Earlier today, I watched a great talk by Seth Godin (entrepreneur, author and self-styled ‘agent of change’), called ‘This is Broken’, where he highlighted various ways that people or businesses design around a problem rather than fix the problem itself.

It made me think about housing design and the kind of problems that I come across time and time again – things that are ‘broken’and with a little bit more thought and care could be designed out, so that they are no longer a problem.

I came up with so many examples that I’m preparing a series of posts highlighting the issues to watch out for when buying or extending a home.

The Bad Extension

Many of the enquiries I have received lately have been from homeowners who bought a home in the past few years that had already been extended but now, having lived in it for a while, they find doesn’t actually work.

Often, they have lots of space but the rooms are too dark or are in the wrong place or there is no natural flow between rooms and some become corridors.

Does this sound familiar?

The No. 1 culprit in the Bad Extension category is the extension that has been built across the full width of the back of the house, blocking all natural light to what were the main rooms and making these spaces almost unusable.

This bad boy will have the worst impact on a terraced house, where there are no side walls to add new windows and bring natural light back in. If you have a semi-detached or detached home, there may be the possibility of introducing new windows on the side elevation, to light those middle rooms, but if you also have a neighbouring house only a couple of metres away, these windows will have only a limited effect.

It is a double-whammy, cost-wise – not only do you end up with space you can’t use but you’ve paid extra for that space and will have to shell out again to get it fixed.

The other main offender is the ‘Designed (and possibly Built) it Myself’extension, whose distinguishing features include a warren of small rooms that have either no or limited use, rooms that become through-routes to the next room and rooms that aren’t connected but should be.

These are sometimes enhanced by ribbons of boxed in pipework where kitchens or bathrooms have been moved around, without considering existing water and drainage outlets and single skin external walls without insulation that retain little or no heat and will increase heating costs.

It is not always necessary to use an architect, if you are carrying out work – but would you have the know-how to recognise if your project is a simple or a complicated one? An architect will usually save money – and earn their fee – by identifying the most cost-effective way to extend your home, reducing the build costs and ensuring that the final result enhances your home and protects its value.

When buying a house that has already been extended, make sure your solicitor requests Compliance Certificates from the seller – these are documents, signed by an architect or engineer, confirming that the extension complies with the appropriate Planning & Building Regulations.

It is perfectly feasible, however, that an extension could be granted planning permission, built to the correct standards and still be a ‘bad extension’, as described above. Planning criteria relate to the impact of new building work on neighbouring properties and the surrounding area – not the quality of the space created in the building itself.

The lesson then, if you are extending, is avoid these mistakes and you will be on your way to creating a pleasant and functional home. If you are considering buying a previously extended house and spot any of the above tell-tale signs – approach with caution.

Did you find this article useful? Do you have any pet peeves about housing design? Please leave a comment with your thoughts on the subject and also any other home improvement issues you’d like to know more about.

A new law came into effect from 1st January 2009, that you should be aware of if you are buying, selling, letting or renting a home in Ireland. It is now compulsory for all homeowners to have a Building Energy Rating (BER) certificate when selling or renting a second hand property and make that information available to buyers or tenants.

A BER certificate measures the energy performance of a home and the certificate looks similar to the energy labels you would see on electrical appliances like a fridge or a washing machine.

The calculation of a home’s energy performance takes many factors into account including its size – walls, floors, roof, doors & windows; its orientation (eg. North or South facing); the materials it is built from and type of construction (eg. masonry or timber-frame); levels of insulation, ventilation & draughtproofing; type of heating and lighting systems and their controls (eg. radiators with thermostats fitted) and energy bills. It is based on the house being used in a typical way by a typical family, which may differ from how you actually use the house.

The benefit of the certificate is that it demonstrates the energy efficiency of your home to a potential buyer or tenant and allows them to factor that information into their decision making process. When looking at two similar properties in a similar location,  then knowing that one will cost less to heat is an obvious advantage, particularly at a time when energy prices are rising. A win:win scenario and a potential means of making your home stand out from the crowd in the current highly competitive market.

The SEI have published indicative ratings for typical homes and their annual heating costs. For example a 3 bed semi-detached house constructed in 2008 with a B1 rating would have an annual energy cost of approx. €725 whereas a 1990′s model of the same house with a C1 rating would cost twice as much to heat.

So if you are a homeowner looking to sell or rent a second-hand property, what do you have to do?

All BER energy performance surveys must be carried out by trained BER Assessors, who are registered with Sustainable Energy Ireland and operate to a defined Code of Conduct.

To find one for your area, go to www.sei.ie/BER – click on the ‘Assessor’box  and then click on ‘Find an Assessor’. This leads to a list of all the Assessors operating in different parts of the country, where you can make your selection.

Yesterday I contacted half a dozen Assessors in the Dublin area requesting costs for a report on a 3 bed traditional terraced house and was quoted between €275 – €350. For this, the Assessor will carry out the survey of your home, feed the data into the SEI’s National BER Register which generates the Certificate along with a report indicating where improvements could be made to your home’s energy performance and send the information on to you.

However, there are a few flaws in the system.

There is no set price for a BER certificate and no regulation as yet, so it is worth doing your homework and shopping around. But make sure you know exactly what it is you are getting for your money – from the enquiries I made, it seems that there is disparity between what different Assessors are offering. For example, one talked about a one hour survey, another 3 hours; some merely pass on the SEI automatically generated report on possible improvements of 1-2 pages, and others prepare their own 16 page detailed document. Make sure you are comparing like for like to ensure real value for money.

The BER Certificate is valid for up to 10 years as long as there are no significant changes made to the property in that time that would change its energy performance. If your home achieves a low rating and you decide to carry out the recommended improvements to improve comfort levels or its saleability then you will have to stump up all over again for a brand new assessment and rating.

Also, the training of Assessors to date has been based on the assessment of new-build housing. The SEI advised that an exam for the assessment of second-hand or existing housing will be available mid-year (though some sources are stating October 2009), which existing Assessors will have to pass prior to the end of 2009, to extend their registration. The interim arrangement is that Assessors can proceed with carrying out assessments of existing homes, on the basis that the software used to gather the information has recently been updated to include second-hand properties. It does, however, open up the possibility of BER certificates being called into question at a later date, if the Assessor concerned does not subsequently pass the exam or does not take the exam before the end of the year.

It will be interesting to see how these issues develop over the course of the year.

Any seller or landlord not providing this information is breaking the law and there are penalties – a fine of up to €5,000 and / or imprisonment for up to 3 months.

For more information go to www.sei.ie

Did you find this article useful? Please leave a comment to let us know your thoughts on the subject and also any other home improvement issues you’d like to know more about.