The spreadsheet only one person understands
Your office manager keeps a spreadsheet of network operator submissions. Column for the job, column for which DNO, column for whether it is a notification after install or an application before it, column for date sent, and a notes column full of 'chased 14th' and 'they want the single line diagram again'. When she is on holiday, nobody else is quite sure which jobs are waiting on approval.
Then an install team is booked for a job with a large battery, and on the Thursday before, someone realises the application has not come back yet.
Why DNO paperwork is hard to keep on top of
- Whether a job needs a notification after installation or an application before it depends on the inverter and battery capacity, which can change after the survey.
- Different network operators have different portals, forms and email addresses.
- Replies arrive by email, sometimes weeks later, often asking for more information.
- Export limitation, where approval depends on limiting what the system sends to the grid, adds another detail to track.
- The status is not visible to the people booking installs.
What is required for each job is set by the network operator's rules and your own technical team. This article is about tracking it, not deciding it.
What a lost application costs
Installs postponed at short notice, with scaffolding already booked and the homeowner already told. Crews reshuffled at the last minute. Notifications that should have gone after installation and were forgotten, which leaves the job file incomplete and can hold up the paperwork your customer needs for their export tariff. And an office manager who cannot take a week off.
A tracker tied to the job
- When a job's design is final, the tracker reads the system details from your CRM or design output and applies your rules to suggest which submission is needed, for a person to confirm.
- It prepares the submission with the details already known, such as the address, MPAN, equipment and capacities, and the documents your process attaches.
- When it is sent, the date, DNO and reference are recorded against the job.
- Replies from DNO email addresses are matched to the job by reference or address, and the status is updated: approved, more information needed, approved with conditions such as export limitation.
- Requests for more information create a task for the right person, with the DNO's message attached.
- Install booking checks the status first. If your process requires approval before installation and it has not arrived, the booking is flagged rather than confirmed.
- Post-installation notifications are raised automatically from the commissioning record, so they are not forgotten.
Status board by job
| Job | Submission | Sent | Status | Install date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Panels only, small system | Notification after install | Not yet due | Raised at commissioning | Booked |
| Panels with large battery | Application before install | Sent | Awaiting reply | Held until approved |
| Three-phase supply | Application before install | Sent | More info requested | Held |
| Export-limited system | Application | Approved with conditions | Conditions noted | Booked |
An illustration of the view, not a statement of which submission any job needs.
What changes in the office
Anyone can see where every submission stands. DNO requests for information are picked up the day they arrive. Installs are not confirmed while an approval is outstanding. Post-install notifications go out as part of commissioning. And the knowledge stops living in one spreadsheet.
Is DNO paperwork a worry?
- One person holds the status of every DNO submission.
- Installs have been postponed because approval had not come back.
- DNO replies sit in an inbox for days.
- You have found post-install notifications that were never sent.