Become a professional House Energy Rating Assessor

As a NatHERS Accredited Assessor, you will join other energy rating assessors across Australia who are recognised as professionals in their field…

Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) Star Ratings are conducted by professionals using purpose-built software for a number of purposes, including:

  • To meet the mandatory energy efficiency requirements for homes and major renovations based on the National Construction Code
  • To advise home owners, architects and builders on the energy efficiency of various house designs
  • To advise prospective home buyers on the thermal performance of a home they are interested in buying

You will also receive support to ensure that your home energy ratings are conducted in a reliable and consistent way.

The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) provides homes with a star rating out of ten based on an estimate of a home’s potential (heating and cooling) energy use. By providing a ‘measuring tape’ for energy efficiency, NatHERS helps to make Australian homes more comfortable for their inhabitants and help residents to save on energy bills through smarter design choices. Often good design can reduce the amount of energy needed to keep a home comfortable with no or little additional construction cost.

NatHERS promotes the benefits of increasing thermal performance of homes, as this can often be achieved with no or little additional construction cost.

Through its inclusion in the National Construction Code, NatHERS is used by state and territory governments to reduce the greenhouse gas impacts of residential buildings.

By providing a ‘measuring tape’ to estimate a home’s potential heating and cooling energy use, NatHERS helps to make Australian homes more comfortable for their inhabitants and also helps residents to save on energy bills through smarter design choices.

Often good design can reduce the amount of energy needed to keep a home comfortable with no or little additional construction cost.

NatHERS is administered by the Department of the Environment and Energy on behalf of the states and territories.

How do I become a Home Energy Efficiency assessor?

To become and maintain accreditation as an accredited House Energy Rating Assessor  you must;

  • apply to become a member of an Assessor Accrediting Organisation (AAO).
  • have successfully completed the Certificate IV in NatHERS assessment (CPP41212) or Certificate IV in Home Energy Efficiency and Sustainability (CPP41119)
  • notify the AAO of any current or previous accreditation with another AAO
  • nominate to the AAO the software tools you will use
  • agree to be subject to a Quality Assurance (QA) review within their first 12 months of accreditation
  • agree that you will comply with AAOs Assessor Code of Ethical Practice
  • complete at least 12 CPD points in each year of accreditation, where one point equals at least one hour of time spent undertaking the CPD
  • maintain professional indemnity insurance commensurate with the volume and scope of the work they undertake
  • agree to conduct assessments in accordance with the latest NatHERS Technical Note, in compliance with your jurisdiction’s application of the NCC and using the NatHERS Universal Certificate
  • agree that you will conduct your Assessments in a way which ensures the health and safety of yourself, and others, so far as reasonably practicable and which complies with all relevant workplace health and safety laws in the Jurisdictions in which you operate

What skills will I have?

You will know how to meet the mandatory energy efficiency requirements for homes and major renovations based on the National Construction Code as well as advising home owners, architects and builders on the energy efficiency of various house designs, including  ways to advise prospective home buyers on the thermal performance of a home they are interested in buying.

You will provide essential skills such as:

  • thermal resistance and capacitance of building materials
  • window glazing values
  • occupancy patterns (including internal heat loads, typical occupancy times and occupancy behaviour)
  • window coverings (which are standardised for all ratings, noting they are likely to change of the life of the building)
  • different types of zones in the house and whether they are conditioned/unconditioned
  • thermostat settings (temperatures at which artificial heating/cooling is no longer required to achieve thermal comfort, noting this varies depending on climate zone)
  • local climate and weather (including temperature, humidity, wind and sun)
  • shadowing/overshadowing by adjacent buildings and features
  • size of the building being assessed (noting smaller buildings generally have a larger wall surface area than bigger buildings)

Assessor Accrediting Organisations

To become and maintain accreditation as an accredited House Energy Rating Assessor you must apply to become a member of  a NatHERS Assessor Accrediting Organisation (AAO) registered throughout Australia.

AAOs are professional organisations with responsibility for accrediting assessors and ensuring they deliver reliable and consistent energy ratings.

They offer a range of services to support high standards in their members, including technical assistance, advice, ongoing training, Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and industry updates. By contacting the AAO’s prior to obtaining your Certificate IV, you will get a better understanding of their respective membership requirements and the industry. You must become a member of one of these bodies to be accredited under NatHERS.

What software is used?

NatHERS house ratings use computer simulations to determine the potential thermal comfort of Australian homes on a scale of zero to 10 stars. The more stars, the less likely the occupants will need cooling or heating to stay comfortable.

There are four software tools accredited under NatHERS, each with different user interfaces and functions. If you are completing energy ratings in accordance with NatHERS methods, you will need to decide which tool best meets your needs.

Obtaining a NatHERS rating at the required star level is specified in the National Construction Code (NCC) (link is external) as one of the ways of demonstrating compliance with the energy efficiency (thermal performance) requirements for new houses and apartments.

There are currently four software tools accredited for use under NatHERS:

AccuRate

BERS Pro

FirstRate5

HERO

Need more NatHERS information?

Do you have further questions about the NatHERS course?

Or, would you like to proceed with your enrolment?

Either way, we’re happy to help. Just click or dial the number below.

Call (07) 3806 4816