# ACMA TCA2 record keeping and customer handover (https://tradieforms.com.au/resources/acma-tca2-record-keeping-handover)

How registered cablers hand over the ACMA TCA2, keep job copies, pair it with the TCA1, and store outstanding matters advice with the site record. | Trade: Electrical | Template: acma-tca2



A TCA2 only works if someone who can act receives it. Filling the form for your glovebox and never handing it over leaves the non-compliant cabling exactly where you found it, with no paper trail.

Finish the [ACMA TCA2](/forms/acma-tca2) on site, hand it to the customer or building manager, and keep a clean PDF with the job so outstanding matters do not vanish into a chat thread.

<KeyTakeaways>
  * Give the TCA2 to the customer or building manager, not only to yourself
  * Keep a job copy with priorities and advice type intact
  * Pair TCA2 with TCA1 when both apply to the same visit
  * ACMA's hard retain rule sits on TCA1 (12 months); TCA2 retention is business and contract practice unless another rule applies
</KeyTakeaways>

Related: [When is TCA2 required](/resources/when-is-acma-tca2-required), [TCA1 and TCA2 handover guide](/resources/acma-tca1-tca2-cabling-record-keeping-handover-guide), [TCA1 form](/forms/acma-tca1-attach-a).

## What does handover mean for an advisory form? [#what-does-handover-mean-for-an-advisory-form]

ACMA's TCA2 exists so the customer can decide what action to take on non-compliant installations you noticed. Handover is not lodgement with the ACMA. It is delivery to the person who can authorise remediation: customer, building manager, or another site authority named on the job.

Good handover includes:

1. A completed TCA2 PDF with advice type, matters, and priorities
2. A short plain-language explanation of what you found
3. Clarity that the form is advice, not a certificate of your completed work
4. Your contact details if they need a quote for rectification later (as a separate commercial step)

## Customer copy versus job copy [#customer-copy-versus-job-copy]

<GoodBad
  field="Where the TCA2 ends up"
  badLabel="Not a record"
  goodLabel="A record"
  bad="
  <ul>
    <li>A photo of the form on one phone's camera roll</li>
    <li>An unnamed PDF in a downloads folder</li>
    <li>Advice given verbally on the way out</li>
  </ul>
"
  good="
  <ul>
    <li>A clean PDF to the customer or building manager, so they can act</li>
    <li>A copy in your job file, as proof of what you advised and when</li>
    <li>Filed under job name, site address, and date</li>
  </ul>
"
  badNote="None of these survive a dispute six months later."
  goodNote="Two copies, two different purposes."
/>

Download a clean PDF and store it under the job name, site address, and date.

## Pairing TCA2 with TCA1 [#pairing-tca2-with-tca1]

Many visits produce both documents:

* **TCA1** certifies the customer cabling work you completed
* **TCA2** advises on other non-compliant cabling still outstanding

Store them together. When a principal or building manager asks what paperwork came from that day, both files should appear.

ACMA guidance requires you to retain a TCA1 copy for at least 12 months. That hard retain rule sits on the TCA1, not on the TCA2. Still keep the TCA2 with the same job pack as business practice and for any contract retention your client sets, unless another rule applies to that job.

See also [common TCA2 mistakes](/resources/common-mistakes-acma-tca2) and [how to fill TCA2](/resources/acma-tca2-cabling-advice-form-how-to-fill-out).

## What to record in the job system [#what-to-record-in-the-job-system]

Beyond the PDF:

* Site address and customer name
* Date of advice
* Pre works or post works
* High-level summary of urgent items
* Whether a separate quote was requested
* Link or attachment to the TCA1 for the same visit if issued

That metadata makes search easy when the same building books you six months later.

## Electronic storage on the tools [#electronic-storage-on-the-tools]

1. Download the PDF before you leave site
2. Name it with site and date, for example `2026-07-24_12-smith-st_tca2.pdf`
3. Attach it to the job in your job system if you use one
4. Keep access available to the business, not only one personal phone

The guided [TCA2 form](/forms/acma-tca2) downloads in the official layout so the stored file matches the ACMA structure.

A light folder structure is enough:

```
jobs/
  2026-07-24-12-smith-st/
    tca1-completed-work.pdf
    tca2-outstanding-matters.pdf
    photos/
    notes.txt
```

## Email and portal handoff [#email-and-portal-handoff]

If you email the TCA2:

* Use a clear subject line with site address and "TCA2 outstanding matters"
* Put the priority summary in the email body in plain language
* Attach the PDF, do not rely on a compressed chat image
* File the sent message into the job record if your system allows

If the principal only accepts uploads to a portal, download the clean PDF first, then upload. Keep your own copy even when their portal strips filenames.

## What if the advice is updated or disputed? [#what-if-the-advice-is-updated-or-disputed]

If you re-inspect and the condition changed, issue a new TCA2 with a new date rather than silently editing history. Keep both PDFs and note which one is current.

Your job copy with priorities and advice type is the record of what you flagged. The TCA2 is not a warranty that the customer will fix the issue. If they later engage you to remediate, start a new job record and use a TCA1 for completed remediation work when that work is customer cabling you finish under the rules.

On large sites, your TCA2 only speaks for what you observed. Do not edit another company's advice form.

