Which ones did we actually send?
Friday afternoon, and the operations manager is trying to answer a simple question: which of last month's installs had their network operator notification done, and which are still waiting on an application reply. The answer is spread across a shared mailbox, three operator portals, a spreadsheet one person keeps and the memory of the fitter who said he would do it from the van.
Most weeks it works out. Then a customer rings because a letter from their network operator has arrived asking about a charger they were never told about, or an install that needed approval first gets fitted because the booking went ahead anyway.
Why it keeps slipping through
The paperwork itself is not hard. The trouble is that it has no owner and no shape. Different jobs need different things: some are notified after the install, some need an application and an answer before anyone fits anything, and a looped supply or a heat pump on the same board changes the picture. The details come from the survey, the certificate and the charger spec, and each lives in a different place.
- Each network operator has its own route in, and your team switches between them.
- The data needed (MPAN, supply details, charger rating, existing loads) is retyped from the survey and certificate.
- Submissions are made by whoever has time, so nobody knows the full list.
- Replies arrive by email to one person, or not at all, and nobody chases.
- The install booking and the application status are never compared.
Which jobs need which submission, and when, is decided by your own rules and the operators' requirements. The tracker applies the rules you give it and makes sure nothing is left undone.
The cost of a missing submission
A forgotten notification can mean awkward letters, rework and a customer who wonders what else was missed. An application that was never chased holds up an install that is already in the diary, so you shuffle fitters, reschedule the customer and lose the slot. And the admin person who knows how it all works becomes the only person who can do it, which is fine until they are on holiday in the busy season.
The application tracker we put in
- Every job gets a network operator status from the moment the survey is approved: not needed, notify after install, apply before install, or awaiting surveyor decision, set by your rules and confirmable by a person.
- The tracker works out the operator from the postcode or MPAN and pre-fills the submission from the survey record, the charger model and, once it exists, the installation certificate.
- Where an operator accepts submissions by form or email, we prepare the pack for a person to check and send. Where there is an API or structured upload, we can submit directly once you are comfortable with it.
- Each submission is logged with the date, reference and a copy of exactly what was sent.
- Replies are matched back to the job from the reference. If nothing arrives within the period you set, the tracker raises a chase task.
- Jobs needing approval cannot be confirmed in the install diary until the approval is recorded, and the scheduler sees why.
| Question | Answered today by | Answered with the tracker |
|---|---|---|
| Does this job need an application? | Whoever reads the survey | Status set by your rules, confirmed by a person |
| Which operator? | Looking it up each time | Derived from postcode or MPAN |
| Was it sent? | Searching the sent folder | Logged with a copy of the submission |
| Has it been answered? | Someone's inbox | Reply matched to the job, or a chase raised |
| Can we book the install? | Hoping | Diary blocked until approval is recorded |
After it is running
The office gets one list of submissions due, sent, waiting and overdue. Fitters stop doing paperwork from the van. Schedulers stop booking installs that are waiting on an answer, because the diary tells them. And when someone asks whether last quarter's jobs were all notified, it is a filter, not an afternoon.
Signs your operator paperwork is at risk
- Nobody can produce a list of outstanding applications in under an hour.
- Submissions are made by different people with no shared log.
- An install has been booked, or fitted, before an approval came back.
- You retype supply details from the survey into every form.
- Chasing replies depends on one person remembering.