On a rental job, the landlord signs the assignment

What problem does it solve?

On a rental, the person with the energy account is the tenant. The person who decides to replace the heater, and pays for it, is the landlord. Without this rule the tenant would have to sign the assignment, even though they aren't paying for the job. That makes no commercial sense.

So s16(2) says a landlord who isn't the energy consumer is taken to be the consumer. Two conditions apply. They have to be the landlord of that property, and they have to have arranged the work there.

Both conditions matter. Being the landlord isn't enough on its own. They have to have arranged the work too.

Who signs when there's no power or gas connected?

The same section covers an owner building or renovating a place that isn't connected for electricity or gas yet. They're treated as the consumer too.

That answers a question that comes up on renovation work. There's no energy account at the property yet, so who signs? The owner does. Who counts as the owner comes from the Subdivision Act 1988, via s16(5).

Why is this about to get busy?

From 1 March 2027 Victoria's rental minimum standards start to bite. A failed heating or hot water appliance in a rental has to be replaced with an efficient electric option, and there's a cooling requirement on a new lease. Those are rental rules, separate from the rebate scheme. Our rental minimum standards timeline, under Licences and standards, has every date and where it comes from.

Put that together and a lot of Victorian rebate jobs over the next few years are likely to be rentals arranged by a landlord or an agent. Section 16(2) is likely to go from a rule hardly anyone uses to one that comes up far more often.

So get your paperwork habits right on it now, while the volume's still low.

Two things I'd do on the quote

1. Find out who the landlord actually is, not just who the agent isAn agent arranging work on instruction isn't the landlord. If an agent signs, be clear on what authority they hold.
2. Write down that the landlord arranged the workIt's the second condition, and it's the one most likely to be argued about. A line on the job record costs nothing.