Domain 5: Proposal, Contract, and Customer Communication
Domain 5 is the proposal and contract: documenting assumptions, presenting numbers honestly, and papering the deal so both parties know what is included. The exam probes scope language, production and savings claims, required disclosures, and the ethics of how savings are sold.
Proposal content
- Executive summary written to the customer's stated objective, not a spec sheet.
- Bill and load analysis, production estimate with P50/P90 and assumptions, system description, and a single-line diagram.
- Financial summary: net cost after incentives, financing terms, savings, payback, and the sensitivity of those numbers.
- Scope, exclusions, schedule, warranties (workmanship, equipment, production), O&M, and the change-order process.
Contract and disclosures
- Price, payment milestones, deposit rules, contingencies for roof or structural findings, and delay provisions for permitting and utility review.
- State-required disclosures: financing terms and APR, cancellation or rescission rights for door-to-door sales, lien and insurance information, licensing.
- Represent credentials accurately; use only licensed or otherwise qualified personnel.
Claims and ethics
- "Eliminates your bill" is almost always false: fixed charges, non-bypassable charges, and TOU mismatch remain.
- Present guaranteed production only if the contract defines measurement, weather normalization, and remedies.
Worked example
A proposal promises a "zero electric bill" on a 100% kWh offset. Reality: a $14/month fixed charge ($168/yr), plus non-bypassable charges on roughly 3,000 kWh of evening imports at $0.03 = $90/yr. The honest year-1 savings claim is $1,682 − $168 − $90 = $1,424, about 15% lower, and payback moves from 9.3 to 11.0 years. Show the derivation so the customer can follow it.
Traps
Quoting savings at the average rate; burying an escalator in a lease or PPA; omitting exclusions that later become change orders; claiming certifications the company does not hold.