This page hosts the current Smart Metering Implementation Programme Design Notes, which displays processes, procedures, activities or events, where industry has requested further guidance to aid their understanding.
Design Notes were previously commissioned and approved by the Transitional Business Design Group (TBDG). The responsibility to maintain the Design Notes was transitioned to the Technical Architecture and Business Architecture Sub-Committee (TABASC).
Whilst the content of Design Notes was subject to peer review and considered to be accurate at the time of their publication, changes may have since taken place that mean this is no longer the case. Design Notes should be considered to contain non-binding clarifications on the topics identified. In the event of any conflict or inconsistency between any Design Note and any relevant licence conditions, the SEC or any other relevant regulation, the relevant licence conditions, the SEC and/or other relevant regulation shall take precedence over the Design Note.
Following a review in March 2021, the Business Architecture Document (BAD) has been updated to include the content of the Design Notes below. The individual Design Notes have therefore been removed from the website:
- Auxiliary Load Control Switches (ALCS),
- Change of Supplier (CoS),
- Install and Commission, Communications Hub Exchange,
- Prepayment (Change of Supplier),
- Reactive Install and Leave (No Wireless Area Network), and
- Firmware Management
If you have any questions, please contact secas@gemserv.com.
The table below provides a summary of all currently commissioned Design Notes:
| Design Note | Description | Status | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Communications Hub Re-use | Describes the process to be followed in premises and the Service Requests involved in the exchange of a Communications Hub - This Design Note has been unpublished following a significant discrepancy with SEC Section F8.6 | Unpublished | None |
| Time Management | Summarises how time is provided to and manage on Smart Metering Devices according to the requirements laid out in the SEC, DUIS, SMETS, CHTS and GBCS. | Released | Design Note - Time Management v1.1 |
The table below provides a summary of guidance documents and interim settings, including the DCC User Gateway Interface Design Specification (DUGIDS) (available on this page under the Guidance Information Document list):
| Guidance Information | Description | Link |
|---|---|---|
| DCC Guidance - Use of DUIS - v2.29 - Tracked Changes | DCC has identified a series of behaviours regarding the use of the DUIS that Users should be aware of. These are explained in this guidance note to ensure that all SEC parties and RDPs (Registration Data Providers) are aware of the issue and its implications in line with DCC’s obligations under SEC section H14.39. | DCC Guidance - Use of DUIS - v2.29 - Tracked Changes |
| DCC Guidance - Use of DUIS - v2.29 - Clean Version | DCC has identified a series of behaviours regarding the use of the DUIS that Users should be aware of. These are explained in this guidance note to ensure that all SEC parties and RDPs (Registration Data Providers) are aware of the issue and its implications in line with DCC’s obligations under SEC section H14.39. | DCC Guidance - Use of DUIS - v2.29 - Clean Version |
| DCC Guidance Note - Communications Hub Usage v1.5 | This document has been created to provide information and direction on Communications Hub related issues to DCC customers. Modelled on the DCC Users Interface Specification (DUIS) approach (an existing document covering DUIS), items are presented to DRF and/or TSIRS for visibility and approval. Items for inclusion are found through testing, observation or have been raised in Industry Forums, and are identified as addressing a salient issue that needs additional coverage to describe an aspect of the CH workings. | DCC Guidance Note - Communications Hub Usage v1.7.2 |
| DCC Retry and Timeout Configuration for SMETS2 v1.14 | This Guidance Note provides the current settings for DCC Retry and Timeout configuration in the UIT and Production environments. This information should be read in conjunction with the DCC Guidance Note for Use of DUIS Retry and Timeout Guidance, which contains details of how this configuration is used. | DCC Retry and Timeout Configuration for SMETS2 v1.14 Draft |
| DCC Retry and Timeout Configuration for SMETS1 (DSP) v1.3 Draft | This Guidance Note provides the current settings for DCC Retry and Timeout configuration in the UIT and Production environments for the DSP processing of SMETS1 Service Requests. This information should be read in conjunction with the DCC Guidance Note for Use of DUIS Retry and Timeout Guidance, which contains details of how this configuration is used. | DCC Retry and Timeout Configuration for SMETS1 (DSP) v1.3 Draft |
| DCC Retry and Timeout Configuration for SMETS1 (Instant Energy) v1.1 Draft | This Guidance Note provides the current settings for DCC Retry and Timeout configuration in the UIT and Production environments for the Instant Energy SMETS1 Service Provider. This information should be read in conjunction with the DCC Guidance Note for Use of DUIS Retry and Timeout Guidance, which contains details of how this configuration is used. | DCC Retry and Timeout Configuration for SMETS1 (Instant Energy) v1.1 Draft |
| DCC Guidance - SMETS1 (Secure) Retry and Timeouts v1.0 | This Guidance Note provides the current settings for DCC Retry and Timeout configuration in the UIT and Production environments for the Secure SMETS1 Service Provider. This information should be read in conjunction with the DCC Guidance Note for Use of DUIS Retry and Timeout Guidance, which contains details of how this configuration is used. | DCC Guidance - SMETS1 (Secure) Retry and Timeouts v1.0 |
