Ofgem's 29 conditions, in plain words

Which conditions apply to whom. Section A binds everyone, Section B suppliers and Section C operators, with self-supply and industrial networks left out of B and C.

What the pack gives you

This map works it out for you.

Yours to do

Nothing to do.

How to read the conditions. A duty with a date stays binding after the date is missed.

What the pack gives you

Nothing specific.

Yours to do

Nothing to do.

What the terms mean, including Vulnerable Situation, Relevant Consumer and Material Assets.

What the pack gives you

Each document uses them correctly and says them plainly.

Yours to do

Nothing to do.

Register each regulated activity and network by the end of the first part of the initial period, 26 January 2027. A supplier co-operates with the operator, who starts.

What the pack gives you

The free worksheet has every question on Ofgem's published list.

Yours to do

Ask Ofgem for access, then submit. Only your regulatory contact can start.

Charges must be fair and not disproportionate, read with Ofgem's guidance. Ofgem sets no price or acceptable return.

What the pack gives you

The charges working shows how you built each charge, and lists Ofgem's fairness questions for your board.

Yours to do

Decide your charges, and be ready to explain them.

Charges must be structured, and attributable to costs, in a way consistent with fair and not disproportionate charges, having regard to Ofgem's cost allocation guidance. Passing on penalties, redress and compensation is presumed unfair.

What the pack gives you

The charges working applies the guidance's approach to the costs as you classify them, and never shares out a penalty or redress.

Yours to do

Classify your costs. If a lease fixes the shares, record how you'll move towards the guidance where you can.

Nobody with significant managerial responsibility or influence may hold that role unless fit and proper. You need robust processes and regular assessments.

What the pack gives you

Fit and proper policy, the list of people, the ten checks and a yearly declaration.

Yours to do

Assess each person, keep the list, and make the declaration to Ofgem. It lasts 3 years.

Give Ofgem the information it asks for, in the form and by the date it asks. Regular data reporting runs under this condition.

What the pack gives you

Nothing specific.

Yours to do

Keep records from April 2026, since Ofgem will ask you to backdate. Report when its request arrives, and not before.

Tell Ofgem about anything it would expect to know, especially what could harm consumers. Have the resources and systems to comply, and a named contact.

What the pack gives you

Nothing specific.

Yours to do

Tell Ofgem early. It encourages self-reporting through the digital service.

Ofgem can require or appoint an independent audit, and you must co-operate.

What the pack gives you

Nothing specific.

Yours to do

Co-operate if asked. Senior managers consider the report within four weeks.

Run things so the service can pass to a successor. Hold enforceable, transferable rights over what you need. Keep a Material Asset Register from the end of the first part of the initial period.

What the pack gives you

Material Asset Register, with your networks filled in, and the section of the Continuity Plan on your rights.

Yours to do

Complete the assets and contracts. Check any charge or mortgage over what you rely on.

Keep enough resources to run the service and meet liabilities, even under stress. Money collected for repairs stays available for repairs. Tell Ofgem at once if that stops being true.

What the pack gives you

Financial resources record: the figures Ofgem asks for, the directors' 12-month view, and risks.

Yours to do

Do the assessment. Ofgem doesn't name a document for this, so the record is only as good as the thinking in it.

Have a Continuity Plan from the end of the first part of the initial period, kept up to date, telling a successor what it needs. An operator with a separate supplier must make sure supply can continue if that supplier stops.

What the pack gives you

Continuity Plan laid out to Ofgem's Table 1 for your role.

Yours to do

Name the people and systems, and confirm each year that it's in place.

When and how Ofgem can revoke an authorisation.

What the pack gives you

Nothing specific.

Yours to do

Nothing to do unless it arises.

Treat consumers fairly: be honest and clear, make contact easy, put mistakes right, identify and support people in vulnerable situations, give notice of outages, and seek feedback.

What the pack gives you

Built into the complaints, priority services and heat supply documents.

Yours to do

Do these things day to day. For a small network, Ofgem says a survey at regular intervals can work.

Supply under a written contract in plain language, which can be a lease or a deemed contract. Until an existing one is updated, give the required information in a separate document.

