A new model administering energy efficient retrofitting grants for home owners in the Defective Concrete Blocks (DCB) Scheme needs to be introduced, according to the founder of the Clare Pyrite Action Group.
After receiving conflicting advice from One Stop Shop providers, the Crusheen resident who has to demolish her home, said she is unlikely to use the current impractical model because of alleged extra red tape and mark-up consultancy fees of consultancy fees of between €4,000 and €7,500,.
Having spoken to a defective block campaigner in Donegal who rebuilt his home recently, Dr Cleary learned he didn’t have to go through a One Stop Shop. Instead, the new home owner completed energy efficient measures, his engineer signed off on them and the SEAI paid the relevant grants.
The SEAI website has a list of providers who are project managing the retrofit.
Having contacted six providers, one of them told Dr Cleary she would have to pay a contractor management fee of €6,750, €2,000 of which could be claimed back from the grant as the provider would design the retrofit for her.
This provider charged €650 for a home energy assessment.
Dr Cleary was told the One Stop Shop provider would send in their contractors to do the work, they would sign off on it and she could then claim the SEAI grant.
Having discussed this proposal with ten builders including block and time frame, she discovered this wouldn’t work as builders who already had their own SEAI registered tradesmen were not prepared to have another set of contractors coming in to rebuild her house.
Dr Cleary encountered the same problem again recently with a builder when she explained she needed to apply to the One Stop Shop.
“The builder said ‘I am an SEAI builder, I have my SEAI registered trades. There is no reason for me to work with sub contractors and a company I don’t know coming in on top of the build’,” she said.
She pointed out if DCB home owners don’t access the One Stop Shop model they can’t access all the available grants for replacing windows and doors, underfloor heating, air tight ventilation.
When Dr Cleary contacted a One Stop Shop provider again to confirm she had a BER rating, she was told she would require to get the provider to carry out a home energy assessment at a cost of €750.
“I was told one of their engineers would look at the drawings of my new house, he would do a retrofit analysis and come up with the measures that need to be done. I would have to pay €550 to bring this work to contract,” she said. “I was told if it cost €80,000 to do all the retrofit measures, I would qualify for a grant of €25,000 from SEAI and I would have to pay €45,000 to the One Stop Shop provider. Half of the €45,000 would have to be paid three days after signing the contract and the remaining half would have to be paid three months later.
“I don’t have €45,000 to pay a One Stop Shop provider three months into a new build.”
The SEAI said the Government has allowed DCB home owners to access energy retrofit grants for a second time, relaxed normal year of build requirement, and the professional appointed to oversee the DCB scheme can also oversees the SEAI works.
“The One Stop Shop service provides a service covering all energy upgrades from roof, walls, windows, heat pumps and others. The One Stop Shops are required to discount the value of the grant upfront meaning that the homeowner does not need to pay the full cost of the works and wait for grant payment, which is a huge advantage for homeowners,” said a spokesperson.
East Clare correspondent, Dan Danaher is a journalism graduate of Rathmines and UL. He has won numerous awards for special investigations on health, justice, environment, and reports on news, agriculture, disability, mental health and community.