Speeding up connections by cutting delays

More new connections than ever are now being completed within our target of 50 days – an increase of 74% since 2016. 

This is thanks to an innovative new process – known as the Collaborative Partnership Protocol – devised by Consents and Wayleaves staff and Geldards, our lawyers. It aims to deliver speedier connections by cutting delays in the new connections legal process.

When a customer applies for a new connection for which land or land rights for our equipment is needed, it is Geldards who engage with the customer’s lawyers. Before the Protocol’s introduction, delays caused by customers’ lawyers meant few matters were completed within the 50 day target.

These delays were identified as an issue by the Connection Customers Steering Group (CCSG).

Consents and Wayleaves Manager, Bruce Pollard said: “To reduce delays, we have made important changes to the way Geldards interact with customers’ lawyers, making it more collaborative and less adversarial. After all, we all want the same thing which is completion as quickly as possible.”

A principal element of the Protocol is a traffic light-coded ‘Day 20 report’, sent to the customer and their lawyers. If the report is coded red, the connection is behind the 50 day target and acts as a wake-up call.

Bruce added: “Customers are often unaware of how inactive their lawyers have been; the ‘Day 20 report’ changes all that. We hope future changes will increase the number of 50 day completions further by moving more of the legal work into our domain rather than our customers’.”