Insured energy performance guarantee limits contractor's risk and liability

The Building Quality Assurance Act (Wkb), passed in May 2019, requires the contractor to conclusively demonstrate the quality of the completed work to the client. This will lead to increased risks and liabilities. This includes the energy performance of the house. House Energy Optimum (HEO) is a new construction system that covers this risk with an insurable energy performance guarantee.

 New construction homes do not meet requirements

A large proportion of today's new construction homes do not meet statutory building code requirements and/or contractual agreements upon completion. According to analysis by PlanGarant and Develop inc. this is often due to retrospective changes without assessing these changes for performance. This is because during the design phase, insufficient attention is paid to the connection between architectural, building physics and installation measures. In light of the Wkb, these changes lead to major performance risks for the contractor because expensive remedial measures may have to be taken. This means that even more emphasis must be placed on design quality so that adjustments during the process are prevented or reduced.

Liability becomes opportunity

House Energy Optimum (HEO) is a revolutionary new construction system for developers, contractors, housing associations and architects to achieve BENG and NOM. In practice, the system's integrated pre-engineering only needs to be project-specific. 85% of the pre-engineering work has already been done. This integrated approach ensures better design and construction quality. During the design and construction process, HEO integrally coordinates structural, building physics and installation measures. In this way, risks are minimized and an insurable energy performance guarantee can be issued. The quality of the house is checked by an independent quality assurance agency within the framework of the Wkb. Because of the integral coordination, HEO also saves significantly on design and construction costs.

 Insured building system is the future

The HEO system consists of solutions from ATAG Heating, Duco Ventilation & Sun Control, Jaga, Kingspan Insulation, Kingspan Unidek and Ubbink. The starting point is an optimal balance between affordability and performance of the home by seamlessly coordinating architectural and installation measures. By using HEO, housing corporations, developers and builders know already in the design phase that their houses for sale or rent are guaranteed to be energy efficient, comfortable and healthy. Participants of SWK can offer their clients the insured guarantee that the intended energy performance will be achieved in practice for the duration of at least 10 years. More information and a free white paper on the Wkb and performance guarantee can be found at www.bouwheo.nl.