1. DEFINITIONS
1.1. “Agreement” means the Order Form, these Terms and Conditions, the System
Specifications and the Site Specific System Design.
1.2. “Customer” means the person/entity noted in the Agreement and/or their employees,Agents, Attorney, Representatives and/or assignees.
1.3. “Contractor” means Solana Energy Specialists, their employees, Agents, attorneys, representatives and/or assignees.
1.4. “Goods” means the various parts, materials, appliances and/or equipment which make up the System and any other various components purchased and/or installed.
1.5. “Price” means the total amount noted on the purchase order after the STC financial incentive has been deducted and including GST.
1.6. “Site” means the Customer’s address and any other place works/installations are required.
1.7. “System” means the PV solar system described in the Order Form, the System and any other parts and/or installed equipment as required.
2. INTERPRETATION
2.1. These terms and conditions are governed by the laws of New South Wales and the parties submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of that state.
2.2. In the interpretation of this deed:
2.2.1. References to legislation or provisions of legislation include changes or re-enactments of the legislation and statutory instruments and regulations issued under the legislation;
2.2.2. Words denoting the singular include the plural and vice versa, words denoting individuals or persons include bodies corporate and vice versa;
2.2.3. references to documents or agreements also mean those documents or agreements as changed, or replaced, and words denoting one gender include all genders;
2.2.4. Grammatical forms of defined words or phrases have corresponding meanings;
2.2.5. Reference to an amount of money is a reference to the amount in the lawful currency of the Commonwealth of Australia;
2.2.6. Obligations under this deed affecting more than one party bind them jointly and each of them severally;
2.2.7. The services that gives rise to the risk the subject of this indemnity is described in the schedule. Reference to “you” or “Client” also includes the client’s agents and representatives and vice versa.
3. BINDING NATURE
3.1. This agreement is binding and executed when one or more of the following events occur:
3.1.1. This agreement is signed by you;
3.1.2. at such a time as the contractor receives payment from you;
3.1.3. upon the arrival of the system to site and/or the contractor or its employee’s/contactors to site; and;
3.1.4. a completed and signed copy of this agreement is received from you.
3.2. You agree to pay for our services on the terms within this agreement.
4. NATURE & SUBJECT OF CONTRACT
4.1. This Agreement is for the supply and installation of the System at the Site by the Contractor in consideration of payment of the Price by the Customer.
4.2. The Contractor may assist the Customer to arrange for the System to be connected to the main grid and/ or for the installation of the meter at the Site at the discretion of the contractor, however the agreement to undertake that connection and installation is an agreement between the Customer and his/her electricity retailer/distributor. The costs and risks associated with that connection and installation are not included in any way in this Agreement.
4.3. Site conditions and special circumstances beyond the control of the Contractor may result in extra work not covered by the Price and chargeable to the customer. This includes any additional costs that may arise at or after installation and that will not be borne by the Contractor (For example, fees for metre installation, meter exchange/reconfiguration, damage on meter panels, switchboard upgrades, installation of RCD (safety) switches, raised frames, cathedral ceiling / excess conduit works, two storey installations, changing dedicated off peak control devices, and/or travel surcharges in the event the Site is located beyond 100km of the Contractor’s place of business).
5. FORMATION OF AGREEMENT
5.1. No contractual obligations shall arise until the agreement is deemed binding in accordance with clause 3.
5.2. In the event the Customer provides the Contractor with a written order, such order is subject to these terms and conditions of Agreement and any other terms and conditions which are agreed to by the parties become part of the terms and conditions of Agreement .
5.3. The Customer has a cooling-off period of ten (10) business days starting the day after the contract has been signed by the customer in which the Customer may cancel this Agreement and obtain a full refund of any amounts paid pursuant to this Agreement. During this cooling off period no goods or services will be provided by the contractor. In order to cancel the Agreement, the Contractor must receive written notice from the Customer in person or by fax or email, within the cooling-off period.
5.3.1.The cooling off period will not be applicable to Customers paying by a third party payment company or any customers who have received any part of the goods or installation services.
5.4. The Deposit amount shall be forfeited to the Contractor should the Customer choose to cancel the Agreement after the cooling off period has expired.
5.5. Any variations or amendments requested by the Customer shall be issued in writing to the Contractor or shall not bind the Contractor unless the Contractor agrees to the provision of further work in respect of those variations or amendments.
5.6. The Contractor reserves the right to terminate this Agreement upon giving written notice to the customer not less than three (3) days prior to the Install Date. If this Agreement is terminated by the Contractor pursuant to this clause, the Customer will be refunded all and any payments made to the Contractor pursuant to this Agreement.
