BER certificates for holiday lets: what Irish owners need to know

Hexuvium has looked after short-stay property since 2015, when we started out in Brussels. Owners in Ireland keep putting the same question to us about energy certificates, and it usually arrives late: a week before the first guest, or the morning an agent asks for paperwork. This piece sets out what we could verify from official Irish sources on 28 September 2026, and, just as importantly, what we could not.

The certificate, in one paragraph

A Building Energy Rating grades a home on how energy efficient it is. The scale runs from A0, the best, down to G. An A0 home uses no fossil fuels at all, so a house with a gas boiler cannot reach it. G-rated homes tend to be older, poorly insulated and expensive to heat. The rating is calculated from the building itself — fabric, heating, ventilation, lighting, hot water — and not from how many people live there. That is exactly what makes one property comparable with another.

Ten years, with two conditions attached

A certificate is valid for ten years from the date it was issued. Those ten years are not unconditional. Validity falls away if you make structural changes to the house, or if you change the heating system. Both are ordinary events in a holiday let: a new heat pump, a converted attic bedroom, an extension for a second bathroom. If either happens, or the ten years simply run out, a fresh assessment is needed.

The scale changed in May 2026

This one catches people out. Certificates used to run on a fifteen-point scale with sub-categories such as B1 and C2. On 24 May 2026 that was replaced by the simpler A0 to G scale, bringing Ireland into line with other EU countries. Your older certificate has not been cancelled: you may keep using it, with its old-style rating, until its ten years expire. Certificates issued from 24 May 2026 onwards also carry information on how the property uses energy and renewable energy, how the building could contribute to carbon emissions, and energy upgrades, plus a QR code pointing to upgrade information. Where older guidance still talks in B1 and C2 terms, we follow the more recent position, which is the A0 to G scale in force since 24 May 2026.

What it costs

Prices vary by supplier and by the size of the home. An apartment sits at around €150; a standard house runs between €200 and €300. Take at least three quotes before choosing.

How we handle it

We treat the certificate as a dated document with a diary entry attached, not a one-off errand. Expiry date recorded. Works that might invalidate it flagged at the moment they happen, not two years later. Advisory report filed with the property, rather than lost in an inbox. If you are weighing up an Irish property and want a plain answer, we study every request and tell you honestly whether and how we can help.