A compliance checklist does one job: it moves the discovery of an error from after lodgement, when it costs weeks, to before lodgement, when it costs minutes. The list below is built in six blocks that follow the way a claim is assembled. Use it as written or adapt it to your own job system, but keep the principle that a person other than the preparer signs it off.
No checklist is a guarantee, and requirements change, so check the Clean Energy Regulator’s current guidance for anything you are unsure about. For the reasons behind each line, see top STC claim rejection reasons and common reasons STCs get rejected.
Block 1: the installer
- The installer and designer named hold current accreditation (Solar Accreditation Australia) for this type of work.
- The accredited person attended or supervised in the way the rules require, and the record shows it.
- The names and numbers on the claim match the accreditation records.
Why it matters: an eligibility problem cannot be fixed with a better photo. See electricians and solar accreditation.
Block 2: the products
- Panels and inverter are on the approved lists on the installation date, not the order date.
- Model numbers, including suffixes, match the list exactly.
- Serial numbers captured for every panel, the inverter and any battery.
- For batteries: the model is CEC-approved and VPP-capable, and usable capacity is evidenced.
Why it matters: product approvals change, and a serial that does not validate is among the quickest ways to a rejection.
Block 3: the installation
- Installed to the relevant standards, with the electrical safety certificate issued.
- Network (DNSP) approval held and its capacity matches the system.
- Panel count multiplied by rated watts equals the kW claimed.
- For batteries: AS/NZS 5139 clearances, labelling and the ES emergency label at the meter box.
Block 4: the documents
- Assignment form signed by the actual system owner, with a date on or after the install.
- Owner’s name and address match across the form, certificate and claim.
- Photo set complete against the stage checklist, original files with location and time data. See the solar installation photo checklist and battery photo requirements.
- Installer’s written statement where required.
Block 5: the claim data
- Installation type chosen correctly: new, additional or replacement.
- Postcode and zone correct; deeming year matches the installation date.
- STC count recalculated independently and equal to the claim. See how to calculate STCs for solar.
- Installation date consistent across certificate, photos and claim.
- Customer and installer details spelled consistently.
Block 6: the timing
- Within 12 months of the installation date, with the expiry date recorded.
- Any rate lock or buyer arrangement noted.
- Anything older than nine months escalated.
How to use it
| When | Who | What |
|---|---|---|
| Before crew leaves site | Lead installer | Blocks 1 to 3 and photos |
| Day of install | Office | Blocks 4 and 5 |
| Before lodgement | Second person | All six, then sign |
| Weekly | Compliance owner | Block 6 on all open jobs |
Record the sign-off with a name and a date in the job file. If the regulator asks for evidence of your process, the signed checklists are some of the best evidence you can show.
The cost of skipping it
Take a business lodging 40 jobs a month at about $1,700 each, so $68,000 of certificates monthly. If 10 per cent bounce on first lodgement, $6,800 is delayed at any time, and each bounce consumes an hour or more of office time. A checklist that halves that rate saves $3,400 of tied-up cash every month and about two hours of work per week. It pays for itself in the first fortnight.
Adapting for different job types
Heat pumps and solar hot water have their own requirements, including the model’s listing and the installation evidence the regulator expects; see our hot water and heat pump checklist. Battery jobs need the extras listed in Blocks 2 and 3. Commercial jobs up to 100 kW follow the same pattern with additional site documents. Where a job is unusual, add a line rather than abandoning the list.
Keeping the list alive
Review the checklist every quarter. Add a line whenever a rejection teaches you something, and delete lines that no longer apply. A checklist that is never updated drifts out of step with the rules; a checklist that grows without pruning becomes something nobody reads. Twenty to thirty lines is about right.
Where the list stops and judgement starts
Checklists catch known errors. They do not catch unusual situations, and the scheme produces a steady supply of those. Escalate and ask rather than guess when:
- the owner is a company, trust or strata body rather than an individual, and the signatory’s authority is unclear
- the property has more than one system, or a system was extended in stages
- an installation straddles 31 December and the dates on documents differ
- the customer wants to keep their own certificates, which requires them to create and sell them
- the product was substituted late for a different model
Each of these is a legitimate job that needs a deliberate decision about evidence and claim data. A short note on the job file explaining the decision is worth more than any amount of reconstruction later. Questions about owners and ownership are covered in the answer on who owns the STCs on a solar system.
Making the sign-off real
A sign-off that is just a tick quickly becomes a habit that means nothing. Make it real by requiring the second person to write one thing: the STC count they calculated. If it does not match the claim, the job does not go. It takes thirty seconds and it is the single check that catches zone, year and capacity errors, which are the ones that look fine on a quick read.
What to do next
Print it, run it on your next ten jobs and count what it catches. Compare with the resources library forms, and see how a pre-check works on how it works. The STC trading pillar covers the wider process, and our compliance desk can run the same checks on every claim you lodge with us.