Week-Before EMMA Checklist: Install Quality Points

Install Quality points get won and lost in the week before the event, not in the car park on the morning of. By the time you're standing next to the judges' table, there's no time to re-terminate a wire or track down a missing fuse. Here's what I actually check for as a judge, broken down into a numbered checklist so you can run through it yourself with a week to spare.

Prefer a version you can tick off as you go? I've put together a free, downloadable EMMA Week-Before Checklists spreadsheet — open the link and make your own copy to check off. It covers this Install Quality checklist on one tab, plus a matching Sound Quality week-before checklist on the second tab.

1. Fusing and electrical safety

This is the first thing checked and one of the easiest places to lose points for something that takes ten minutes to fix. The EMMA Rulebook is specific about this one, so I'll quote it directly:

"Check if a 'Main Fuse' has been installed onto the (or each) main power wire within 40cm from any positive battery post and/or before passing any metal panel." — EMMA Rulebook 2026

1. Main fuse fitted within 40cm of the positive battery post, and before the cable passes through any metal panel — exactly as the rulebook states above.
2. Every powered component — head unit, amplifiers, DSP, any accessory — has its own visible fuse, not just one fuse covering everything.
3. Fuse values match the cable gauge feeding them. An oversized fuse on thin cable is a fail waiting to happen, and judges will flag it even if nothing has gone wrong yet.

2. Wiring and cable management

From the driver's seat, a judge shouldn't be able to see loose wiring anywhere in the cabin. That's the practical test: sit in the seat, look around, and be honest about what you can spot.

4. Terminations are clean — no frayed or exposed strands at any connector.
5. Every termination is covered with heat-shrink or an equivalent non-conductive sleeve, not just twisted and taped.
6. Anywhere a cable passes through metal — firewall, boot floor, seat rails — it's protected with a grommet or sleeve so vibration can't wear through the insulation over time.

3. Mounting, component security and the "shake test"

The rulebook's actual wording here is that every component must be checked "to ensure they are secure," and that "the security of the component should be proportionate with its size and weight." In practice, the way judges test that on the day is what we call the shake test: we grab the component — amp, DSP, battery, capacitor, whatever's within reach — and try to move it by hand. If it shifts, rocks, or flexes, that's points gone, regardless of how tidy the wiring around it looks.

7. Every component passes the shake test: grab it firmly and try to move it. Nothing shifts.
8. Nothing is held in place by velcro alone. I've watched a competitor lose points on exactly this — amps "secured" with velcro strips that looked neat but moved the moment they were grabbed.
9. Nothing is held in place by cable ties alone. Same story — I've seen another competitor lose points here too. Cable ties are fine for dressing a loom, not for load-bearing mounting.
10. Mounting hardware (bolts, brackets, sub-boxes) is sized to the weight of what it's holding.
11. Exposed speakers and drivers have rigid protection, not just a cosmetic grille, so nothing can make contact with the cone.
12. The car still functions normally: pedal clearance, foot room and your sightlines out of the car all get checked. An install that compromises how the car drives loses points regardless of how good it looks.

4. Cleanliness and first impression

This is scored before a judge even opens a door, and it's the one category that's entirely within your control the night before.

13. Wash the exterior — a dirty car creates a bad first impression that's hard to shake for the rest of the judging.
14. Vacuum the interior and boot, and wipe down any dedicated audio components so they look cared for, not just installed.
15. Check craftsmanship details: even gaps around panels, consistent finishes, and wire runs that follow a logical, tidy path rather than the shortest one.

As a judge, I score what I can see, touch and shake on the day — not what you meant to finish before you ran out of time. A week's buffer is what turns "nearly there" into a clean sheet.

If you haven't already, run this alongside the key EMMA install rules and the rules competitors get wrong most often — most of what costs people points shows up on both lists. Once the car itself is sorted, switch over to the competition day kit checklist so the morning of the event is just about turning up. And if you're doing the install yourself rather than through a shop, our DIY install guide covers the same fusing and wiring basics from the build side. For the full picture of what's being judged, see the EMMA Competition hub.