One heat network can involve several organisations. The property owner may own the building, an operator may run the network, one or more suppliers may supply heat, a billing provider may hold the customer data and a maintenance contractor may hold the operational records. The question that matters is who is responsible for what, and where the information they need actually sits. Start the Readiness Builder Operator and supplier mean different things The operator is the authorised person that owns some or all of the network assets, or has significant control over them. It is responsible for operating and maintaining the network and for the requirements attaching to that activity, including where contractors carry out the maintenance or repairs. The supplier is responsible for the contractual and customer-facing arrangements for supplying heat, which covers billing, complaints, communications and the consumer protection requirements that apply. One organisation can be both. One network can also involve several suppliers, each responsible for its own group of consumers. What this can look like in practice Take a district network serving three buildings. The operator owns the plant and the distribution pipework and is responsible for operating it. Supplier A supplies the residents in the first building. Supplier B supplies the residents in the second. A third supplier serves the commercial units in the third. Behind them, a billing provider holds consumption and customer data that two of those suppliers need, and a maintenance contractor holds asset and service records the operator needs. Five organisations, one network, and the organisation responsible for something is frequently not the organisation holding the information needed to deal with it. Who registers? Where a network has a separate operator and suppliers, the operator starts the registration process and identifies the suppliers associated with the network. Each supplier needs its own account on Ofgem's digital service and provides the information relating to its own supply activity. Where one organisation performs both activities, it provides the information relevant to both roles. Bring the information together before you submit Spinview brings information from the operator, suppliers and other organisations together around the same heat network. Upload what you already have and see at a glance what has been provided, what is missing and what needs review. Each item stays connected to the network it relates to, the organisation responsible for it and the source it came from. Spinview then structures the reviewed information and supporting evidence into an evidence pack and reporting dataset for the relevant operator or supplier to review and use in its Ofgem submission. Regulatory responsibility and the submission itself remain with the relevant authorised operator or supplier. Who provides what? Ofgem asks different questions depending on the role. An operator may be responsible for information about the network and its technical arrangements. A supplier may be responsible for information about its consumers, metering, billing and consumer protection arrangements. The information itself may come from somewhere else again. A supplier may need data from its billing provider. An operator may need records from its maintenance contractor or managing agent. For every requirement you therefore need to know two separate things: who is responsible for it, and where the information comes from. Spinview keeps both connected to the network. What happens after registration The same challenge continues into reporting. Operators and suppliers have ongoing obligations for the data points applying to their own activities, so the information needed each quarter and each year can come from several organisations and systems. Spinview keeps that connected, showing who is responsible, where the information comes from, what has been provided, what is missing, what needs review and who needs to act next. The record continues from registration into ongoing reporting rather than starting again for every return. How to work out each organisation's role Start with what each organisation actually does. Who owns or has significant control over the network assets? Who makes the decisions about how it operates? Who holds the supply relationship with each group of consumers, determines the charges and issues the bills? Who is responsible when a consumer gets in touch? Where those activities sit with different organisations, more than one organisation may carry responsibilities around the same network. If the position is unclear, establish the roles before preparing any registration information. Start the Readiness Builder
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.