Verify the responsible business
Match the legal entity on the quote, contract, invoice and insurance documents. Ask for the professional authorisations relevant to the actual electrical, thermal or refrigerant work. A construction registry entry, a manufacturer logo or a review score is not a substitute for the required authorisation. Verify a claimed manufacturer partnership directly with that manufacturer.
Compare the complete scope
Give each bidder the same measured demand, drawings, access information and performance objectives. Compare exact equipment variants, routes, mounting, protection, controls, enabling works, tests, documents and taxes. Mark exclusions and provisional items separately. A lower headline price or a larger nominal system does not establish better value.
Agree responsibilities and scheduling
Confirm who handles the survey, design, any community consent, municipal procedures, electrical registration and distributor or supplier submissions. Requirements depend on the property and installation. Equipment availability, safe access, enabling work and third-party decisions affect the schedule. Ask how faults, disruption and support requests will be handled; do not infer attendance hours from a website contact form.
Separate product and workmanship terms
Obtain the exact regional product warranty and the contractor's written workmanship terms. Identify labour, travel, access, transport, registration, exclusions and claim responsibilities. Performance warranties are not promises about the household bill, and an insurance policy does not guarantee project completion. Agree milestones and changes in writing.
Make financial assumptions explicit
Compare the actual installed quote with interval self-consumption, imports, exports, contracted prices and applicable credit limits. Include losses, fixed charges that remain, maintenance, replacement, finance and taxes. Treat incentives as conditional until their applicable requirements and, where required, award decisions are established. A simple cost divided by annual benefit is not a forecast or a guaranteed payback.
Keep a commissioning record
Agree the inspections, measurements, settings and documents applicable to the installation. Retain equipment identification, as-built diagrams, protection details, test results, operating instructions and handover records. Monitoring access is useful, but an app displaying generation is not proof of electrical safety, completed registration or an active export-compensation contract.
Documents and reference links
Check the current version and applicability. These links do not establish failure rates, LIT credentials or an outcome for your property.
Company contact
Ben HaydenPrepare for a useful assessment
Provide the location, objectives, existing models, plans or safely taken photos, and measured demand. Confirm scope, availability, assessment fees and responsibilities before booking.