What SEAI asks for before they pay

Five conditions, and one test

Most refused claims fail on something on this page rather than on the work itself.

1. A contractor from SEAI's register

You must use a contractor SEAI has registered — and registered for that particular job. A firm registered for wall insulation cannot do your attic under a grant. The register is searchable and free to check, and it is worth checking yourself rather than taking a firm's word.

Being registered means they meet SEAI's technical standards, are tax compliant, carry insurance and use a standard homeowner contract. It does not mean SEAI stand over their work. SEAI say plainly that they give no guarantee, warranty or approval of a contractor's work.

2. Approval before anything starts

Your grant offer has a date on it. Work done, or money spent, before that date is outside the grant. SEAI's own wording: applications for work done outside the grant offer period are not eligible for payment.

3. The right age of home

Insulation, windows, doors and heating controls need a home built and lived in before 2011. Heat pumps, solar panels and solar hot water need one built and lived in before 2021.

4. A new rating afterwards

Every grant needs a new energy rating done after the work by a registered assessor, and published, before SEAI release the money. You book it and you pay for it, with €50 back on your first application only — or €280 if you are on a qualifying welfare payment.

There is no general requirement for a rating before the work on the do-it-yourself route. Heat pumps are the exception, below. Through a One Stop Shop it works differently: they do a full home energy assessment up front, and the rating at the end.

5. You own it

You have to own the property. Landlords are eligible, both private and commercial. Companies, management companies and charities can apply but must send SEAI extra forms and get them approved before applying.

The heat-loss test, in plain words

Before SEAI will fund a heat pump they want to know the house can hold heat well enough for one to work. The test is a single number: how much heat the house loses, divided by its floor area. Under the limit, the heat pump is grant-eligible. Over it, you insulate first.

Heat Loss Indicator ≤ 2.3 W/(K.m²). SEAI, heat pump systems page, read 2026-09-08: "You do not need one if your valid BER says your Heat Loss Indicator is equal to or less than 2.3 W/(K.m2)." Same figure in Technical Assessment Process for BEH Heat Pump System Grants v1.8 §4.1. An older 2.0 limit was raised years ago; SEAI's technical standards document no longer states a number at all and points back to the scheme.

Homes built from 2007 onwards do not need the test at all — SEAI assume they pass — though you can ask for one anyway.

Homes built before 2007 need it if there is no valid rating, or if the rating shows the house loses heat quickly. It is done by a Registered Technical Advisor, not by your installer, and it has to be based on a published rating of the house as it stands today. If you fail, the advisor sets out what to insulate and what each option would cost you.

SEAI put €200 toward the assessment, but only if you also apply for the heat pump grant itself. Advisors set their own fee; SEAI do not.

Two more things worth knowing

Replacing an existing heat pump. SEAI's grant page says you can get a grant to replace a heat pump that was never grant-aided, at the unit amount only — no €4,000 bonus and no pipework grant, because you are not moving off a fossil fuel. A separate SEAI document for technical advisors, updated more recently, says the opposite. Two live SEAI documents contradict each other, so check with SEAI before you spend money on this one.

Old ratings still count. SEAI simplified the rating scale on 24 May 2026 to eight grades, from A0 down to G, and the old sub-grades like B1, B2 and B3 are gone. Certificates issued before that date remain valid for ten years and are still accepted for selling, renting and grants. The target for a whole-house upgrade is now written as B rather than B2 — SEAI say the amount of improvement required has not changed, only the label. Some SEAI pages still say B2; they have not all caught up.

Efficiency of what you are leaving. The bonus for dropping a fossil fuel applies when you replace an oil, gas, solid fuel or electric system that is no more than 100% efficient. That wording is what excludes swapping one heat pump for another.