Know what each project step needs before you continue
Use these checks to decide what evidence, permission and scope is needed. The budget bands organise a plan; they are not market-price estimates, quotes or savings promises.
Prepare facts before choosing a product or provider
- The comfort, safety or equipment problem in plain language
- What is already installed and what is known or still uncertain
- Photos that can be taken safely from normal living areas
- Recent energy bills or interval data only when they are relevant
- Property, strata, rental and approval constraints
- A written scope with exclusions before comparing quotes
Record whether each important fact is customer-reported, has a photo available for review, has a document available for review or is still unknown. This source label does not prove that a file is attached, linked to that fact or verified by Australian Energy Assessments or a trade.
Use climate context to order investigations, not to size equipment
A broad postcode and state profile can help decide whether shade, airflow, draughts, insulation or system checks should come first. It is an approximate planning guide, not a NatHERS climate zone, home energy rating, site assessment, savings estimate or equipment-size calculation.
Add only the rooms where time and symptoms change the advice
Record controlled room types, when each room matters and whether it is too hot, too cold, draughty, damp, glary, stuffy or uneven. A private room nickname can help you recognise it later, but that name does not enter the anonymised installer scope.
Make the situation safe, then define the minimum complete scope
What to record
Record the failed equipment, the rooms or services it supported, visible model details, current fuel or circuit, and any safety issue. Do not open covers or enter unsafe areas for a photo.
What to ask for
Ask a suitably licensed trade to separate the replacement, electrical or plumbing enabling work, removal, commissioning, warranties and exclusions. Compare a suitable efficient option as well as a like-for-like replacement where time allows.
Confirm who can approve the change before requesting fixed work
Portable or reversible measures
Renters can often begin with clothing and bedding layers, electric throws, draught snakes, removable window films or coverings, portable fans and suitable portable induction cooking. Follow product and electrical safety instructions.
Fixed or shared-property work
Written owner, strata or owners-corporation approval may be needed for sealing, insulation, glazing, external shading, switchboard work, fixed appliances, outdoor units, solar, batteries or EV charging. Confirm the exact proposal, drawings, licensed trade and reinstatement obligations.
The project permission checklist separates portable actions, permission requests, fixed or shared-property work and items that still need confirmation. It is a planning checklist, not legal or strata approval advice.
Use the first stage to remove uncertainty and improve low-cost constraints
Prioritise safety, bills and usage evidence, comfort mapping, controls, maintenance and reversible measures. Obtain a site-specific quote before assuming fixed draught-proofing, electrical, glazing or insulation work fits this band.
Choose a small number of compatible measures after the main constraint is known
Use evidence to decide whether the first spend belongs in the building fabric, controls, electrical enabling work or one major appliance. Require current itemised quotes, exclusions and a contingency instead of relying on a generic online price.
Coordinate the whole-home sequence before committing
Review moisture and ventilation, insulation and glazing, electrical capacity, equipment sizing, solar and future loads together. Stage the work so an early installation does not obstruct a later one, and treat the budget as a ceiling until site-specific quotes are compared.
Need building-fabric detail?
Review insulation, draught-proofing, glazing, shading, ventilation, moisture and electrical safety before defining trade scopes.