How can 3cea help?

3 Counties Energy Agency already has 7  years’ experience in coordinating energy retrofit projects for homeowners. That ensures a quality retrofit focus for clients. We have helped complete retrofits on more than 2,500 houses as well as 500 deep retrofits since 2012.

We can project manage the entire process for clients – from your initial application right through to completion and sign-off.

Our One Stop Shop – 3 Stage Process

Our 3 Stage process:

• Stage 1: after contacting 3cea, we will visit your home, complete a BER assessment and provide a BER report. This report will outline the most economic and best quality solution to get to a B2 rating. This will include:
  o Measures required to meet B2 rating
  o Estimated Costs of proposed measures
  o Estimated Grant of proposed measures
• Stage 2: 3cea will publish the BER report (a requirement for the grant application) while procuring the best qualified contractor to price the works. The contractor will finalise the costs of each measure and will give us a programme for when the works can be completed. We will apply for the grant on your behalf as part of the National Home Retrofit Scheme. Final figures, including your grant, will be provided to help make your final decision to proceed.
• Stage 3: the contractor will arrive on site to complete the measures. 3cea will manage the contracts, timelines, materials, health and safety documents, and the contractors on site. 3cea will be providing any assistance necessary and we will be available to answer all questions that you may have throughout the project. 3cea will ensure the quality and standards meet SEAI and building regulations. The final BER report will then be published and provided to you after the completion of the project.

Once on the One Stop Shop Journey, 3cea will ensure you get peace of mind and ultimately gain a comfortable and energy efficient home.

There will be a fixed fee for Stage 1 & 2, while there will be a % fee for Stage 3.

Stage 1 – €595
Stage 2 – €1,400
Stage 3 – 7.5% of total cost of works (range €1,500 – €4,500 depending on costs of works)

Homeowners can end the journey at any stage and will only be liable for fees for the stage they leave on.

3cea will be working in partnership with ERI to deliver the National Home Retrofit Scheme.

The following technical requirements should be noted:

a) A pre- and post-works BER is required to be carried out for all properties with the exception

b) Final post work BERs should be a B2 rating or above. All domestic buildings completed must deliver a minimum primary energy BER uplift of 100 kWh/m²/yr.

c) In the case of insulation work, an optimal whole-element solution must be implemented. Partial solutions will not be eligible for grant support without prior agreement. For example, the upgrading of windows, SEAI assume every window will be replaced; failure to replace all existing windows will result in this measure being withdrawn from the grant.

Where in rare circumstances a full replacement is not required a deviation or scope change must be agreed in writing and in advance with the programme manager. Any install which is not a full install and has no written approval will be deemed incomplete and no part of the expenditure will be permitted as eligible.

d) A fabric first solution is mandatory.

e) SEAI will (as noted under the funding levels section) look for evidence that a competitive procurement process has been followed – either a full tender process has been carried out or at a minimum three quotes have been sought for the works.

In addition, SEAI will at evaluation stage review all prices against its pricing database (incorporating pricing data from across SEAI’s domestic programmes) for reasonableness. Where prices are found to be unreasonable and not supported with details justifying higher costs, SEAI will be entitled to adjust the rate in line with market value. This may form part of the evaluation process however post evaluation changes may be affected by SEAI prior to the award of a contract and without notice.

Funding Levels

Project Costs

As this is the first year of this scheme, costs can be difficult to determine. However, this scheme is similar to SEAI’s Deep Retrofit programme and the key findings of that scheme highlights similar costs associated with multiple home upgrades.

The Deep Retrofit key findings can be seen here. 

Requirements to note before applying

Please note that all homes require a pre- and post-works Building Energy Rating (BER) to be completed and published. Local Authority Homes are exempt from publishing a pre-BER, however they must be able to demonstrate the minimum BER uplift required.

Fossil fuel boilers are not supported in any way by this scheme and their installation is actively discouraged by SEAI.

SEAI reserve the right to conduct 100% pre works inspection of all domestic sites in advance of any contract award.

Public bodies must comply with public procurement.