You upload two files from PlanUp: the sketch and the EPC report. PolarBER returns a completed DEAP Survey Form (v5.02), with a comment on each populated cell showing where the figure came from. With your go-ahead, it then enters that data into your DEAP4 survey while you watch. You review everything and publish the BER yourself.

No. PolarBER is independent software and is not endorsed by SEAI. It does not replace DEAP or change the DEAP methodology. It prepares your survey form and enters data into your own DEAP4 session. As with any BER, you verify every data point and you are the one who publishes.

Never. Publishing is blocked inside the platform itself. We don’t rely on the AI remembering not to do it. PolarBER stops at the point where all that’s left is your review and your decision to publish.

No. When it’s time to enter data, the DEAP4 portal opens in a secure browser window inside PolarBER, and you log in yourself. Your password goes straight to SEAI’s login page. We don’t record it, log it or store it, and screen recording stays off until you click Hand over.

PolarBER only fills a field when your files support it. Nothing is guessed from ‘typical’ values. Anything it can’t evidence is left blank and listed in your Unresolved Items, with the question you need to answer. System defaults, such as Thermal Bridging ‘Default’, are only used where DEAP itself offers them.

At minimum, the PlanUp Sketch PDF and the PlanUp EPC Report PDF for the dwelling. The more complete your PlanUp survey (glazing, heating, ventilation and so on), the more of the DEAP4 entry PolarBER can complete. You can add site photos or contractor receipts as extra evidence.

Not yet. PolarBER currently supports existing-dwelling assessments only.

You buy prepaid credits. One credit covers one dwelling: the survey form and DEAP4 entry. Credits don’t expire. Payment is taken securely by Stripe, and a VAT invoice is emailed to you automatically.

Files are stored encrypted in the EU and used only to prepare your assessment. We act as your data processor under a Data Processing Agreement, and job files are deleted automatically after [RETENTION PERIOD]. You can delete a job at any time.

Yes. You watch every step live, and a Stop button gives you control of the browser straight away. Anything already entered stays in your DEAP4 survey for you to check or edit.

PolarBER pauses and asks you to log in again, then checks what was already saved before carrying on. DEAP4 keeps entered data through a timeout, so nothing is typed twice.

Each assessor needs their own account, because DEAP4 entry always runs under the assessor who will publish the BER. Team accounts with shared credit billing are on the roadmap. Tell us if you need one.

A few things decide whether your survey form comes back complete. Check these in PlanUp before you export:

• Party walls are marked on every floor where they exist.
• The compass (north point) is marked on every floor’s page.
• Every room is set to heated or unheated. This matters most for the garage, lobby, porch, store, utility room, conservatory and basement.
• Every floor, room, window and door is on the sketch, with names, dimensions and areas legible.
• The EPC report is exported from the same version of the sketch.

Anything PolarBER can’t read from your sketch is left blank and listed in your Unresolved Items. It isn’t guessed.

No, there is no question for it on the intake form. PolarBER reads the party walls from your PlanUp sketch, so they must be marked there before you upload. It checks them against the party wall lengths in the EPC report, and flags anything unclear for you to confirm.

It changes the heat-loss calculation. Under the DEAP guide, a wall between a heated room and an unheated space such as a garage is entered as a semi-exposed wall, and a floor over an unheated space is a heat-loss floor. PolarBER reads the heated or unheated status that PlanUp prints under each room name. If some rooms have no status while the others say “heated”, it treats those rooms as unheated and lists them for you to confirm.

Yes. The intake form has dropdowns for the wall construction (original and any extension) and for whether the ground floor is solid or suspended. PolarBER uses your choices, and doesn’t guess them from the sketch, because a sketch can’t show what is inside a wall or under a floor.