## Handover script [#handover-script]

A clear field handoff is enough:

* "This TCA2 lists outstanding cabling issues I found."
* "It is advice for you or the building manager to act on, not a certificate for the new work I finished."
* "Urgent items are marked so you can prioritise."
* "I am keeping a copy with the job. Here is your PDF."

<Flow
  title="Handing over the advice"
  steps="[
  {
    label: &#x22;Say what it is&#x22;,
    by: &#x22;On site&#x22;,
    detail: &#x22;Advice on outstanding cabling issues, not a certificate for the work you just finished.&#x22;,
  },
  {
    label: &#x22;Point at the urgent items&#x22;,
    by: &#x22;In plain language&#x22;,
    detail: &#x22;So the customer knows what to prioritise without reading the matrix.&#x22;,
  },
  {
    label: &#x22;Give them the PDF&#x22;,
    by: &#x22;Email, portal or printed&#x22;,
    detail: &#x22;The clean download, not a compressed chat image.&#x22;,
  },
  {
    label: &#x22;Get a confirmation&#x22;,
    by: &#x22;Reply email, portal tick or signed docket&#x22;,
    detail: &#x22;Filed next to the PDF, which is what proves the advice was given.&#x22;,
  },
]"
  caption="The last step is what turns a handover into something you can evidence later."
/>

Ask for a simple confirmation when you can: reply email, portal tick, or signed site docket. File that confirmation next to the PDF.

### Who to hand it to on different sites [#who-to-hand-it-to-on-different-sites]

| Site type                   | Usual recipient                                         | Extra note                                               |
| --------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------- |
| Residential single dwelling | Customer who booked the work                            | Still keep your job copy                                 |
| Strata / common property    | Building manager or owners corporation contact          | Confirm before you leave who can authorise riser work    |
| Commercial tenancy          | Tenant contact and facilities if cabling crosses demise | Say which space the matters relate to                    |
| Principal contractor site   | Site manager or document controller named in the pack   | Follow their portal naming rules after you keep your PDF |

If you cannot identify a recipient the same day, download and store the job copy anyway, then send as soon as the contact is confirmed. Do not leave the only copy on a phone.

## Leave-site checklist [#leave-site-checklist]

1. TCA2 previewed and downloaded with a clear filename
2. Priorities set
3. Customer or building manager has the file or will receive it the same day
4. Job file copy saved (and photos linked if you took them)
5. TCA1 completed and stored if completed work required it
6. Any remediation quote logged separately from the advice form

### Same-day closeout habits that stick [#same-day-closeout-habits-that-stick]

* Download before you put the tools away, not from the driveway after you forget the site name
* If the building manager is off site, send the PDF the same day and log the email under the job
* If you also issued a TCA1, attach both files in one message with clear filenames
* If urgent priority items exist, say so in the first line of the email body so the PDF is not ignored

Open the [guided TCA2 form](/forms/acma-tca2) when you are ready to fill. Browse other electrical templates on the [electrical forms hub](/electrical).

## When the building changes hands [#when-the-building-changes-hands]

Cabling advice outlives the person you handed it to, particularly in commercial and strata buildings where managers change every few years.

An incoming building manager who inherits no cabling records starts from nothing, and the outstanding matters you flagged two years ago effectively disappear. Where you service a building regularly, offering the history at a handover keeps the record alive and usually keeps you on the job.

Store your copies against the site rather than the job number, since site is how anyone will search for them later.

## Multi-tenancy buildings [#multi-tenancy-buildings]

A building-level record does not answer a tenancy-level question, and cabling advice is almost always tenancy-specific.

Record the tenancy or unit alongside the building, and keep the advice filed at that level. Someone fitting out unit 4 does not need the whole building's history, they need what applies to unit 4, and a record that cannot be narrowed is a record that gets ignored.

## Proving the advice was given [#proving-the-advice-was-given]

The TCA2 exists so the customer can decide what to do, which means delivery is part of the record rather than an afterthought.

An advice sitting in your job folder that never reached the customer has not done its job, and it is difficult to demonstrate afterwards that it was handed over. Keep whatever shows delivery: the email, the portal receipt, or a dated note that it was handed over on site.

Where the customer is a builder or head contractor rather than the eventual occupier, note who received it. That is the question that gets asked when a condition resurfaces later and nobody remembers being told.

## Related [#related]

* [When TCA2 is required](/resources/when-is-acma-tca2-required)
* [Common mistakes](/resources/common-mistakes-acma-tca2)
* [How to fill TCA2](/resources/acma-tca2-cabling-advice-form-how-to-fill-out)
* [TCA1/TCA2 combined handover](/resources/acma-tca1-tca2-cabling-record-keeping-handover-guide)

## Official sources [#official-sources]

* [ACMA cabling advice forms](https://www.acma.gov.au/cabling-advice-forms)
* [ACMA Form TCA2](https://www.acma.gov.au/publications/2019-06/form/form-tca2-telecommunications-cabling-advice)
* [ACMA find a registered cabler](https://www.acma.gov.au/find-registered-cabler)
* [ACMA TCA1 form page](https://www.acma.gov.au/publications/2019-06/form/form-tca1-compliance-telecommunications-customer-cabling-advice)

You remain responsible for advice accuracy and customer handover.