AI agent · Energy & utilities · Review against rules
Connection application pre-check
Connection engineers spend hours discovering that an application is missing a diagram or contradicts itself. The agent checks every application at receipt against your requirements, sends applicants a precise list of fixes, and passes only complete, consistent applications to engineering.
Typical volumes for this process, not a client figure.
Engineers open each application and find the diagram or a certificate missing.
Checked at receipt; engineers get only applications that are complete and consistent.
Where the time goes today
A network operator receives applications to connect new premises, to increase an existing supply, and to connect generation and storage: rooftop solar, batteries, heat pumps, vehicle charging, larger plant. Each type needs a different pack: the application form, a site plan, a single-line diagram, equipment datasheets and compliance certificates for inverters and protection, proof that the applicant owns the site or has the owner's consent, and sometimes a fee.
Before any engineering assessment can start, someone has to confirm the pack is complete and says the same thing everywhere. Capacities on the form must match the diagram and the datasheets. The number of phases must match the existing supply. The address must match a real metering point or premises record. The inverter must be on your approved list or carry a valid type-test certificate. In many teams, engineers do this themselves, because the admin team cannot read a diagram.
Most applications fail on something small, and each failure starts a round of email that can last weeks. Where your rules tie queue position or the response deadline to a complete application, a slow or inconsistent pre-check also becomes a fairness question: two applicants with the same gap should get the same answer, on the same day.
How the agent works
- Read the packThe agent reads the form, the single-line diagram, the site plan, datasheets, certificates and consent documents, and identifies the application type.
- Check completenessIt checks that every document your requirements list for this application type is present, signed where required, and in an accepted format.
- Check consistencyIt compares capacities, phases, equipment models and addresses across the form, the diagram and the datasheets, and against your metering point and premises records.
- Check equipmentIt looks up each inverter, protection relay and storage unit against your approved equipment list or checks its type-test certificate for model, rating and validity.
- Look for duplicatesIt searches open applications for the same site or metering point, which often signals a resubmission, an installer and an owner applying separately, or a phased project.
- Return or pass onComplete, consistent applications go to the right engineering queue by voltage level, size and area. The rest receive a specific list of fixes, each tied to the document and the requirement.
What stays with a person
Engineers keep the assessment itself: network capacity, voltage and fault level studies, reinforcement needs, the connection offer and its cost. The agent does not judge whether the network can take the load or the export; it only makes sure the engineer starts from a complete, consistent file.
Returns that affect an applicant's position also stay with a person at first. Where declaring an application incomplete moves it in a queue or restarts a deadline, a connections officer confirms each return before it is sent, until the sample of confirmed returns shows the agent's reasons hold. Non-standard applications, such as private networks or unusual equipment, go to a person directly.
What it reads, what it produces
| It reads | It produces |
|---|---|
| Application forms, single-line diagrams and site plans | A pre-check result per application, requirement by requirement |
| Equipment datasheets and type-test or compliance certificates | A list of fixes for the applicant, each tied to a document |
| Proof of ownership or landowner consent | Complete applications routed to the right engineering queue |
| Your metering point and premises records | Possible duplicates flagged for a connections officer |
| Your approved equipment list and connection requirements by application type | A monthly view of the most common gaps, by installer |
| Open applications, for duplicate search |
Controls that come with it
- Returns that affect queue position confirmed by a person until the sample supports otherwise
- Non-standard application types always go to a person
- Diagram values read with low confidence are marked for a person, not assumed
- Every result records the document, the value read and the requirement applied
- The approved equipment list is versioned; each check records the version used
- A returned application can be reinstated with its original receipt date
How you know it works
- Days from receipt to a complete application
- Rounds of correspondence per application
- Applications reaching engineering that turn out to be incomplete
- Returns overturned on review
- Engineer hours spent on pre-checks
Is your process ready?
- Written rules: requirements per application type must be written, including what counts as a complete application where it affects queue position.
- Systems: the connections system must expose applications and accept status updates, and the metering records must be readable, with licences permitting automated use.
- Cheap check: an engineer opening a passed application sees within minutes whether anything was missed.
- Volume: hundreds of applications a month, driven by small generation and storage, repays the build; a few large connections a month do not.
- One description: connections officers and engineers must agree which checks belong before assessment and which are part of it.
The five candidacy checks are explained, with an exam, in the free Module 01.
What goes wrong
- Hand-drawn or photographed diagrams are hard to read reliably; a standard template for small installations helps more than any reading software.
- Approved equipment lists maintained in a spreadsheet drift from the version engineers actually use.
- Installers submitting on behalf of owners without consent documents create a recurring gap worth addressing at the installer level.
- Metering point records with old addresses cause mismatches that are the record's fault, not the applicant's.
Questions we get
Does the agent assess whether the network can take the connection?
No. Capacity, voltage and fault level studies, reinforcement and the offer remain engineering work. The agent's job ends when the application is complete and consistent. What it changes is where engineering time starts: on an application that can be assessed, instead of on discovering what is missing.
Can it read single-line diagrams?
It reads the values and equipment labels on typical diagrams produced by installers' design tools, and compares them with the form and the datasheets. Hand-drawn or low-resolution diagrams are read with lower confidence and marked for a person. If a standard template is available for small installations, requiring it improves reading more than anything else.
What if an applicant disagrees with a return?
The return lists each fix with the document and the requirement, so the applicant can see why. If they reply that the item is present or the requirement does not apply, the reply goes to a connections officer, who can reinstate the application with its original receipt date. The decision and reason are recorded against the application.
How do we measure it before go-live?
Take a few hundred past applications with the pre-check outcome your officers and engineers agree was correct, including those later found incomplete during assessment. Run the agent on them and compare, requirement by requirement. The same set is rerun whenever your requirements or the approved equipment list change.
Want this agent on your process?
Tell us about your version of this process — volumes, systems, what goes wrong. A person answers with an approach and a price, usually within two working days, or tells you it is the wrong project.