What is DNO notification?

Glossary · EV charging

How DNO notification works

Your Distribution Network Operator, or DNO, is the company that brings electricity to your property. GOV.UK guidance says that if you plan to install an energy device in your home, you are required to register it with the DNO. You can find yours by entering the postcode on the Energy Networks Association website.^{[1]Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, How to register energy devices in homes or small businesses: guidance for device owners and installation contractors}

The rule applies when you make a significant change to your connection. GOV.UK lists solar PV, heat pumps, EV charge points and battery storage as examples.^{[1]Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, How to register energy devices in homes or small businesses: guidance for device owners and installation contractors} This glossary covers home EV charging, so the rest of this page follows that case.

The reason is capacity. The guidance says network companies need to know how many large devices, such as electric vehicles and heat pumps, sit on their networks and where, so they can manage the extra demand. Registering them is described as critical to reducing the risk of local blackouts, which can result from too many unknown devices turning on or off at the same time.^{[1]Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, How to register energy devices in homes or small businesses: guidance for device owners and installation contractors}

Connect and notify, or apply to connect

The installer visits the property and decides whether the DNO needs to be told before or after the installation.^{[2]Department for Transport, Connecting electric vehicle chargepoints to the electricity network} The installer follows an Energy Networks Association process flowchart, which sorts each job into one of two routes.^{[1]Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, How to register energy devices in homes or small businesses: guidance for device owners and installation contractors}

For apply to connect, the guidance says the DNO will respond within the time frames set out on the process flowchart, either approving installation or asking for amendments.^{[1]Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, How to register energy devices in homes or small businesses: guidance for device owners and installation contractors}

Who does what

GOV.UK says the installer should be appropriately registered, for example with a competent person scheme, and must examine the device and the required connection and complete the correct form.^{[1]Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, How to register energy devices in homes or small businesses: guidance for device owners and installation contractors} You, as the owner, still carry a duty. GOV.UK says it is the owner’s responsibility to ensure the DNO has received the notification and, for apply to connect jobs, granted authorisation before the work is carried out.^{[1]Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, How to register energy devices in homes or small businesses: guidance for device owners and installation contractors}

Ask your installer which route applies and ask for confirmation once the DNO has the form. DNO notification sits alongside the paperwork covered under building regulations compliance certificate and the planning questions on do I need planning permission for an EV charger. Our EV charger installation page explains how we deal with the DNO as part of an install.

Larger connection requests are a different matter. GOV.UK says that for new connections the DNO issues a quote and a formal offer, and that since 1 April 2023 EV chargepoint customers have not been charged for network reinforcement.^{[2]Department for Transport, Connecting electric vehicle chargepoints to the electricity network}

Example

Ayesha has a charger fitted at her home in Moortown. Her installer assesses the connection and decides it falls under connect and notify. The charger is fitted, and the installer sends the form to the DNO within 28 days. Ayesha asks for a copy of the confirmation, because GOV.UK says it is her responsibility to make sure the DNO has received it.

What people get wrong

The common mistake is to assume the DNO only needs to know about big commercial sites. GOV.UK says home installations of EV charge points are covered, and that the owner, not just the installer, is responsible for making sure the notification has been received.

A second mistake is to treat notification as a one-off courtesy. It is a requirement, and it feeds the network company’s picture of local demand.^{[1]Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, How to register energy devices in homes or small businesses: guidance for device owners and installation contractors}

The bottom line

DNO notification tells the company that brings electricity to your property about a new EV charger. The installer decides whether it is connect and notify, with the form in within 28 days of installation, or apply to connect, with the form in before the work. You are responsible for checking that the DNO has the notification, so ask for confirmation.