Commercial BER Changes in Ireland 2026: What Businesses and Facility Managers Need to Know
Commercial BERs have changed in Ireland. Here’s everything you need to know if you’re a business owner or facilities manager.
As of the 24th May 2026, the Building Energy Rating (BER) system for non-residential buildings in Ireland has changed. The previous rating scale, which included subcategories such as A1, A2, B1 and B2, has been replaced by a simplified eight-category scale running from A0-G. The new A0 category sits at the top of the scale and is reserved for zero-emission buildings that don’t use fossil fuels. The change has been introduced as part of the new EU requirements to drive the reduction in greenhouse gasses under the EU Energy Performance of Building Directive (EPBD). It follows similar changes made to the BER scale for residential properties earlier in the year.
For businesses, commercial property owners and facility managers, the new commercial BER scale provides a timely reason to understand what a building’s BER represents and the growing importance being placed on the energy performance of commercial properties. The new non-residential scale applies to a wide range of buildings including offices, retail premises, hotels and public buildings.
But what does a commercial BER actually tell you about a building, and why should businesses care about achieving a strong rating?
What is a Commercial BER Rating?
A Building Energy Rating, more commonly known as a BER, is essentially an energy-efficiency label, like the one you would see on your new fridge. A commercial BER gives you an indication of the energy efficiency of a building. Buildings are given a grade, with A being very energy efficient and G being very inefficient. For non-residential buildings, the assessment takes into account the calculated energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions associated with key building systems. This includes space heating, cooling, water heating, ventilation and lighting. In Ireland, this is calculated using the Non-Domestic Energy Assessment Procedure (NEAP). A commercial BER rating, therefore, stands as a way for facility managers or business owners to compare the energy performance of buildings.
A BER is an asset rating.
For business and property owners, the energy performance of a commercial building can have practical and financial implications. Improving the energy efficiency of a building can reduce the associated costs, whilst also reducing the business’s carbon footprint. It’s highlighted by The Department of Enterprise that your BER score actually impacts your property’s value. Investing in the energy efficiency of your commercial property can help protect the property value and make the building more attractive to future potential buyers/tenants.
As Ireland continues to place greater emphasis on improving energy performance, understanding a commercial property’s BER provides businesses a useful starting point for identifying how efficiently their property is designed to perform. Understanding that your commercial BER score can be a powerful financial asset is key to protecting your business from devaluation and keeping your property running how it should.
Achieving an energy-efficient rating is simply not about the certificate on its own. While a BER certificate is valid for up to 10 years, the ongoing maintenance of heating, cooling, ventilation, lighting and other building systems plays an important role in how your facility performs day to day and in keeping your energy costs down. This is where effective facility management becomes increasingly important.
What Does Facilities Management Have to Do With BER and Energy Efficiency?
A BER energy rating provides an assessment of a building’s energy performance at a particular point in time, but the way commercial buildings operate on a day-to-day basis means the situation can quickly change. BER and day-to-day building performance are not the same thing, and facility management should not be seen as simply “maintaining a BER rating.” Instead, effective facility management can help ensure that systems within the building are maintained and operated efficiently throughout their whole working life. A strong commercial BER means little if, behind the scenes, your business is losing profit to reactive maintenance and poor energy system management.
How Can O’Brien Facilities Help?
Keeping a commercial facility operating effectively requires ongoing attention. At O’Brien Facilities, we work with businesses to manage and maintain their facilities through a proactive approach to building maintenance. Our Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM) strategy helps identify maintenance requirements before they develop into larger issues, while scheduled inspections and servicing help keep essential building systems operating as intended.
For energy-consuming building systems, this approach can be particularly valuable. We provide maintenance across areas including HVAC, electrical systems, energy and utilities, allowing a range of critical building systems to be incorporated into wider facility maintenance programmes.
HVAC, Ventilation and Electrical Systems
Heating, ventilation, air conditioning and electrical systems represent a significant area of energy usage within a commercial facility. Through planned maintenance, HVAC equipment can be regularly inspected and serviced, helping to identify issues that could affect how the system operates. Electrical services including high and low voltage power and portable appliance testing (PAT) are an essential part of commercial building maintenance. A PPM programme provides businesses with a planned, structured approach to identifying faults, inspecting and maintaining electrical assets rather than relying on guesswork. Instead of waiting for complete failure, maintenance requirements can be identified early and necessary works planned around the needs of the facility.
Tracking Building Assets
PPM isn’t only about carrying out physical maintenance. Understanding what equipment is installed, when it was last serviced and when it needs attention next is highly important.
At O’Brien Facilities, we use facility management software incorporating an asset register for each workspace/building. This keeps a record of asset locations, warranty dates, maintenance history, upcoming service schedules and even who last checked it. For businesses managing numerous pieces of equipment across a large commercial facility or multiple locations, this provides great visibility over the condition and requirements of each asset.
Proactive, Not Reactive
One of the central aims of PPM is to move building maintenance away from a purely reactive model that can cause high, unexpected expenditure in emergency callouts and operational downtime. Regular inspections provide an opportunity to identify equipment requiring attention before a fault develops into a more significant, expensive failure.
At O’Brien Facilities, we can help you bring PPM programme requirements together into one structured maintenance system, coordinating works, keeping records and taking a proactive approach to ongoing facility performance.
Looking to improve how your commercial facility is maintained and stay ahead on your commercial BER? Speak to our team about a tailored facilities management and preventative maintenance programme.
Sources:
- https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/press-releases/simplified-building-energy-rating-for-non-residential-buildings-to-be-introduced-from-24th-may-2026/
- https://www.seai.ie/ber/understand-a-ber-rating
- https://enterprise.gov.ie/en/what-we-do/supports-for-smes/sustainable-business/energy-efficient-commercial-buildings/
