New Appointments and Variations (NAV)

What is a NAV?

New appointments and variations (NAVs) are limited companies who can be appointed to provide a water and/or sewerage service to customers in an area which was previously provided by the incumbent monopoly provider.

These companies are appointed by Ofwat and have the same duties and responsibilities as any other statutory water company. For more information on becoming a NAV, or this application type please see guidance published on OfWat’s website.

Generally, a NAV can be granted in a few situations:

• The area is considered ‘unserved’ i.e. no properties in the area are served by a current appointed company.
• The current appointed company consents to transfer an area.
• A large demand of at least 50 mega litres of water per year

Our process guidance for this application type is detailed below. We have a team dedicated to NAVs as we understand the importance of getting this right without any delay. For more information, please get in touch with our team on 0345 357 2428.

Details on our specific NAV charges can be found here.

Site Status Confirmation

If you are applying under the “unserved” criteria you’ll need confirmation from us of the served status of a site. This will support your application to OfWat. In order to do this you’ll need to send us a site location plan showing the site boundary (on an OS background). On occupied sites, if there are existing premises within the proposed NAV boundary, please provide any available details of the occupant & plans for future supply.

Enquiries should be made through our online portal and once received a member of our team will check our records and respond to you within 21 days.

NAV Application

When it comes to making a full application you’ll need to you’ll need to send us a site location plan showing the site boundary (.dwg format with an OS background) and the demand information for the proposed site. We’ll complete the necessary assessments to understand the impact of the proposed development on our network and provide a report outlining;

• the cost of providing a bulk connection to your site,
• capacity availability and constraints,
• information on any reinforcement works (where applicable) and;
• details of any infrastructure charges, credits and income offset applicable to your site.

You can submit your enquiry through our online portal and once received a member of our team will be in touch to discuss your site. We will then complete the necessary assessments and issue a report to you within 28 days.

At this stage, to make things a bit easier we will issue draft bulk agreement terms for your review.

Bulk Supply Agreement

When you’re ready to move forward we’ll (both parties) need to enter into the bulk water agreement for your site. This outlines the details of the supply and general arrangement between us for the site. Ofwat will not grant the new appointment or variation without this being in place, so it’s an important step.

The draft terms for this are provided at an earlier stage, so this step should be relatively straight forward. We aim to get this standard agreement to you well within 28 days.

Bulk Water Connection

When you are ready for your bulk water connection you will need to make the necessary payments and get in touch with us to discuss the work and agree programme dates. We will work with you throughout this stage of the process to ensure it all goes smoothly.

Depending upon the work we are undertaking this can take up to 90 days however we’ll do what we can to meet your programme needs. If there are any third-party constraints (ie a Road Closure) that may delay us we’ll let you know.

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

• Application

  1. Submit your application for a Bulk Supply using our online portal. You will need to provide:-

  • Evidence of your appointment by Ofwat
  • Site plans
  • Basic information about your project

  2. Within 5 calendar days of receiving your application we will confirm in writing that we have everything needed to answer your enquiry.

  Before making your application you will need to complete a Pre-Planning enquiry which will give you the served/unserved status of the site.

• Bulk Supply Offer

  1. We will begin to review your proposed connection point and draft a Bulk Supply Offer which will detail:-

  • The terms under which our relationship will work in the future
  • Your point of connection
  • Capacity and assets in the area
  • Expected pressure and flows to your site

  2. We will return the Bulk Supply Offer to you within 28 calendar days of accepting your application

  3. You will need to ensure you understand our terms before continuing

• Payment

  1. Review and accept your quote on the My Developments portal, and make payment.

  2. After your acceptance, agreement and payment is received, our Design Team will begin to design how we best provide you with your bulk supply.

• Bulk Supply Agreement

  1. After payment our Design Team will work with your Project Manager to create a Bulk Supply Agreement within 28 days. This is a legally binding version of document we sent you previously. This will include:-

  • The details of how our relationship will work in the future including costs.
  • Your point of connection.
  • Capacity and assets in the area.
  • Expected pressure and flows to your site.

  2. You will need to review and returned a signed copy to us to proceed.

• Construction

  1. Once we have a signed Bulk Supply Agreement, your Project Manager will instruct our contract partner to make your connection and any required reinforcement in line with our agreement.

  2. Your connection will normally happen within 28 days although if we need to close the road this can take up to 12 weeks.