessment
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List the software tools which have been approved for use under NEAP
Describe the operation principles for applicable approved software tools
Describe the calculation process used in SBEM
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Describe the type of buildings that can be assessed using SBEM based tools
Describe the building features that can not currently be represented using SBEM based
tools
Assess a building’s features to determine whether a SBEM based tool or a DSM tool
would be more appropriate for completing an assessment

Explain how to estimate time required to produce a non domestic BER
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Describe the purpose of the notional building and how the actual building relates to it
Describe the purpose of the reference building and how the actual building relates to
it
Describe the values of the key characteristics of the notional and reference buildings
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3 Building Geometry
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Describe the geometry related definitions and conventions that are embodied within
SBEM and an approved software tool
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Describe all the geometry related information that is required to complete a
comprehensive BER assessment
Explain how geometry related specifications affect the energy demand of a property
Detail how to obtain all the geometry related information required to complete a
comprehensive BER assessment
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Survey a building in a safe, methodical and consistent manner and apply NEAP
surveying conventions to obtain all relevant geometrical information required for a
BER assessment
Gather and interpret data from drawings and specifications to obtain all relevant
geometrical information required for BER
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Determine the year of construction
Identify the default geometry related data that is contained within an approved
software tool
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Describe circumstances where it may be acceptable to use default building geometry
data instead of actual data
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Describe the justification documentation that must be maintained to substantiate data
used in a BER assessment
Describe the requirements and conventions that apply to measuring a property as
defined by NEAP
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Apply NEAP rules to measure all envelope areas and zone heights from plans
Apply NEAP rules to measure all envelope areas and zone heights from surveys
Describe the zoning requirements and conventions that apply to a property as defined
by NEAP
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Divide up a building into the appropriate zones
Produce dimensioned sketches for each floor of a property, showing overall building
layout and the demarcation of each zone in the property
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Assign the appropriate activities to each zone
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Describe how a zone’s specification should be amended where none of the activities
associated with the original zone specification adequately describes the activity taking
place in that zone.
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Describe how the activity specified for each zone affects the energy demand of the
property
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Apply a system for naming zone elements
Describe how to do an air tightness test on a building
Determine the validity of an air tightness test certificate
Explain the term thermal bridging
Explain how non repeating thermal bridging is accounted for in an approved software
tool
Define circumstances where the thermal bridging factor should be varied from the
default factors
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Calculate the liner transmission heat loss coefficient associated with non repeating
thermal bridges
Input building geometry related data to an approved tool in order to determine BERs
Make further investigations where geometric observations are inconsistent with
existing evidence and expected findings
4 Building Fabric
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Describe the building fabric related definitions and conventions that are embodied
within SBEM and an approved software tool
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Describe all the building fabric related information that is required to complete a
comprehensive BER assessment
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Describe how building fabric specifications affect the energy demand of a property
Detail how to obtain all the building fabric related information required to complete a
comprehensive BER assessment

Survey a building in a safe, methodical and consistent manner and apply NEAP
surveying conventions to obtain all relevant building fabric information required for a
BER assessment
Gather and interpret data from drawings and specifications to determine obtain all
relevant building fabric information required for BER
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Identify the default building fabric related data that is contained within an approved
software tool
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Describe circumstances where it may be acceptable to use default building fabric data
instead of actual data

Describe the justification documentation that must be maintained to substantiate data
used in a BER assessment
Demonstrate the ability to recognise acceptable sources of information for U-value
calculations
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Determine the U-value of various types of walls, roofs, floors, glazing and doors using
NEAP default tables and recognised technical information documents

Calculate U-values for each element in a building envelope using International
Standards
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Describe how unconditioned spaces such as underground car parks, stairwells, access
corridors, and large glazed areas affect a BER
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Calculate the effective thermal capacity [Cm (Kappa)] for each element in a property
Describe how the total solar energy transmittance (T solar) affects a BER
Calculate the total light transmittance (L solar) for different types of glazing
Identify acceptable sources of information for total solar energy transmittance and
light transmittance calculations
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Input building fabric related data to an approved tool in order to determine BERs
Make further investigations where building fabric observations are inconsistent with
existing evidence and expected findings
5 Building Services
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Describe the building service related definitions and conventions that are embodied
within SBEM and an approved software tool
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Describe all the building services related information that is required to complete a
comprehensive BER assessment
Explain how space and water heating, cooling, lighting, ventilation and auxiliary
energy systems affect the energy demand of a property
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Detail how to obtain all the building services related information required to complete
a comprehensive BER assessment
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Identify the different types of building service systems (space and water heating,
cooling, lighting, ventilation and auxiliary energy systems) and the controls associated
with each system in a property from drawings, specifications and site surveys

