SVA Qualification and re-Qualification

Qualification is designed to provide assurance that new organisations entering the market develop their systems and processes to the right standard.

Why do we need it?

It’s about providing assurance the systems or processes, developed outside of BSC Central Systems control, which may interact with the BSC Systems and other participant’s systems will not introduce significant risks or issues to Settlement.

Who is involved?

The SVA Qualification process is documented in  Section J of the BSC and in BSCP537 - Qualification Process for SVA Parties, SVA Party Agents and CVA Meter Operators. Qualification applications are considered by the Performance Assurance Board (PAB).

To operate as any of the following types of market participant you need to complete SVA Qualification.

• Supplier
• Half Hourly and Non Half Hourly Data Collector
• Half Hourly and Non Half Hourly Data Aggregator
• Half Hourly and Non Half Hourly Meter Operator and CVA Meter Operator
• Supplier Meter Registration Agent
• Unmetered Supplies System Operator
• Meter Administrator

How do I become Qualified?

The first step is to notify us of your intention to Qualify by sending  Qualification Agreement letter.  We'll then get in touch with you to talk Qualification in more detail.

The process is a structured framework for self assessment, through completing the  Self Assesment Document SAD which we'll review. The SAD covers the Qualification requirements youll need to meet.  You will also need to provide evidence to support your answers.

Our review looks at your responses and evidence and based on an assessment of the risk of the applicant, we will need to witness some testing at your site.

The PAB approves SVA Qualification applications based on the findings from the SAD,  including your responses and evidence and the witness testing, which is presented to the PAB.

Storyboards

Storyboards are guidance documents that you can use to help you understand the requirements of Qualification testing. There are two sets of storyboards:

MRA & BSC Joint Storyboards: This set covers the testing of Suppliers and SMRAs for both the BSC and Master Registration Agreement (MRA) market entry processes. It was jointly developed by ELEXON and MRASCo. Guidance can be found here:  MRA Entry Process and BSC Qualification Storyboards.

ELEXON Storyboards: This set covers the testing of Party Agents for BSC purposes only. You can find it here:  SVA Qualification Storyboards and Test Guidelines.

SVA Re-Qualification

Qualified Persons are required to re-Qualify prior to implementing Material Changes to the systems, staff or processes used to operate their market role. Guidance on the concept of Material Change and example events which could trigger re-Qualification can be found in  Material Change and Triggers for re-Qualification.

The following types of market participants are required to complete the re-Qualification process:

• Half Hourly and Non Half Hourly Data Collecters 
• Half Hourly and Non Half Hourly Data Aggregarors 
• Half Hourly and Non Half Hourly Meter Operators and CVA Meter Operators 
• Supplier Meter Registration Agents 
• Unmetered Supplies System Operators 
• Meter Administrator

Re-Qualification does not apply to Suppliers. 

How do I start the re-Qualification Process?

Your first step is to contact your Operational Support Manager (OSM) or the Qualification Coordinator qualification@elexon.co.uk.  We’ll then get in touch with you to talk about re-Qualification in more detail.

Our review looks at your responses and evidence and then, based on an assessment of the risk of the applicant, we may need to witness some testing at your site. Like Qualification, re-Qualification applications are considered by the PAB.

Do I need to pay for Qualification or re-Qualification?

As an applicant, you don’t need to pay to go through Qualification or re-Qualification process. The costs for this are recovered centrally through ELEXON’s funding mechanisms.