Arnold: I was the nominated pilot for a homebuilt Murphy Rebel. The permit stated I had to do the first 5 hours then the owner could fly (solo) the next 50 within a designated area of about 50 x 50 miles. I also had to give the owner a tailwheel endorsement although we did this in another aircraft.
After the initial flight 5 hours I left. Around 3 months later the owner was accused of not following the permit and doing the 5 hours himself. I had to provide airfare documentation, certified log book entries and a statuary declaration to get the SAAA to leave the owner alone. I got the feeling a witch hunt was happening although everything we did was legit and IAW with the permit.
Get a good permit and stick to it and document it. Unless things have changed, the owner has to apply for and write the permit and submit it for approval. In this case the owner couldn't nominate himself for the first 5 hours because of not having tailwheel experience. (initially he applied to do all the testing hours)