Home >Articles >RESNET Sets Effective Date of January 1, 2018 for Mortgage Industry National Home Energy Rating Standards Amendments on Combustion Appliance Safety Hazards/Retrofits; Chapter 1 Reference to Chapter 2 and Probationary Ratings

RESNET Sets Effective Date of January 1, 2018 for Mortgage Industry National Home Energy Rating Standards Amendments on Combustion Appliance Safety Hazards/Retrofits; Chapter 1 Reference to Chapter 2 and Probationary Ratings

Oct 19, 2017

After going through the RESNET standard amendment public review and comment process, the RESNET Standard Management Committee has approved and set the effective date of January 1, 2018 for the following standard amendments:

Combustion Appliance Safety Hazards/Retrofits:

Section 207.1 of the RESNET Standards lists the capabilities an individual must possess to become certified as a Home Energy Survey Professional (HESP).  Item 207.1.3.2 requires the HESP Candidate to be able to “Identify potential combustion appliance safety hazards related to previous retrofit work.” There are several potential combustion appliance safety hazards that can be visually noted that may have nothing to do with previous retrofit work. Items such as a short rise of a flue pipe above a combustion appliance, a negative slope on a combustion appliance venting system, misaligned or missing flue pipes, and more are quickly and readily identified and should be included in the Health and Safety section of these standards. The fact that these minimum capabilities comprise the base for more advanced certifications makes this change even more critical. This proposal removes the condition of a relationship to previous retrofit work.

Chapter 1 Reference to Chapter 2:

Changes have been made to Chapter 2 that are not reflected in Chapter 1; however, Chapter 1 attempts to detail the same items. There is now major conflict in the RESNET Standards due to these changes. This proposed amendment changes Chapter 1 to reference Chapter 2 rather than attempt to maintain the same information in both chapters leading to conflicting information within the standards.

Probationary Ratings:

Throughout the RESNET Standards it is clear that only Certified HERS® Raters may perform official Home Energy Ratings and that ratings uploaded to the Registry must be rated by Certified Raters. Appendix B defines a “Confirmed Rating” as “A Rating accomplished using data gathered from verification of all rated features of the home in accordance with Section 303.8 and Chapter 8.  Section 303.8 explicitly requires a Certified Rater perform tests and inspections.”  The term “Confirmed Rating” is used throughout the RESNET Standards to signify the tested and verified condition of a home, verified by a Certified Rater. All Confirmed Ratings shall be registered with the National RESNET Registry in accordance with section 102.1.4.12 which references, “each home rated by each Certified Rater”.  However, there are sections in Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 that use the term “Confirmed Rating” when describing the types of Probationary Ratings that must be performed by Rater Candidates to achieve certification as a HERS® Rater. These sections do not require the presence of a Certified HERS® Rater for all Probationary Ratings. The use of term “Confirmed Rating” in these sections is confusing at best and could lead to Probationary Ratings, ratings which have NOT been performed by a Certified HERS® Rater, being considered Confirmed. This proposed amendment changes the terminology in Chapter 2 to eliminate this confusion and clarifies the intent of the sections in question.

To view the adopted amendment, click on Amendments on Combustion Appliance Safety Hazards/Retrofits; Chapter 1 Reference to Chapter 2 and Probationary Ratings.