How the SEAI door grant actually works, step by step
Eight hundred euro per door sounds simple until you ask when to apply, who takes the photos, and who orders the BER. Here is the order the paperwork actually runs in.
Written by the Kilgate Doors team, with figures from the manufacturer's documentation and our installer's practice.
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Everyone who writes about the SEAI door grant quotes the headline figure: €800 per door, up to two per home. Almost nobody explains what order the paperwork runs in, and that order is exactly where people lose the money. Here is the sequence, start to finish, for a single owner-occupied home.
The two conditions before you apply
Before any application makes sense, check two things.
The house was built and occupied before 2011, and has an MPRN (the meter point reference number on your electricity bill, which is how SEAI confirms the property is a real, connected home). Extensions added after 1 January 2011 do not count for this scheme.
The installer is on the SEAI register. This is not a paperwork formality you can skip if the price is right. An unregistered installer, however good the door, voids the claim completely. Our installation partner, Modern Style Home of Ballinrobe, Co. Mayo, is registered under SEAI installer number 19913, and you can check any installer's number against the public register before you commit to a quote.
The sequence, in order
| Step | What happens | Who does it |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Get a quote with the U value stated in writing | You and the installer |
| 2 | Apply to SEAI online, before any work starts | You |
| 3 | Wait for the formal approval letter | SEAI |
| 4 | Door is fitted, old door removed | Installer |
| 5 | Before and after photos, invoice, product certificate with the U value | Installer |
| 6 | Post-works BER assessment ordered | You |
| 7 | Grant claim submitted with the paperwork from steps 5 and 6 | You |
| 8 | Payment lands in your account | SEAI |
Step 2 is the one that trips people up, because it runs against instinct. The natural order is to get the work done and then sort the paperwork. SEAI runs the other way: the application has to be in, and the approval has to have arrived, before the old door comes off. Start early because a tradesman happened to be free, or because the existing door was already failing, and the claim is void. There is no appeal once work has started out of sequence. We have written about this and the other ordering mistakes that cost people the grant.
What the installer actually hands you
Three documents come out of installation day, and all three go into the claim: before and after photographs of the door, a dated invoice, and a product certificate stating the declared U value of the specific door fitted. Keep all three. SEAI's paperwork review is based on them, and a missing document is the most common reason a straightforward claim takes longer than it should.
The BER is yours to order, not the installer's
This one surprises people. The installer fits the door and hands you the certificate for it. The post-works BER assessment is something you arrange separately, with a BER assessor, and SEAI part-funds it. It is not bundled into the door order, and nobody chases you to book it, so put it in your own calendar once installation is confirmed rather than assuming it happens automatically.
The technical bar
SEAI's specification calls for a U value of 1.4 W/m²K or better. Our 72 ARKTIC ALU range clears that comfortably even with glazing and sidelights fitted, which we have set out with the actual declared figures rather than the more flattering catalogue numbers. Ask any supplier for the declared figure, not the best-case one, and get it in writing on the quote in step 1.
Timing, honestly stated
Payment lands four to eight weeks after a successful claim. The full cycle, from an accepted quote to money landing in your account, usually runs ten to fourteen weeks, and that is on top of the ten to twelve weeks a door takes to be made and fitted. None of this is a reason to delay starting: it is a reason to start the application the same week you accept a quote, not the week the door arrives.
Two doors, not one grant
The cap is €800 per door, up to two doors per property, not a flat €800 per household. A front and back door replaced together, both meeting the specification, both claim separately. If you are only doing one door now and thinking about the second later, each claim stands on its own, so there is no penalty for doing it in two phases, only two separate rounds of steps 1 to 8.
Where this sits for a rental or a second property
Everything above assumes you live in the house. If you own a rental, a holiday home, or a portfolio, the scheme still applies but the economics and a couple of the conditions change. That is covered separately.
The short version
Apply before the door comes off, not after. Use a registered installer and check the number yourself. Keep the photos, the invoice and the U value certificate. Order the BER yourself once the door is in. None of these steps are difficult on their own; they only cost you money when done in the wrong order.
If you want to see the actual door and price before any of this starts, build it in the configurator, or book a free WhatsApp video measurement and ask us to walk through the grant sequence against your own installation date.