There are six steps to become an Accredited Certificate Provider which are described in detail below.

The application process timeline.PNG

We start assessing your application after you have paid the application fee in step 4. Our assessment of your application (steps 5 and 6) typically takes around 4 months.

The time it takes to become accredited depends on the quality of your application and your business systems and processes, the complexity of the method and whether you are already an ACP with existing accreditations. It takes longer for new businesses as you will need to develop or enhance your business systems and documentation to meet our requirements. Sometimes becoming accredited can take longer than 4 months.

The six steps in the application process

1. You prepare your application

Update or develop your business systems and processes for your proposed energy savings activity, prepare documentation and complete the two-part application form.

To find out more about how to prepare and fill out your application, see Preparing your application.
2. You submit your application

To find out how to submit your application, see Submitting your application.
3. We check that your application is complete

We will check that you have completed all sections of the application form and included all attachments.

If your application is incomplete, we will request the missing information, which must be provided before we can proceed. Once you provide all required information, we consider your application to be complete.
4. You pay the application fee

Once we accept your application as complete, we request payment of the application fee. In some cases, the application fee is not required.

Once you pay the application fee (or we deem it to be not required), we can commence our assessment of your application.
5. We assess your application

We assess your application in accordance with ESS requirements (see Preparing your application). We may request further information to support our assessment. We typically issue no more than 2 requests for information.
6. We notify you of our decision

When we have assessed your application, the Scheme Administrator will decide whether to approve or refuse your application. We will inform you of this decision in writing.

If your application is approved and you are accredited as an ACP, you will have risk-based audit and reporting requirements set out in your Accreditation Notice.

You will have the right to request an internal review of the Scheme Administrator’s decision.