Knowledge/Accreditation and audits/The two March 2026 cases, and what actually got them
The two March 2026 cases, and what actually got them
The Essential Services Commission (ESC) announced two cases against accredited businesses on 27 March 2026. Between them, $4.2 million in certificates was refused registration, and one lost its accreditation with a five-year ban on reapplying. Both involved faked photo evidence, and both involved doorknocking and telemarketing.
- Announced
- 27 Mar 2026ESC media release
- Combined
- $4.2 millioncertificates refused
- Shantey
- Cancelled, 5-year ban2,586 certificates refused
- Ecosaver
- 48,550 refusedcertificates, about $4 million
Shantey Pty Ltd, trading as Energy Efficient Upgrades
Three kinds of conduct. The first is the one to pay attention to.
- Staged photos to falsely claim upgrades. That included bringing water heaters to properties that didn't have one, so there was something to photograph as decommissioned
- Banned sales tactics, meaning doorknocking, telemarketing and high-pressure selling
- Not collecting genuine co-payments. Some customers were paid cash to act as a fake co-payment, or refunded afterwards
It lost its accreditation, with a five-year ban on reapplying, and 2,586 certificates worth more than $200,000 were refused registration. When the release came out, the ESC was still considering further action.
That first item runs straight into regulation 17(2)(a). Under that rule, someone has to sign a declaration that the old unit wasn't installed just so it could be decommissioned. It's hard to read that clause as aimed at anything else.
Ecosaver Australia Pty Ltd
- Faked photo evidence, specifically reusing photos of decommissioned lighting across multiple claims
- Claimed upgrades that broke Victorian Energy Upgrades (VEU) requirements and industry standards
- Doorknocking and telemarketing
48,550 certificates, worth about $4 million, were refused registration.
Reusing one photo across claims feels like a small shortcut on job three. At scale it's a disaster, because the same photo turning up again and again is a pattern a screening tool can find. Forty-eight thousand certificates isn't a paperwork slip.
The line from the regulator worth pinning up
The ESC Chairperson, Gerard Brody, on the two matters: "Accredited businesses must ensure people doing work on their behalf follow the rules. If they don't, it's their reputation and profits at stake."
That's the person who enforces the rules saying it straight. If you hold the accreditation, you answer for what the people working under you do, including subbies and lead generators. Lawyers call it vicarious liability.
And if you're the installer working under someone else's accreditation, flip it around. That business has just been told in public that what you do lands on them. Be straight with them.
Unconfirmed
cases
These are the two we could source
Several other VEU enforcement matters are doing the rounds in industry commentary. They include an 82-site heat pump matter with a court-enforceable undertaking, a 1,289-certificate matter, one involving nine accredited persons, and a 20-business-day suspension over lead generation.
We couldn't find a published source, a date or any confirmation for any of them. They may well be real. We're not publishing them as fact on the strength of somebody else's summary.
The two on this page come from the ESC's own media release of 27 March 2026, with the company names, the conduct and the numbers as the regulator stated them. That's the standard we'd want for a page about our own business, so it's the standard here.
Working out whether to get accredited?
It's a real decision with real numbers on both sides, and most of the people offering advice make money whichever way you go.
Kevin has no stake in which way you go. Ask him.
Who this is for: small and medium HVAC contractors in Victoria. If you're a homeowner after a rebate or a repair, you need a licensed contractor, not us, and yours can point you the right way.
Related
- If your accredited person loses accreditation, the offence is yoursKeep doing scheme jobs for an accredited person who's lost accreditation and you're the one committing the offence. And suspension can be immediate.
- Victorian Energy Upgrades marketing rules, and the two bansCold-call telemarketing banned since May 2024, doorknocking since August 2024. Plus the rule that stops you buying leads from someone else's cold call.
- Accredited person, scheme participant, or neitherThe VEU has three legal roles, and yours decides who ends up in court. Most HVAC install businesses are scheme participants, not accredited persons.
- How to become a VEU accredited personEvery step, fee and deadline. $3,000 to apply, $1,000 a year to renew, a decision in 20 business days, and it only covers activities you're approved for.
Review date: 1 January 2027. Figures in this area change without much notice and this page carries some that will go stale. Every number above is dated and sourced so you can check it yourself. If you find something out of date here, tell us and we will fix it.