When the owner is not an individual, the assignment form needs more care than a standard residential job. The question is always the same: who can legally agree on behalf of the owner to give away the right to create STCs? Get that wrong and the form, and the claim built on it, can be questioned.
A company-owned property or system
A company acts through its directors and any officers it has authorised. Practical steps:
- Use the legal name and ABN exactly as registered, not the trading name on the sign.
- Have a director sign, or someone who can show authority such as a written delegation. A site manager or a bookkeeper is not enough on their own.
- Record the signer’s name and role under the signature.
- For commercial customers the paperwork also touches GST and tax invoices. See RCTI, GST and ABN for STC payments.
A trust-owned property
Where a property is held in a trust, the legal owner is the trustee, often a person or a company acting as trustee. The form should name the trustee in that capacity, for example “J Smith as trustee for the Smith Family Trust”, and the trustee signs. If the trustee is a company, the company signs through a director. Beneficiaries do not sign unless they are also the trustee. If you are unsure who the trustee is, ask for the trust deed or a letter from the accountant or solicitor.
An owner who has died
Sometimes a solar system is installed for a household where the owner is deceased, or the owner dies between signing and installation. The estate, not the surviving family member, decides what happens to the owner’s assets and rights.
- The executor named in the will, or an administrator appointed by the court where there is no will, has authority to sign.
- Ask for evidence: a grant of probate or letters of administration, or a solicitor’s confirmation.
- A surviving spouse may be a joint owner, in which case they sign for their own share. Check the title.
If the owner died after signing but before installation, speak to the executor before you proceed. Do not quietly carry on as though nothing has changed.
From the desk: attach the proof of authority to the job file at once. In an audit you will be asked how you knew the signer could sign, and “they said they could” is not an answer.
Joint owners
Two names on the title means two owners. Both should sign, or one signs with written authority from the other. It is common for one partner to arrange the job, which is why a form signed by only one of two registered owners is a regular cause of questions.
What this means for installers
Make “who is the legal owner?” a mandatory field on the lead sheet, and collect the authority document with the form. For more on the baseline, see what the form must include, the tenant and landlord page and the form guide. Your trader’s compliance desk should pre-check unusual owners. See STC trading, how it works and the resources hub.