I do not write blogs very often but would like to record my thoughts why, we at SmartRate, terminated our agreement with Solar Logic.

Back in 2009 SmartRate entered into a commercial agreement with Dr Holger Willrath from Solar Logic to provide administration services (issuing of licences etc.) and to deliver training in BERS.

This agreement worked well for both parties for the last 5 years.

However we believe there is a perception in the minds of many assessors who practice under the NatHERS scheme that the team at SmartRate was BERS and were the owners of BERS as we did much of the day to day work with assessors and in reality were the face of BERS for a long time. There is little published information to the contrary on the net.

For the record, SmartRate is a business owned by Michael Plunkett, is totally independent and has no financial or other interest in Solar Logic.

BERS Professional is wholly owned by Dr Holger Willrath of Solar Logic.

The business focus of SmartRate has evolved over the last couple of years from an estimating and energy rating business into a training business working in the niche field of building thermal performance. Yes, we still do some ratings to understand what happens at the grass roots level.

We work closely with Paul at Education in Building (RTO 32418) and aim to deliver high quality training to the profession. We are currently working hard with EIB to deliver the Certificate IV in NatHERS Assessment to ABSA assessor under a NWDF funding package.

As many of you are aware, the NatHERS scheme is about to undergo significant change with the introduction of new fee structures, new software tools, the universal certificate and a number of other changes. These were outlined to all assessors during May in the Australia wide NatHERS Road Show.

Over the last 3 - 4 months, we have sought confirmation from Solar Logic that BERS would be upgraded to meet these new requirements.

None was forthcoming and we decided in early August, after reviewing our business in light of the success of ABSA's NWDF funding application, to terminate our arrangement with Solar Logic from 1 September.

We note the email distributed by BDAV and ABSA in early September on the position of CSIRO and Solar Logic and the resultant uncertainty this created for assessors.

We also note the recent email from Solar Logic to BERS Users confirming that negotiations between Solar Logic and CSIRO are continuing and that an agreement between them is looking promising.

The administration of BERS was a very small part of our business and we have decided to move on and focus on our core business - training.

Michael Plunkett

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