Choosing a Trade
How to vet a solar installer, an electrician for an EV charger, or a heat pump installer — the licensing checks, quote questions and red flags that matter, plus cost guides and checklists. This is independent editorial guidance, not a directory or lead-gen listing.
What to actually check — electrical licence numbers, Clean Energy Council accreditation (AU) or NABCEP certification (US) for solar, and manufacturer-authorised-installer status for heat pumps and batteries.
How many quotes to get, what a quote should itemise, and the questions that expose a lowball number cutting corners on cabling, isolators or commissioning.
Door-knocking sales pressure, no-fixed-address businesses, and quotes with no line-item detail are the patterns that show up again and again in complaint data on both sides of the Pacific.
Guides & articles
- 3 min readHow to Choose a Solar Installer (Without Getting Burned)The gap between a good solar install and a bad one shows up years later in failed inverters, voided warranties and underperforming systems. Here's what to actually check before you sign.
- 6 min readHow to Choose an Electrician for an EV Charger InstallA licence to do general electrical work isn't the same as experience assessing a switchboard for a 32A EV circuit. Here's what to check before you accept a quote.
- 6 min readWhat a Real Solar or Battery Quote Should Itemise (and What a Bare One Is Hiding)A one-page quote listing only total system size and price is missing almost everything that determines whether the install is any good. Here's the itemised detail a real quote actually includes.
- 6 min readHow to Vet a Heat Pump Installer: Licensing, Sizing Method and Red FlagsA correctly sized heat pump and an oversized one can look identical on the invoice. The difference shows up in your running costs for the next fifteen years, so the sizing method the installer uses matters more than the brand.
- 6 min readQuestions to Ask an Insulation or Green-Building Contractor Before You SignAn R-value on a product label describes the material, not necessarily how it performs once installed. The questions that matter are about installed performance, not the number on the bag.
