Utility connection questions, answered

We prepare and submit your utility applications, compare offers where the work is open to competition, check quotes, chase the operators and coordinate dates until your supplies are live. We don't dig trenches or lay cables. The network operators, water companies and accredited independent providers do that.

Usually the site owner or developer is the customer, and we apply on their behalf with a signed letter of authority. That keeps the offers and any payments in the owner's name.

Yes. Send us what has been submitted and any offers received, and we'll pick it up from there and tell you if anything needs changing.

England, Wales and Scotland. We don't cover Northern Ireland.

No. Those schemes, run by LRQA, are for companies that build network assets for adoption, and we don't build. Where an independent provider quotes for your work, we check its accreditation covers the job.

Our fee depends on the site and the utilities involved. It is agreed and fixed before we start, and quotes are free and no-obligation. Ask for a quote.

It depends on where the site is. Great Britain has 14 DNO licence areas, run by five groups: UK Power Networks, NGED, SSEN, SP Energy Networks (including SP Electricity North West) and Northern Powergrid. Read our DNO guide.

The DNO owns the regional network. An IDNO owns and runs local networks on new sites. An ICP is a NERS-accredited contractor that builds the contestable work, such as trenching and cable laying, which a DNO or IDNO then adopts.

Most homes run on single-phase. Large homes, heat pumps, several EV chargers or commercial equipment may need three-phase, which we work out from your loads before applying.

On a new build, yes. Include them in the connection application so the supply is sized for them. On an existing supply, small single items can often be fitted and notified within 28 days under the ENA "connect and notify" route.

Sometimes. It depends on the DNO and the site, so plan the temporary supply position with the permanent meter in mind. More on temporary supplies.

In England, homes built to the Future Homes Standard won't need a gas connection for heating. It comes into force on 24 March 2027, with a transition for some homes until 24 March 2028. Read our guide.

No. The regulations don't ban gas boilers, but the targets are based on a heat-pump home, so in practice a gas boiler isn't expected to meet them.

Your local gas distribution network: Cadent, Northern Gas Networks, SGN or Wales & West Utilities, depending on the area. On some new sites an independent gas transporter owns the network, and accredited providers can do contestable work under GIRS.

Yes. The network connects the pipe, but your gas supplier arranges the meter and supplies the gas. The same applies to disconnections, where the supplier removes the meter first.

It is your legal right, under the Water Industry Act 1991, to connect a drain or sewer to a public sewer after giving the water company notice. Read our Section 106 guide.

Section 106 is about connecting to an existing public sewer. Section 104 is an agreement for the water company to adopt new sewers you build, which in England must follow Water UK's Design and Construction Guidance.

Usually, if you build over or within 3 m of a public sewer. Each water company sets its own criteria, and Building Regulations Part H4 also applies.

Charges per connection towards wider network reinforcement. Each company publishes them every year in its Charging Arrangements, and they must be reduced where the site had previous use in the last 5 years.

An accredited company that designs and lays water mains and services for the water company to adopt. Self-lay providers need WIRS accreditation, run by LRQA.

No. Under Ofwat's rules from April 2026, water companies in England must not make asset payments for adopting water mains or sewers.

In England, yes. Part R of the Building Regulations requires gigabit-ready infrastructure and a gigabit-capable connection, subject to a £2,000 per home cost cap.

Openreach says full fibre is free on sites of 20 or more premises. Sites of 1 to 19 premises pay a contribution under its rate card.

As early as you can, once you have a layout. That lets the ducting go in with the other services and gives you the evidence Building Control asks for. More on fibre.

It depends on the site. As an indication, NGED's published guide shows about £2,500 + VAT for a single new home in its areas, but other operators and more complex sites differ. Read our costs guide.

For demand connections, usually not since 1 April 2023. You pay for the extension assets, unless reinforcement costs go over Ofgem's High Cost Cap of £1,720/kVA or the assets serve only you.

For a single home, often around two months of works after you accept and pay, plus the quote time. New mains, substations and high-voltage work take many months. See published lead times.

As soon as you have planning permission and a site layout, and earlier for budget estimates on larger sites. Late applications are a common cause of delayed supplies.

Each operator sets its own period. 90 days is common for electricity, and Cadent asks for gas quotes to be accepted and paid within 90 days. Always check the offer letter.

Possibly. Since 2018, DNOs can charge assessment and design fees for preparing an offer, whether or not you accept it. When and how they charge varies by DNO.