New Appointments and Variations (NAV)

What are NAV's?

The Water Industry Act 1991 incorporates legislation which makes provision for sites within an existing undertaker’s area to be served by another undertaker. Where an alternative undertaker is appointed, a NAV is made by Ofwat.

There are three circumstances in which a NAV can be granted:

• Where the premises of one or more customers is supplied (or is likely to be supplied) with at least 50 mega litres of water per year.
• Where no premises within the area are served by an appointed company i.e. the site is ‘unserved’. This includes areas which are supplied by private, unregulated supplies.
• If the existing appointed company consents to the transfer of that area.

The alternative supplier (the “NAV appointee”) will hold an Instrument of Appointment and therefore have all the same duties and responsibilities to the customers within the NAV appointment site as the previous statutory supplier.

Every NAV must have access to adequate water resources in order to service the customers on the site. If the site is within the Affinity Water statutory area of supply and the NAV does not have direct access to its own water resources, these services can be purchased from Affinity Water Wholesale.

For water, this is purchased in the form of a bulk supply of water delivered to an agreed point, usually at the site boundary.

The supply of these services is governed by legal agreements, which are negotiated between the parties.

What are your NAV charges?

We have prepared a document that sets out our charges to NAVs, which you can open or download here. If you have any comments on our charges document then please click here to email us your comments.

NAV Timeline

• Pre-Planning Enquiries (21 days)

  Contact us through the portal and apply for a pre-planning enquiry. You will need to include:

  • Location of the site marked on a map (unserved or consent criterion)

  • Demand information (consent or large user criterion)

  We will respond within 21 calendar days from when your enquiry has been accepted.

• Design and Quotation (42 days)

  Please complete the NAV application form and send to nav.services@affinitywater.co.uk

  We will produce a design of the technical solution and a quote for the provision of the NAV.

  We will respond within 42 calendar days once full and complete information has been provided.

  We will also advise if the technical complexity requires additional work.

• Information for Risk Assessments (21 days)

  You may need information from us to complete your risk assessment for DWI, such as the Drinking Water Safety Plan.

  Contact us to request any information you require (nav.services@affinitywater.co.uk)

  We will provide the requested information within 21 calendar days.

• Bulk Supply Agreement (14 days/5 days)

  Upon acceptance of the proposal, please contact us so we can provide you with the Bulk Supply Agreement (nav.services@affinitywater.co.uk)

  We will provide you with a draft Bulk Supply Agreement within 14 days.

  Sign the agreement and return it to us (nav.services@affinitywater.co.uk)

  We will countersign the agreement and return it to you within 5 calendar days.

• Construction (90 days or as agreed)

  We will progress the construction of the technical solution and any necessary reinforcement.

  We will provide water to the point of connection within 90 calendar days or as agreed in the Bulk Supply Agreement if the delivery is complex.

• View our forms and guides

• View our FAQ's