| DCC Guidance - SMETS1 (Trilliant) Retry and Timeouts v1.0 | This Guidance Note provides the current settings for DCC Retry and Timeout configuration in the UIT and Production environments for the Trilliant SMETS1 Service Provider. This information should be read in conjunction with the DCC Guidance Note for Use of DUIS Retry and Timeout Guidance, which contains details of how this configuration is used. | DCC Guidance - SMETS1 (Trilliant) Retry and Timeouts v1.0 |
| Uncontrolled Gas Flow Rate - recommendations | This document provides the UGFR recommended settings at manufacture. These settings were discussed at the transitional Technical Specification Issue Resolution Sub-group (TSIRS) | Uncontrolled Gas Flow Rate Recommendations v2.0 |
| DCC Retry and Timeout Configuration | This Guidance Note provides the current settings for DCC Retry and Timeout configuration in the UIT and Production environments. This information should be read in conjunction with the DCC Guidance Note for Use of DUIS Retry and Timeout Guidance, which contains details of how this configuration is used. | DCC Guidance - Retry and Timeout Configuration v1.10 |
| DCC User Gateway Interface Design Specification (DUGIDS) | The purpose of the DCC User Gateway Interface Design Specification documentation is to define the DCC User Interface at a technical level to enable DCC Service Users to integrate their IT infrastructure with the DCC Data Systems. This M2M interface enables suitably authorised DCC Service Users to call Service Requests to interact with Devices and services within the DCC, and to receive responses to those requests as well as Device and DCC Alerts. |
DCC User Gateway Interface Design Specification (DUGIDS) v5.2a - Clean, Tracked Change and Individual Files - 22.05.2023
|
| Standard Electricity Distributor Configuration Settings | Electricity Distributors have jointly agreed the settings they require to be configured on each ESME by the time it is Commissioned (the 'NP Configurable Data Items'). Those settings are specified in the Engineering Recommendation M30. | Standard Electricity Distributor Configuration Settings Guidance Document |
| Firmware Distribution to Suppliers for SMETS2+ Meters Guidance | This paper is looking to recommend a standard way of delivering firmware to Suppliers to allow deployment to meters by the most elegant process possible. | Firmware Distribution to Suppliers for SMETS2+ Meters Guidance v1.0 |
| Consumer Access Devices (CAD) Provision to the GB Market V1.0 | This guidance note is intended to assist providers of CADs to the GB market, with ensuring the Devices can function effectively and without adverse effects on other Devices. Specifically, the document covers the requirements in the Technical Specifications, that such providers might need to be aware of, and the implications of those requirements from a CAD perspective. This paper focuses mainly on home area networks containing SMETS2+ Devices for which all operation is via the DCC. SMETS1 Devices vary significantly by Device Model, in terms of technical implementation, and so the technical functioning of CADs with such Devices varies correspondingly. | Consumer Access Devices (CAD) Provision to the GB Market V1.0 |
| Guiding principles supporting third party CAD testing and pairing for SMETS1 Meters | The purpose of this guidance note is to provide an informal set of non-binding guiding principles aimed at clarifying the roles and responsibilities of the different relevant parties. They are a suggestion, based on discussion and consensus with industry, of how industry processes could be executed in support of realising Government’s vision for CADs. Parties are encouraged to use these principles as a starting point for defining their own processes, and for developing industry good practice, facilitating the early adoption of CADs and related services for SMETS1 deployments. | Guiding principles supporting third party CAD testing and pairing for SMETS1 Meters |
| DCC Business Process Document - User Scenarios | This document provides DCC guidance on the succession of Service Requests (SRs) that should be sent through the DCC system to achieve certain Business Processes. This document is for guidance purposes, showing how the different Business Processes have been tested in the DCC system. Examples of these processes include Install and Commission, Firmware Upgrade and Change of Supplier. | DCC - Business Process Document - User Scenarios v5.2 |
| Industry Install Commission Best Practice | This document is intended to provide best practice advise on ways to avoid system & infrastructure errors to reduce failure Responses from devices for any Service User involved in the Install and Commission. This document is the result of DCC: • monitoring aspects of installs of new Devices onto the Smart Metering Network, and • determine best practice through analysing successful installs. | Industry Install Commission Best Practice V1.1 |
| Trust Centre Swap Out (TCSO) Orchestration Guidance Document | This Guidance Document aims to provide orchestrations developed for Trust Centre Swap Out (TCSO) Comms Hubs (CH) exchange scenarios covering: • “Happy path” - all non CH equipment working prior to CH exchange • “non Happy path” - non CH equipment not working due to non CH Device fault prior to CH exchange and therefore “install and commission” (I&C) would be used rather than TCSO for that equipment | Trust Centre Swap Out (TCSO) Orchestration Guidance Document v3.0 |