Work out which SEAI home energy grants your home may qualify for, gather exactly what the application needs, and know what comes after the works without missing anything on the forms.
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The application: gather, apply, accept
Four quick answers make the first shortlist of grants; each grant then has its own quick checks below. Then gather the rest. The online form on SEAI's portal takes about 15 minutes; standard applications usually receive an immediate online offer, while heat pump applications include a technical assessment upload and can take longer to approve.
Once these are answered, the grants your home may qualify for, along with everything the application needs, appear here.
The offer and acceptance happen in the same sitting as the application. After accepting: your paper claim pack arrives by post, your 8-month clock is already running, and no work may start before acceptance.
The works: verify before anyone signs
These are the checks an SEAI inspector can score on site, plus the paper they can ask you to produce, taken from SEAI's own inspection checklists. Walk them with your builder after the works finish, before final payment and before any Declaration of Works (DOW) is signed. Incomplete or non-compliant work must never be signed off, and a promise to return after the Declaration of Works is submitted is not acceptable. Ticking a box isn't a technical certification; it means you looked, or asked your builder to show you.
SEV 1 to SEV 3 are SEAI's inspection failure grades; SEV 1 is the most serious.
Check only from a safe, boarded position; if you can't see something safely, ask the contractor to show you. Don't touch pipework.
After the works: the claim
A separate gathering, months later: a Request for Payment, a BER Declaration of Works, and one Declaration of Works per grant, signed by you, the contractor's nominated personnel, and the BER assessor, submitted together. Worth getting right in one go.