What the pack gives you

Heat supply terms: a separate document covering the list in B2.10, with gaps for you to complete.

Yours to do

Fill in network efficiency figures and send it out. You don't have to rewrite leases at once. Tell staff never to say a deemed customer owes a fee, has a fixed term or must give notice. Whether cooling-off rules apply to new contracts is a question for a solicitor.

Give at least 31 days' separate notice of a worse contract term or a higher charge, and no more than one increase in six months. The charge rules don't apply to service charges.

What the pack gives you

The heat supply terms explain this to customers.

Yours to do

Send the notice yourself before any change. The heat charge letter isn't that notice.

Have a complaints procedure, follow it and record everything electronically for five years. Send it to everyone yearly. Tell people about the ombudsman the next working day after you know you can't resolve a complaint, and by 8 or 12 weeks at the latest.

What the pack gives you

Complaints Handling Procedure, in two parts: for customers and for staff, with the complaints log.

Yours to do

Run it, keep the log, send it round each year, and write to the customer when the ombudsman notice falls due. You also need it to apply to the Energy Ombudsman's scheme.

Tell customers how to get help. Run an enquiry service that can receive contacts about supply interruptions 24 hours a day, though it needn't respond outside usual hours.

What the pack gives you

Contact and advice details in the heat supply terms and every letter.

Yours to do

Set up the 24-hour route, with a phone number for emergencies. Signpost Ofgem's and Citizens Advice's heat network publications within 28 days of each new version, when someone becomes a customer, and yearly.

Bills must be accurate and explained, with listed information, at set frequencies. Part Two adapts this where charges are service charges.

What the pack gives you

The heat charge letter explains the calculation and carries the contact and advice details the condition lists. Bills still need the rest.

Yours to do

Check your bills themselves. If your charge isn't a service charge, send billing information at least twice a year and with every bill, or quarterly if the customer opts for electronic billing.

No charging for heat used, or other amounts such as standing charges built up, more than 12 months ago, for domestic and micro business customers. Service charges follow housing law instead: an 18-month rule in England and Wales.

What the pack gives you

The heat supply terms state the limit that applies to you.

Yours to do

Bill on time.

Keep a register of people who need priority services, promote it, offer to add people, and provide the services free. A register you already keep can count if it holds the minimum details.

What the pack gives you

Register layout, customer leaflet and staff procedure.

Yours to do

Keep the register yourselves. You never send Heatdesk anyone's details.

Keep any deposit reasonable. Contact people early when payments stop, offer plans based on ability to pay, and only disconnect as a last resort and never in the protected cases, with similar limits on a bulk supplier. Publish a statement of this, and tell domestic customers about it every year.

What the pack gives you

The statement the condition requires, and the staff procedure.

Yours to do

Tell customers each year, and follow it. Housing law on disconnection still applies.

Detailed rules on installing and switching to prepayment, emergency and friendly-hours credit. A network of 10 premises or fewer has a temporary exemption from one rule. One part reaches every domestic supplier: any debt recovery, and its cost to the customer, must be proportionate to the debt.

What the pack gives you

The staff procedure tells people to keep debt recovery proportionate. Nothing on the prepayment rules themselves.

Yours to do

Keep debt recovery proportionate. If someone asks to pay by prepayment, or a meter can switch remotely, read Ofgem's consumer protection guidance, chapter 6, and prepare the statement of your duties that the condition requires.

Report figures on payment methods, missed payments, disconnections and the Priority Services Register, as Ofgem specifies.

What the pack gives you

Nothing specific.

Yours to do

Keep the counts. Ofgem hasn't said how this reporting will work, though regular data reporting asks for similar figures.

Treat consumers fairly, co-operate with other authorised persons, and investigate complaints a supplier refers to you.

What the pack gives you

Where you're operator only, a short note on how you handle referred complaints.

Yours to do

Co-operate. Where you're both, the higher supplier standards apply.

Run the network for a reliable supply: maintain it to manufacturers' recommendations and good practice, review reliability, repair promptly, monitor and report.

What the pack gives you

Nothing specific.

Yours to do

Keep maintenance contracts and records. The technical assurance scheme (HNTAS) will add to this, and isn't final yet.