A new appointment
A new appointment happens when Ofwat appoints a company for the first time to provide water and/or sewerage services in a specific area.
A variation
A variation happens when a company already providing services asks Ofwat to expand its service area. The new provider has the same responsibilities as the previous water company.
Developers can ask any eligible company to become the water and/or wastewater supplier. That company would then need to apply to us for approval to serve your site.
Once appointed, a new appointee can either supply water from its own sources or purchase it wholesale from another water company. Similarly, they may treat wastewater themselves or arrange for it to be discharged into another company’s sewer network.
Get started if you’re a NAV
We’ve outlined how the process works below:
Before you begin
Before starting any development, you can request a copy of our existing mains and sewerage network plans.
Before a NAV can be appointed, it must confirm the status of the site. Specifically, whether it is:
A Site Served Application is the formal request to us to check and confirm this status. This is important because:
If you need confirmation that a site is unserved to support your application, here’s what to do:
Once we’ve got your application, we’ll check everything over and get back to you within 21 days.
The NAV application form is the fastest way to get things moving, whether it’s about a point of connection or point of discharge.
Please note, there’s an upfront fee for this application.
Here’s what you’ll need to include when you apply:
Here’s what you’ll get in response:
This is an agreement that covers:
These agreements are essential for NAVs that don’t have their own water sources or treatment facilities and need to rely on our infrastructure to serve their customers.
To get started, request the agreement by emailing NAVenquiries@severntrent.co.uk. We’ll send you an acknowledgement within 5 days.
To get the agreement drafted, you’ll need to provide:
Once we have everything we need, we’ll send you the draft agreement as a PDF by email within 14 days.
When you’ve got the draft agreement:
This is a formal request made by a NAV to:
This connection is essential for the NAV to begin supplying water to properties within its appointed area. To get started, email your request to NAVDesign@severntrent.co.uk.
We’ll send you an acknowledgement within five business days and let you know if we have everything we need.
Here’s what you’ll need to include in your application:
If you’ve already received an initial enquiry response letter, we’ll send you a standard mains agreement with your site details added:
What you need to do:
Once we’ve received your payment and completed acceptance form, a Construction Project Manager (CPM) will be assigned to your project. They’ll work with you to plan the connection of the Source of Water (SOW) and make sure it’s completed on time – our standard timeframe to complete the connection is 90 days.
If we need more time, we can agree on a new date with written confirmation from you.
Making the initial connection
You need to contact us in writing when requesting to make the initial back-to-back connection to our water network.
You’ll also need to provide:
Send everything to navenquiries@severntrent.co.uk. We’ll review your request and confirm permission to connect within 14 days.
Adoption of assets
Asset adoption is handled on a case-by-case basis.
Here’s what you can expect:
Once the source of water connection is complete and the NAV bulk meter is installed (this is free), we’ll begin monthly billing for the bulk services we’re providing to the site.
Our Developer Services team will hand over your site to our Wholesale Market Unit (WMU) team who’ll:
You’ll be able to contact our team directly by emailing bulkbillingandwholesalerbillingenquiries@severntrent.co.uk.
To support our partnership, we’ll arrange bi-weekly or monthly catch-up calls to help keep everyone aligned and give us a chance to discuss complex queries and future developments.
Our ask of you
To help report accurately and send invoices promptly, you’ll need to share the following data with us every month:
The data you share with us must be no older than 38 days. For example, a connection made on 1st March should be reported no later than 7th April.