5.7. The Customer acknowledges that after the completion of the installation of the System the Contractor does not permit any subsequent changes, modifications or reinstallation of the installed System. The Contractor is not liability for any issues resulting from any subsequent changes, modifications or reinstallation of the installed System.
5.8. The contractor will not demand or accept any payments during the 10 day cooling off period for the remaining cost of the system after the deposit. The customer cannot forfeit their obligations under the cooling off period.
6. PRICE & TERMS OF PAYMENT
6.1. The Deposit Amount shall be paid by the Customer to the Contractor on the date of this Agreement and the Contractor shall provide the Customer with a receipt for the Deposit Amount.
6.1.1. This provision is not applicable to Customers paying by a third party payment company
6.2. Unless a Payment Plan applies to this Agreement, payment of the balance is required to be made to the Contractor in full on or before the Install Date.
6.3. In the event that a Payment Plan applies to this Agreement, the Customer must pay the Balance in equal monthly instalments, on the fifteenth (15th) day of each and every month starting on the month after the month the Agreement is entered into OR strictly subject to the Contractor confirming progress claims will be submitted in accordance with an agreed schedule, the Contractor shall submit to the Customer progress claims for each stage which shall consist of the percentage of the contract sum applicable to that stage as stated in schedule, and any other amounts then payable to the Contractor in respect of variations (if any), whereupon the Customer shall pay each progress claim within three (3) days of submission of each progress claim by the Contractor.
6.3.1. This provision is not applicable to Customers paying by a third party payment company
6.4. All amounts payable under this Agreement may be made by bank cheque, credit card or direct deposit, and will be accepted as made when the Contractor receives cleared funds. Not applicable to Customers paying by a third party payment company.
6.4.1. This provision is not applicable to Customers paying by a third party payment company
6.5. Should the Customer neglect or refuse to pay any amounts due and payable by the relevant due date(s), the Contractor may, at its option, with or without notice to the Customer, charge interest at a rate of Ten Percent (10%) on any such unpaid amounts, and/or suspend work until full payment is made. Failure to pay any amount within 14 days of the relevant due date may also result in the Contractor engaging a collection service to recover any and all outstanding amounts owing pursuant to this Agreement and the customer agrees to be liable for any and all costs of collection and recovery.
6.5.1. This provision is not applicable to Customers paying by a third party payment company
6.6. If on or after the thirty (30) calendar days from this Agreement the Contractor’s costs in connection with this Agreement are increased as the result of any factors including but not limited to variations in costs of labour, material, employers liability, freight, insurance, their party insurance, GST and other taxes, customers or excise duties or levy of any new or additional tax, the Customer shall pay the amount of such increases, or in the event that the total amount of any such increase is in excess of $500.00, the Customer shall be entitled to cancel this Agreement at any time prior to installation and the contractor shall return any funds paid by the customer, less the deposit.
6.6.1. This provision is not applicable to Customers paying by a third party payment company
6.7. If there is any difference between the STC price at the formation of this agreement and STC price at the time of installation, the Customer shall pay the difference in cost to the Contractor if there is a shortfall.
7. SMALL-SCALE TECHNOLOGY CERTIFICATES
7.1 Government incentives in the form of Small-scale Technology Certificates (STCs) help reduce the upfront cost of installing a solar PV system. STCs are an electronic form of currency and are allocated when a solar PV system is installed. One STC is equivalent to one megawatt-hour of electricity generated by a solar PV system. The price of STCs changes according to market conditions. The total of STCs for a solar PV system will depend on a number of factors, including the location and size of the solar PV system and the price of STCs at the time the system is installed.
7.2 The Contractor has applied a discount, being equal to a reasonable expected return for the sale and administration of the STCs applicable to the System, to the Price of this Agreement in consideration of the Customer assigning the STCs to the Contractor, and as a service to the Customer, the Contractor will manage the complex and time-consuming task of creating and selling the STCs. The Customer shall complete any prescribed forms and/or perform all such actions to give effect to the assignment of the STCs to the Contractor.
7.3 If the Customer wishes to create and sell the STCs, rather than assigning them to the Contractor, this may be facilitated, however, the discount which has been applied to this Agreement will be null and void, and the Customer will be required to pay the full/non-discounted price on or before the Install Date and the Contractor reserved the right to terminate this agreement at the Contractors discretion.
8 VARIATIONS
8.1 The Contractor may vary this Agreement at the Contractors discretion and the customer shall be notified in writing of the variation setting forth the details of such changes and the value thereof shall be added or deducted from the Price as is the case maybe.