Survey a building in a safe, methodical and consistent manner and apply NEAP
surveying conventions to obtain all relevant building services required for a BER
assessment
Gather and interpret data from drawings and specifications to obtain all relevant
building services information required for BER
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Identify the default building services related data that is contained within an approved
software tool
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Describe circumstances where it may be acceptable to use default building services
data instead of actual data
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Describe documentation that must be maintained to substantiate data used in a BER
assessment
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Describe how the plant efficiency values are calculated
Identify acceptable sources of information for plant efficiency
Explain what constitutes a full lighting design.
Explain how to calculate ‘lumens per circuit wattage’ of a lighting system.
Categorise a lamp type based on visual inspection.
Describe how to assess a building served by district heating / cooling.
Describe how to deal with zones with more than one HVAC system
Describe how exhaust extracts should be handled in a BER assessment
Describe how an assessor should deal with a HVAC system that does not “fit” a NEAP
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Describe how enclosed car parks should be treated in a BER assessment
Describe how to deal with zones with more than one lighting type and/or lighting
control systems
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Input building services related data to an approved tool in order to determine BERs
Make further investigations where building services observations are inconsistent with
existing evidence and expected findings
6 Sustainable Technologies
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Describe the sustainable technology related definitions and conventions that are
embodied within SBEM and an approved software tool
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Explain how the different sustainable technology systems affect the energy
consumption and carbon emissions of buildings
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Explain how all applicable sustainable technology systems are handled in NEAP

Detail how to obtain all the sustainable technology related information required to
complete a comprehensive BER assessment
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Survey a building in a safe, methodical and consistent manner and apply NEAP
surveying conventions to obtain all relevant sustainable technology information
required for a BER assessment

Gather and interpret data from drawings and specifications to obtain all relevant
sustainable technology information required for BER

Identify the default sustainable technology related data that is contained within an
approved software tool

Describe circumstances where it may be acceptable to use default sustainable
technology data instead of actual data

Describe the justification documentation that must be maintained to substantiate
sustainable technology data used in a BER assessment

Input sustainable technology related data to an approved software tool in order to
determine BERs
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Make further investigations where sustainable technology observations are
inconsistent with existing evidence and expected findings
7 BER Assessments
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Input all appropriate administrative information pertaining to a project, property
owner and assessor into an approved software tool
Describe where to find the MPRN for any property
Describe how to proceed with the BER Assessment when there is no MPRN or it is not
unique to the building for which the BER is being prepared
Conduct a BER assessment using an approved software tool for a variety of properties
(both new and existing) of varying complexity
Check that data has been entered correctly into the software and describe how to
review data if the calculation will not process
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Describe how you would determine if a BER is outside the expected range for the type
and age of building and the further investigations and assessor should take under such
circumstances
For a variety of building forms, of varying complexity, compare the calculated BER and
the CO2 emission results

Determine if a property is in compliance with specific requirements of Part L of the
Building Regulations
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Demonstrate how the BER is affected by changes in the geometry, building fabric,
building services or sustainable technologies specified

Evaluate the effect that fuel switching has on CO2 emissions and energy efficiency

Save a BER assessment and generate the associated xml file to a required directory
8 Advisory Reports
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Explain the purpose of the Advisory Reports
Describe the range of measures to improve the energy performance of properties that
may be included within an Advisory Report
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Produce appropriate Advisory Reports for new and existing non domestic buildings
which are consistent with the BER assessment
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Describe how approved tools automatically select recommendations for an Advisory
Report
Describe the type of situations where it would be appropriate to remove a
recommendation from an Advisory/Supplementary Report
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Edit and delete recommendations in an Advisory Report
Describe how to recognise where a default recommendation in an Advisory Report has
been amended
Add a comment to a recommendation in an Advisory Report and a Supplementary
Report
Describe the purpose of the Supplementary Report
Explain to a client the benefits, costs and potential risks that should be considered
before any remedial work is undertaken to improve the energy efficiency of a building.
Explain to a client the day to day practices that affect the energy demand associated
with space and water heating, cooling, lighting, ventilation and auxiliary energy
systems
V1 November 2011