Heat networks have developed over decades without the technical regulatory framework that exists for other regulated energy infrastructure. The result is a very mixed estate. Some networks perform well. Others lose significant amounts of heat, operate inefficiently or have limited metering and monitoring. In many existing networks, the information needed to understand performance is incomplete or has never been collected. HNTAS is being developed to change that. It will introduce technical assurance for heat networks, with greater focus on how networks are measured, how they perform, where improvement is needed and how that performance is demonstrated. For owners and operators of existing networks, that makes the starting point a practical one. What do we have? What can we measure? How is it performing? What needs attention? Spinview helps answer those questions across one network or an entire estate. Start with the information and data you have, identify what is missing, add measurement where it is needed and understand performance in context. Then find where improvement will make a difference, and track what changed. Explore HNTAS for my networks What HNTAS means for an existing network The current published framework covers technical requirements, metering and monitoring, network performance and reliability, assessment, improvement and eventual certification. For an existing network, that creates a practical journey. Understand Start with the network itself. What plant and assets are installed, what meters and monitoring exist, what drawings and technical information are available, and what data can you actually access? Spinview brings that together around the network, so you can see what is available, what needs review and where information or measurement is missing. Across an estate, you see that position network by network rather than managing it through separate spreadsheets, systems and reports. Measure Performance needs reliable data. Existing meters, building management system data, manual readings and historic records can all contribute, and where the information is incomplete, establishing the gap comes before deciding what new equipment is required. Sometimes the data already exists and simply needs to be accessed or connected. Sometimes temporary monitoring answers the question. Other networks need permanent metering. The first objective is establishing what can be measured reliably and what else is needed. Understand performance Once the data is there, you can see what the network is actually doing. How efficiently heat is generated and delivered, how much is lost through the network, whether supply is reliable, how flow and return temperatures are behaving, and whether you have enough monitoring to understand any of it properly. The current HNTAS proposals set out measures and methodologies across these areas. Spinview brings the relevant data together and keeps the analysis connected to the network, the measurement points, the source data and the period it relates to. Explore performance and monitoring Performance needs context A number tells you something changed. It does not always tell you why. A network uses more energy in colder weather. Demand changes with occupancy. Schools behave differently during holidays and offices change at weekends. A network running continuously cannot be compared directly with one serving a building occupied for part of the day. Spinview brings network performance together with relevant wider datasets, including weather, degree days, calendar and public holiday information, operating periods and occupancy or space data where available. That makes comparison meaningful. Was consumption higher because the weather was colder, or did the network genuinely use more than expected? Did performance deteriorate, or did the way the building is used change? Is one network performing differently from comparable networks across the estate? As the dataset grows, the analysis can establish expected patterns for suitable network types and operating conditions, then highlight the networks moving outside them. Other datasets add further insight where relevant and available, and spatial or remote-sensing information can help support investigation of the physical network and potential areas of heat loss. The source data and method remain visible, so the analysis can be understood and reviewed. From performance to improvement Understanding the number is only useful if it helps you decide what to do. The data may show a network performing as expected. It may show that more measurement is needed before any reliable conclusion can be reached. It may point to opportunities in controls, temperatures, schedules, plant sequencing or pumping. Or it may indicate a physical problem that needs specialist investigation. Spinview keeps the performance information connected to the network, assets, documents and maintenance history behind it, which gives whoever investigates a much better starting point. Where specialist engineering assessment is needed, it is delivered through appropriately qualified partners and the findings come back into the same view. Assessment and improvement Improve what the evidence tells you to improve The right intervention depends on what the network is doing and why. Some networks need an operational change. Others need balancing, recommissioning, insulation, controls, pumps, metering or component replacement. A network with a more significant physical problem may need a wider retrofit programme. Across an estate the question also becomes one of priority. Which networks need attention first, where could optimisation make a difference, where is further assessment required and where should capital be planned? Spinview brings the performance data, technical findings, actions and resulting evidence together so those decisions are made against the information actually available for each network. Measure what happened next The baseline stays useful after the work is done. Keep monitoring the same network and compare performance against the original position, taking account of changes in weather, demand and operating conditions. That tells you whether an optimisation strategy is working, whether performance is being maintained and whether an intervention delivered what it promised. For one network, that creates a clear history of the problem, the evidence, the action and the outcome. Across an estate it gives you something more valuable: a continuously developing picture of performance and where attention should go next. When the network changes, change the record with it Physical improvement creates new information. Plant is replaced, controls change, new meters are installed, drawings are updated, equipment is commissioned and performance shifts. Spinview keeps the new assets, drawings, photographs, commissioning information, manuals, meter changes and post-works performance connected to the network. The operating team inherits a usable record of what is there now, alongside the history of why it changed, and the performance baseline stays connected to the intervention so the result can be demonstrated afterwards. Retrofit and digital handover See HNTAS across your whole estate One network can be assessed on its own. A large estate needs a different view. Spinview shows the position across every network. Which have enough data to understand performance, where the metering and monitoring gaps are, which are behaving outside their expected range, where specialist assessment is needed, which have improvement actions underway, where work has been completed and what happened to performance afterwards. Open any network to see the measurements, information, assets and evidence behind its position. That gives you an ongoing view of technical performance across the estate rather than a series of disconnected assessments. See how Spinview works The current HNTAS performance areas Current published material covers network efficiency, or how effectively energy entering the network becomes useful heat delivered. Distribution heat loss, or how much is lost as it moves through the network. Supply reliability, or how consistently heat is available. Flow and return temperature performance, which reveals a great deal about heat transfer and network behaviour. And metering and monitoring, which determines whether the measurements needed to understand and demonstrate performance are available and usable at all. What information each one needs depends on the measure, the network and the relevant methodology. Our detailed guide explains what each measure means, what it needs, what different results may indicate and what to investigate next. Explore HNTAS performance and monitoring Where HNTAS stands today Government plans to introduce HNTAS from 2027, with requirements phased over time. The final requirements and timetable for existing networks have not yet been published. Current proposals give enough direction to start understanding your network, its metering and monitoring, the data available and how it is currently performing. Use them as preparation guidance while the final scheme is developed. Government HNTAS guidance and published technical documents Guidance on this site is based on the latest published HNTAS material and will be updated as the scheme develops.
Heat network regulation and technical standards continue to develop. We review our guidance against information published by Ofgem and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, and show the latest review date on regulatory and technical pages.
This website provides general information and practical tools. Requirements depend on the circumstances of each heat network, and this site is general information rather than legal, regulatory, financial or engineering advice. Where specialist advice is required it should be provided by an appropriately qualified adviser.
Spinview helps organisations collect, organise, review and maintain heat network information and evidence. RAG status shows information readiness within Spinview and is not a regulatory compliance determination. Regulatory responsibility, and the compliance determination itself, remains with the relevant operator or supplier.
Regulatory and technical sources last reviewed: 16 August 2026.