How do you pre-qualify a heat pump lead before the survey?

Pre-qualifying a heat pump lead means finding out, before you spend a site visit, whether the home can get the SEAI grant, whether a technical assessment must come first and what is already installed. For the wider picture, start with the heat pump guide for installers.

Which homes qualify for the SEAI heat pump grant?

As of November 2026, SEAI's heat pump system grant requires the home to have an MPRN and to have been built and occupied before 2021.

SEAI lists owner occupiers, companies, registered charities, holiday homes, approved housing bodies and private and commercial landlords as eligible. The MPRN and build-year conditions apply to all of them.

SEAI says a home must be well insulated to benefit from a heat pump and asks for a heat loss check before the customer applies. Grant values changed in autumn 2026, so check SEAI's heat pump system grant page before you advise anyone.

When is a technical assessment required?

As of November 2026, SEAI requires a technical assessment for a home built before 2007 unless a valid BER shows a Heat Loss Indicator (HLI) of 2.3 W/(K·m²) or less. It must be done before the customer applies. A €200 grant is available for it if the customer also applies for the heat pump system grant, per SEAI's Homeowner Application Guide.

Source: SEAI, heat pump system grant page, conditions as of November 2026.

Where no assessment is needed, the customer uploads SEAI's self-declaration form confirming that the home meets its heat loss requirements; otherwise they upload the assessment. SEAI's page gives no timescale for the assessment, so ask whoever carries it out before you promise a date.

What does a Heat Loss Indicator of 2.3 mean for your triage?

It is a pass mark on paperwork: a valid BER showing 2.3 W/(K·m²) or less lets a home built before 2007 skip the technical assessment. Anything else means the assessment comes first.

The HLI is the BER figure SEAI uses to test how quickly a home loses heat. Treat 2.3 as SEAI's grant test only; your own survey does the sizing. SEAI says "valid BER" without spelling out what makes one valid, so if a certificate looks old, ask SEAI rather than guess.

Which questions should you ask on the first call?

Start with the yes-or-no conditions, because the first answers can end the call politely and save the visit.

Wording to use:

• Home and ownership: "When was the house built, and was anyone living in it before 2021? Do you live there, let it out or use it as a holiday home?" Ask whether they have the MPRN to hand.
• BER: "Do you have a BER certificate? Can you send it to me so I can note the Heat Loss Indicator and the date?"
• Current heating: "What heats the house and the hot water now: oil, gas, solid fuel, electric storage heaters or a heat pump?" The answer shows whether the Boiler Scrappage part may apply and whether the replacement rules do.
• Radiators or underfloor heating: "What do you have now, and is it original?" As of November 2026, SEAI's bundle includes up to €2,000 for upgrades to radiators or underfloor heating where required.
• Insulation: "What has been done to the attic, the walls and the windows?"
• Existing heat pump: "Is there already a heat pump? When was it fitted, was a grant paid for it, and is it under warranty?"
• Route: "Do you want to apply to SEAI yourself, or use a One Stop Shop?"
• Decision: "Who else has a say, and when do you want it done?"

As of November 2026, the €2,000 Boiler Scrappage grant applies where an oil or gas boiler, an electric storage system or a solid fuel system is removed, and where a home without central heating gets a heat pump. SEAI says it and the central heating part depend on the contractor's installation design, so promise neither on the call.

On the route question: a customer who applies alone has the grant paid to the applicant or contractor after the works, while a One Stop Shop applies for them and deducts it upfront. See working with SEAI One Stop Shops.

As of November 2026, SEAI sets out a replacement route for an existing heat pump only where the unit has not previously been grant-aided under any SEAI domestic scheme and, per the Homeowner Application Guide, no warranty would cover its replacement cost. The maximum is €6,500, or €4,500 for an apartment, with no Boiler Scrappage or central heating part. See heat pump replacement and service.

What do you do with a lead that needs a technical assessment first?

Tell the customer plainly that SEAI requires the assessment before they can apply, agree what happens next and fix a date for your next contact.

1. Explain it in one sentence: SEAI requires it for homes built before 2007 without a qualifying BER, before the application.
2. Mention the €200 grant for it (as of November 2026) and send the customer to SEAI's page for the detail.
3. Point the customer to SEAI for who can carry it out. SEAI's March 2026 blog says an SEAI-registered technical advisor can assess a home, and the Homeowner Application Guide says to choose one.
4. Send a short written summary the same day: what is needed, the SEAI link and what you will do next.
5. Agree a dated call-back, for example "I will ring you on Thursday week to hear how it went".
6. When the result arrives, ask for a copy, book the survey and attach the result to your visit notes.

For a customer applying alone, SEAI's steps are to find a registered contractor and get quotes, then apply for a grant offer, with the assessment finished first. Grant approval must be in place before works start. Waiting to survey until the result is known is a suggestion, not an SEAI rule, because the result may change what you recommend. For the quote itself, see writing a heat pump quote.

Triage table: book a survey, assess first or park

Book a survey when the grant conditions are met and no assessment is needed, assess first when SEAI requires one, and park when a condition fails or the customer is not ready.

Source: SEAI, heat pump system grant page, conditions as of November 2026.

Typical qualification mistakes

• Booking the survey before checking the build year and the BER. The visit may have to be repeated after the assessment.
• Treating "built before 2007" as a no. A valid BER showing 2.3 or less is the route past the assessment.
• Promising the full €14,500. As of November 2026 it is the most SEAI lists for an air-to-water system in a house, made up of parts that depend on the home and the design.
• Screening out landlords and holiday homes, which SEAI lists as eligible.
• Forgetting an existing heat pump, which changes the grant rules.
• Going quiet during the assessment. Set a dated call-back.
• Calling or texting without checking consent. Direct marketing by call, text or email is regulated by S.I. 336/2011 on top of GDPR. Read the Data Protection Commission guidance and contacting leads legally.