Knowledge/Rebates and VEU/The 20 kW cap on residential multi-split, word for word
The 20 kW cap on residential multi-split, word for word
From 30 September 2026, a multi-split in a home can only count 20 kW of capacity towards its certificates. You can still install a bigger system. You just don't earn extra certificates for anything past 20 kW. Residential only. It comes from footnotes in the Victorian Energy Upgrades (VEU) Specifications v25.0.
- Cap
- 20 kWmost you can claim
- From
- 30 Sep 2026same day as the co-payment rise
- Applies to
- Residential onlyhomes, not businesses
- Bigger systems
- Still allowedjust no extra certificates
What does the rule actually say?
Here it is word for word, marked applicable from 30 September 2026. "The maximum input for installations in residential premises is 20 kW." The footnote is the part that matters: "Although a unit with a heating capacity larger than 20 kW can be installed, the maximum input is 20 kW."
Capacity input is defined, also word for word, as the sum of the rated heating or cooling capacity of all indoor units installed in kW, up to a maximum of the rated capacity of the outdoor unit installed, as listed on the ESC register.
In plain terms, add up the kW of all the heads, but you can't count more than the outdoor unit is rated for on the register kept by the Essential Services Commission (ESC).
So there were already two limits before this change, the heads added up and the outdoor unit's rating. Hanging more heads off an outdoor unit than it can carry never earned more. The 20 kW cap adds a third limit on homes, and on a big house it's the one you'll hit first.
What does it do to a large multi-head job?
You can still install whatever the house needs. You just stop earning more certificates once you pass 20 kW. The co-payment rise starts the same day, so big multi-head jobs on homes cop both changes at once.
Large residential multi-split is the work that gets hit twice. From 10 kW the customer's share triples, from $1,000 to $3,000, and past 20 kW the certificates stop growing. If that's a decent share of your work, it's the part of your pricing I'd look at first.
Wrong figure going around
The cap is 20 kW, not 17 kW
You'll see 17 kW quoted, sometimes as "capacity beyond about 17 kW earns nothing". That was a draft figure that DEECA (the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action) put out for feedback. The final rule settled on 20 kW.
So anybody still quoting 17 is quoting a draft. On a job sitting between the two figures, that's the difference between pricing correctly and giving away certificate value you were entitled to.
We should be straight about where this comes from too. The 20 kW cap and the 30 September date come straight from the Specifications footnotes. The 17 kW proposal, and the reasoning about oversizing behind it, come second-hand from trade press and an industry submission, because we couldn't get hold of the consultation paper itself.
Not sure where your claims stand?
The scheme changes faster than anybody sends you a letter about it, and the cost of getting a claim wrong lands on you rather than on the person who told you.
Kevin will go through what you're doing now and tell you where the exposure is.
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
- There's no 77-VEEC cap. We checked all 22 mentions.People are quoting a certificate cap that isn't in the VEU Specifications at all. We checked all 22 mentions of the number across all 165 pages.
- Quoting across a VEU rule change without losing the claimThe co-payment rule that counts is the one in force when the certificate's created, not when you quoted. A job that slips into October takes the new figure.
- The VEU co-payment went up to $3,000 on 30 September 2026The minimum VEU co-payment on a ducted job went from $1,000 to $3,000 inc GST on 30 September 2026. Not 31 July. Here's what it does to your quoting.
- What's a VEEC actually worth, and why isn't it climbing?A VEEC was $85.80 on 22 September 2026, inside a 12 month range of $74.50 to $93.50. Here's what sets the price, and why $100 is the practical ceiling.
Review date: 1 November 2026. 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.