Pick up where you left off.
Course Content
When a Design Change Triggers a Whole-of-Home Re-Rating
A small change after the drawings are issued can reopen the whole energy rating, and your fee with it.
And how to avoid it. Which layout, glazing, services and specification changes most often send a house back for a Whole-of-Home re-rating, why the same change is cheap at concept and costly after issue, the assessor signals that say a change is no longer neutral, and how to sequence decisions and talk to clients without giving compliance advice.
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6 modules, final quiz and certificate.
Introduction and objectives
What unexpected re-ratings are costing designers, and why this hour is about protecting the project, not technical advice.
Why Re-Ratings Are Catching Designers by Surprise
See how Whole-of-Home assesses the house as one system, so small changes cascade and surface late, and why process, not competence, is the cause.
The Design Changes That Trigger Re-Ratings Most Often
Recognise the layout, glazing, services and specification changes that carry the most risk, even when the design intent has not moved.
Timing Risk: Early vs Late Changes
Know why the same change is cheap at concept and costly after issue, and which documentation points lock the rating’s assumptions in.
Early Warning Signs Designers Should Not Ignore
Read the assessor language and requests that say a change is no longer neutral, and know when to pause rather than push on.
Avoiding Re-Ratings Without Over-Restricting Design
Settle the sensitive decisions early, explain late changes to clients in terms of timing, and bring the assessor in without blurring roles.
What This Means for Designer Practice
Treat re-ratings as part of the landscape, not failure, and build timing checks into the way your practice runs projects.
Key takeaways, final quiz and certificate
The principles to apply on your next project, then ten questions on triggers, timing and sequencing. Pass and the certificate goes straight into your dashboard.
Intermediate. For designers and practice leads who already document houses that go to an energy assessor. Covers the design changes that trigger a Whole-of-Home re-rating, timing risk, the warning signs and decision sequencing. It teaches no modelling, calculations or thresholds, and it is not compliance advice.
Written for everyone whose decisions can move a rating after it is done.
Architects
You lead the design and field the client’s late changes long after the energy rating was signed off.
Building designers
The rating was based on your drawings, so a late tweak can land a redesign and an unpaid week on your desk.
Energy assessors
You re-run the model every time the design moves, and need designers to spot the trigger before they send it.
Licensed builders
You build from issued drawings and carry the rework when a substitution quietly reopens compliance.
Building surveyors
You rely on the energy certificate matching the drawings, and a late change can put the two out of step.
Where this hour goes on your record.
National Standard of Competency for Architects (NSCA 2021) performance criteria this course aligns with:
Whole life carbon of materials and systems
Budget and timeframe against codes and requirements
Building science to optimise design performance
Energy and sustainability over the project lifecycle
Integrating thermal and environmental systems
| If you are | How it is recorded |
|---|---|
| A building designer | 1 CPD point. Your certificate, the learning outcomes, the module outline and your quiz result are kept in your dashboard, so you can show what you studied if your CPD is audited. |
| An architect | 1 formal CPD point. Aligned with NSCA 2021 performance criteria PC10, PC20, PC28, PC31 and PC33. |
| An energy assessor, builder or building surveyor | 1 hour of CPD on Whole-of-Home re-rating risk and design change, recorded on your certificate for your accrediting organisation, registration body or state scheme. |
CPD On Demand is not a registered training organisation and courses are not accredited by any registration body. Each course is aligned with the relevant competency frameworks and gives you the records to evidence it. CPD rules differ by registration body and state, so check with yours if you are unsure.
Pairs well with.
The 5 Whole-of-Home Assumptions That Are Most Likely to Fail
The assumptions behind the rating that a late change is most likely to break.
Whole-of-Home Compliance: What Building Designers Are Actually Responsible For
Where your responsibility ends and the assessor’s begins.
Getting NatHERS Right Before It Goes to the Assessor
Set the rating up at concept so fewer changes need a re-rating later.
Before you enrol.
Know which changes reopen the rating, and settle them while they are still cheap, in one self-paced hour.
$99, 60 minutes, certificate on completion.