On 20 March 2024, the NatHERS Administrator approved the FirstRate5 (FR5) NatHERS Certificates which combines both thermal and Whole of Home (WoH) results.   

Sustainability Victoria (SV) is now in the process of finalising the implementation of the combined NatHERS Certificate generation functionality on the FirstRate5 website. Public release of the updated certificate generation functionality is imminent.

How to prepare for the release of the combined NatHERS Certificate

Before SV releases the updated certificate generation functionality, users can continue to use the FR5 WoH tool to complete WoH assessments and prepare for the adoption of NCC 2022.

All WoH assessments completed will be able to be used to create combined NatHERS Certificates when the functionality is released.

The updated NatHERS Certificate generation functionality will be very similar to the current process and users will be able to pick it up very easily. SV will publish training material at the time of release.

Users should note that Whole of Home scores will not change when the new certificate functionality is released. The update will have no impact on the underlying WoH calculations.

Deletion of Whole of Home assessments created before 2 March 2024 and process to retain assessments

FirstRate5 Whole-of-Home (v1.0.0) is a beta version that does not include certificate functionality.  Any WoH assessments created before 2 March 2024 using version 1.0.0 will be deleted when SV releases the updated version of the tool that will include the combined NatHERS Certificate functionality, unless SV receives a request to retain the data.

Users wanting to retain WoH assessments created before 2 March 2024 using FirstRate5 Whole-of-Home (v1.0.0), must complete a request form on the FR5 website and agree that assessments created using the version 1.0.0 will be governed by the updated FirstRate5 Website End User Terms of Service effective 2 March 2024.

Sustainability Victoria has extended the cut-off date. FirstRate5 users must complete the request form by 15 April 2024. Please note that you will need to be logged into your FR5 account to access the request form.