An Accredited Certificate Provider (ACP) is the only kind of business allowed to create certificates under the NSW Energy Savings Scheme (ESS) and Peak Demand Reduction Scheme (PDRS). If you install batteries, heat pumps, air conditioners or pool pumps in NSW, you have two options: become one, or work under one. The second is far more common, and for good reason.
This guide sets out what the accreditation involves, so you can decide with your eyes open. For the quick answer version, see how to become an ACP in NSW.
What an ACP actually does
An ACP takes on the legal role of creating certificates. That means:
- Choosing the scheme activities the business is accredited for.
- Making sure each job meets the method, from product eligibility to evidence.
- Creating and registering certificates in the scheme registry.
- Holding records for audit and answering IPART’s questions.
- Selling the certificates, or passing them to a trader.
The ACP carries the compliance risk. If a certificate is created in error, the ACP is the party IPART talks to. That is why a well-run ACP checks installer evidence hard and writes clawback terms into its agreements.
The application, step by step
IPART describes a two-stage process, and the reasoning is sound: it wants to see that your systems exist before it trusts your claims.
- Decide the scope. Which scheme (ESS, PDRS or both) and which activities. A narrow scope is easier to get through.
- Build your processes. Write down how a job moves from sale to certificate: eligibility checks, evidence capture, quality review, record keeping, complaint handling. IPART’s guidance asks for business systems and processes for your proposed activities, so this is the heart of the application.
- Prepare documentation. Policies, procedures, templates, sample evidence, and the details of who in the business is responsible.
- Complete the two-part application form and submit it to IPART.
- Respond to questions. Expect follow-ups. Accreditation can carry conditions, such as reporting duties or limits on activities.
- Start creating certificates once accredited, and expect ongoing monitoring and audits.
IPART publishes a “How to become an ACP” page and an Application for Accreditation Guide on the NSW energy sustainability schemes site. Use those as the authority; screen layouts and requirements change.
Is it worth it? A numbers check
Set up cost is mostly your time and some systems. Ongoing cost is the compliance work. The question is whether certificate income justifies it.
Illustrate with assumed numbers. Suppose you do 30 NSW jobs a month that create PRCs or ESCs worth $150 each at a market level, so $4,500 a month of certificate value. If an ACP keeps 20 per cent of that for running the process, you give up $900 a month, or $10,800 a year. If becoming an ACP costs you the equivalent of one part-time compliance person at, say, $30,000 a year plus systems, you are better off working under one at that volume.
Change the assumptions. At 150 jobs a month, certificate value is $22,500 and a 20 per cent margin is $4,500 a month, or $54,000 a year. Now accreditation can pay. Where your break-even sits depends on job mix and certificate values, which vary a lot. PRCs are reported at about $3 each at the time of writing, so a PRC-only business needs volume to justify its own accreditation.
What makes a good application
IPART’s own message is that the speed depends on quality. In practice, strong applications share traits:
- A narrow, honest scope. Applying for everything signals you have not decided what you do.
- Real procedures, not templates. Reviewers can tell.
- Named people. Someone is responsible for compliance and can answer questions.
- Evidence samples. Photos, forms, and a worked example of a complete job.
- A plan for errors. How you find, correct and report a mistake.
Working under an ACP instead
If accreditation is premature, working under one is a respectable route. What to look for:
| Question | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| When do you pay after a job is lodged? | Cash flow. Days is good, weeks is a loan to them |
| What deductions apply? | Admin and registry fees eat margin |
| What is the clawback clause? | You may carry the loss if a certificate is disallowed |
| Which activities and products do you cover? | A gap forces a second relationship |
| Who checks my evidence? | Pre-checks prevent rejected jobs |
Our guide on how installers get paid for ESCs and PRCs compares the payment models in detail, and the NSW ESS explained gives the wider context.
Batteries: where the ACP question shows up most
For battery installers, the NSW question has changed shape. The original behind-the-meter battery activity (BESS1) has been suspended since 1 July 2025, and the NSW incentive now sits alongside the federal Cheaper Home Batteries Program, with a PDRS incentive for VPP connection. A NSW commercial battery incentive was reported from 1 September 2026. The federal side does not need an ACP at all; it runs through the CER registry and battery STCs. Many battery crews therefore need an ACP only for the VPP-linked piece, which is a good argument for working under one rather than building your own.
Timeline to expect
Nobody can promise a date, because IPART says the time depends on the quality of your application and documentation. What you can plan for is the order of work and where the time tends to go.
Allow a few weeks to write and test your processes, because this is where most of the effort sits. Allow time for questions after submission, since a reviewer who cannot follow a procedure will ask. Then allow for conditions on the accreditation, which may require you to report on certain activities or hold off on others until you have shown the process works. A business that starts with one activity, runs it cleanly, and adds more later, usually reaches a working position sooner than one that asks for everything on day one.
Costs people forget
Application time is the obvious cost. The less obvious ones are ongoing.
A named compliance owner. Someone has to read each Method Guide update, decide whether it changes your procedures, and brief the crew. That is a standing task, not a project.
Audit readiness. IPART can audit your certificates and your records. A full audit is disruptive for a small business, so file discipline from day one is cheaper than a clean-up later.
Insurance and contracts. If you sell certificates to a buyer, your supply agreement will carry warranties about eligibility. Read them. A warranty you cannot meet is a liability you have signed for.
Software or registry time. Creating certificates in the registry takes labour per job. At 150 jobs a month, that is a person; at 20, it is an hour a week.
Short answers on this topic: nsw accredited certificate provider acp.
What to do next
- Write down your NSW job volume per month for ESS and PDRS activities, and a realistic certificate value per job.
- Do the break-even sum above with your numbers.
- Read IPART’s accreditation guide before you commit.
- If working under an ACP, get payment, deduction and clawback terms in writing, and compare with how the desk handles NSW certificates.
- Keep federal and NSW lodgements separate. Start trading for the federal side while you work out the NSW side.