A failed claim for an expired accreditation is one of the cleaner rejections to diagnose and one of the harder ones to repair. The system may be perfect and the photos spotless, but the person who installed it was not accredited on the day.
Why accreditation matters to the claim
Under the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme, rooftop solar and battery installations that generate certificates have to be designed and installed by accredited people. Solar Accreditation Australia manages accreditation for solar and battery installers and designers, and the accreditation number goes on the claim. The Clean Energy Regulator checks it against the installation date. If the installer’s accreditation was not current on that date, the validation can fail or a later audit can unwind the certificates.
The usual ways it happens
- Renewal paperwork was late. The installer renewed a few weeks after expiry and worked in between.
- A crew member used someone else’s number. The accredited person was not the one on the roof. See attendance requirements.
- A different class of accreditation. A solar accreditation does not cover a battery installation, which has its own requirements.
- Records out of date. The number on the claim is wrong or belongs to someone who has left.
What can and cannot be fixed
If the number was simply mistyped, or the person was accredited but the wrong record was used, the claim can be corrected and resubmitted. Do that quickly, because the 12 month creation window keeps running.
If the person genuinely was not accredited on the day of installation, the installation does not meet the scheme’s requirements. Renewing afterwards does not move the date of the work. In that case speak to the Regulator and your accreditation body, get advice on whether a supervised or re-attended arrangement is possible, and do not try to substitute another installer’s details. That would make a failed claim into a compliance problem.
From the desk: never replace the installer on a claim with someone who was not on site. The photos, timestamps and written statement all have to tell the same story.
Protecting the business
- Keep a register of every installer’s accreditation number, class and expiry.
- Block job allocation when an expiry is within 30 days.
- Verify the number before lodging with the accreditation check.
- Make sure subcontractors give you proof of current accreditation, not just a number.
What this means for installers
The financial exposure is the discount you already gave, minus whatever the certificates would have paid. That is why a pre-lodgement check on accreditation is worth having. Energy Merchants’ compliance desk checks the accreditation details on each claim before it is lodged, and the general process is explained on how it works. For the wider paperwork picture see STC trading, the rejection reasons and the resources hub.