8.2 Additions shall be charged: labour at cost plus 10% and materials at a trade price plus 20%, deletions shall be made at cost.
8.2.1 This provision is not applicable to Customers paying by a third party payment company.
8.3 Where there is an agreed vacation to the scope of works a variation document will be prepared by the Contractor which will describe the variation, estimate any delay, state the change in the Price or how the change in Price is to be calculated and make appropriate provision for payment.
8.3.1 This provision is not applicable to Customers paying by a third party payment company and no variations will be made the to scope of works unless the Customer pays the difference in the price upfront.
9 INSTALLATION
9.1 The Contractor aims to deliver and install the System by the Install Date; however installation times are an estimate only and may vary at any time without notification. The Contractor is not liable or responsible for any losses due to time delays and the Contractor may in its absolute and unfettered discretion, change the Install Date in any of the following circumstances:
9.1.1 where there is a shortage of stock availability;
9.1.2 where there is a shortage of installer availability;
9.1.3 where there is inclement weather;
9.1.4 where the nature of the Site results in unanticipated installation factors and/or requires additional equipment necessary to install the System;
9.1.5 any other circumstances reasonably requiring the Contractor to change the Customer’s Install Date
9.2 A Customer must be present at the Site during the installation to sign the mandatory declaration assigning STCs to the Contractor, as per the Renewable Energy Act (2000). Where the Contractor arrives on the Install Date and the installation is delayed due to the Customer not being present at the Site, a rescheduling fee of $300 will apply and the installation will be re-booked.
9.3 It is the responsibility of the Customer to let the Contractor know of any preference regarding panel and/or inverter placement upon the contractor arriving at the sire and before the installation commences.
10 WARRANTIES
10.1 There are four (4) separate warranties that apply to the System.
10.1.1 The first two warranties, are in respect to the Goods (the solar panels and inverter). These warranties are provided by the manufacturers of these Goods and are set out set out in the documentation provided at the time of installation of the System. The Contractor reserves the right to refer warranty claims to the manufacturer if outside the scope of reasonable service or installation work. The Contractor shall not be bound nor responsible for any terms, conditions, representations or warranty given by the manufacturer. It is the Customer’s responsibility to ensure the warranty cards or other registration requirements of the manufacturer of any Goods supplied or installed by the Contractor are complied with.
10.1.2 The third warranty on the System is the structural installation warranty. This warranty is strictly limited to the structural integrity of the panel mounting system that supports the solar panels.
10.1.3 The final warranty is provided by the Contractor in respect to the workmanship of the installation. The Contractor warrants that if there is a valid defect in the works due to defective workmanship which is reported to the Contractor within five (5) years of the Install Date, the Contractor will remedy the defect.
10.1.3.1 The Contractor will not be responsible for any claims with respect to the workmanship of the installation in the event that the alleged defect is rectified prior to the Contractor having the opportunity to review the claim and/or attend to the rectification of the alleged defect.
10.2 All warranties are applicable to the original Customer and are not transferable unless otherwise stated in the Agreement.
10.3 In the event the Customer’s warranty claim is denied, the Customer will be invoiced for any costs involved in assessing Customer’s claim. The warranty claims may be denied for the following reasons:
10.3.1 The warranty period has expired.
10.3.2 The goods prove to be working normally after testing
10.3.3 The goods have been tampered with and/or seals have been broken
10.3.4 Improper transportation and delivery
10.3.5 Application beyond scope of safety standards (AS4777 & AS31000 etc.)
10.4 The Consumer’s rights under these warranties sit alongside the consumer guarantees which are required under Australian Consumer Legislation, and cannot be excluded.
11 RISK AND OWNERSHIP
11.1 Risk or loss, damage or destruction to the Goods shall pass to the Customer upon installation.
11.2 Ownership of the Goods shall remain with the Contractor until the Contractor has received payment of the Price, and any other monies due to the Contractor under this Agreement, in full.
11.2.1 This provision is not applicable to Customers paying by a third party payment company.
11.3 In the event that the Customer is in breach of an essential term of this Agreement, the Customer hereby irrevocably authorises the. Contractor to enter the Site at any time to uninstall and retake possession of the Goods.
11.3.1 This provision is not applicable to Customers paying by a third party payment
company.
11.4 The Customer shall be liable to make good, repair or replace any cracked, broken or damaged roof tiles or tin roof sheets pre and post installation.
11.5 Any alleged rights of the Customer to consequential, liquidated or pre-ascertained damages are expressly excluded from this Agreement.
12 THE LAW
12.1 The law governing this Agreement, and any ancillary document and/or agreement made between the parties, is the law of the state of New South Wales.
12.2 The Contractor must comply with the Clean Energy Council (“CEC”) Solar Retailer Code of Conduct. The following is a link to a flyer which explains the Code of Conduct: https://www.solaraccreditation.com.au/dam/solar-accred/retailers/code-of-conduct/Solar-PV-Retailer-Code-of-Conduct/Solar-Retailer-Code-of-Conduct-Sept-2015.pdf
12.3 The work will comply with:
12.3.1 the Building Code of Australia, to the extent required under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979
12.3.2 all other relevant codes, standards and specifications that the work is required to comply with under any law
12.4 This Agreement may limit the liability of the Contractor for failure to comply with the above work compliance clause if the failure relates solely to:
12.4.1 a design or specification prepared by or on behalf of the Customer (but not the Contractor) or
12.4.2 a design or specification required by the Customer if the Contractor has advised the Customer in writing that they go against the ‘work compliance clause’.
13 DISPUTE RESOLUTION
13.1 If the parties are unable to agree on a matter of fundamental importance with regard to rights and obligations, and are unable to resolve the dispute within 30 business days of it first arising, they must in good faith endeavour to resolve the dispute expeditiously using informal dispute resolution techniques such as mediation. If the dispute is not promptly resolved, any party may give notice to the other party of their intention to refer the dispute to mediation.
13.2 Where a party gives notice of their intention to refer a dispute to mediation then that party must, along with that notice, provide to the other party a memorandum setting out their position on the dispute, and its reasons for adopting such a position.
13.3 If the parties do not agree within 5 business days of receipt of that notice then the parties must mediate the dispute in accordance with the mediation rules of the Australian Commercial Disputes Centre; with the mediator to be selected and the mediation organised by them or a similar organisation. The parties must bear their own costs of dealing with any dispute, and the costs of any Expert or mediator will be borne equally by the parties.
13.4 In the event the issue cannot be resolved via internal dispute resolution or mediation, the matter shall be resolved through a binding arbitration submitted through the
Office of Fair Trading.
NSW – 13 32 20
QLD – 13 74 68
ACT – (02) 6207 3000
14 SHADING
14.1 It is the customer’s obligation to maintain and remove any obstructions that cause shading to the solar system. The contractor can recommend the positioning of the panels and advise of any potential reduction in system performance caused by the shading, however it is the customers responsibility to monitor and assess whether an obstruction is causing a reduction in performance and rectify the shading issue.
15 BAR TO PROCEEDINGS
15.1 This indemnity is a bar to any and all proceedings commenced by the customer to any claim or proceeding released in accordance with this agreement. The bar to proceedings continues until any and all risk of loss or damage to the Contractor comes to an end.
16 FORCE MAJEURE
16.1 The Contractor will not be liable for any damages, losses or injuries caused by conditions outside of their control, including, without limitation, any fire, flood, hurricane, tsunami, war, revolution, terrorism or change to any law, regulation or government policy.
16.2 In the instance of a Force Majeure incident which prevents the Contractor from attending to installation of the System, the contactor will take reasonable steps to resolve the Force Majeure incident at its discretion, including, but not limited to terminating this agreement.
17 AMENDMENTS
17.1 This agreement may be amended by the contractor without prior notice to the client and in written or verbal form.
18 WAIVER OR VARIATION
18.1 A party’s failure or delay to exercise a power or right does not operate as a waiver of that power or right. The exercise of a power or right does not preclude: Its future exercise; or the exercise of any other power or right.
19 EMAIL, FAX or PDF EXCHANGE
19.1 These terms and conditions may be signed in any number of counterparts with the same effect as if the signatures to each counterpart were on the same instrument. Execution by either or both of the parties to the agreement of a facsimile or email copy of this agreement and transmission by facsimile or email of a copy of the agreement executed by that party to the other party constitute a valid and binding execution of this agreement by such party or parties.
20 DEFAULT
20.1 Where the customer fails to observe their obligations, the agreement may be terminated immediately by the Contractor and the Contractor will be entitled to charge reasonable cancellation fee’s at the Contractors discretion. In the event that the Customer elects to rectify the failure and perform their part of the agreement, then the Customer will pay all the Contractors reasonable costs of rectifying the Customers failure to perform all or such part of their obligations hereunder.
21 DEATH AND DISABILITY
21.1 Where either party dies or becomes incapacitated, their executor, attorney or administrator shall become responsible for the terms under this agreement.