Your distribution network operator owns the cables and substation feeding your site. Before you add a significant new load, they either need to be told about it or need to approve it, and which of the two applies has a bigger effect on your project timeline than any other decision you will make.
Notify or apply
Smaller installations can generally be notified after the fact — your electrician submits the paperwork once the work is done. Larger ones need an application and a formal approval before anything is installed. The thresholds vary by DNO and by the characteristics of your supply, so the only reliable answer comes from your installer or the DNO themselves, but the shape is consistent: a couple of chargers on a commercial supply with headroom is usually a notification; a bank of them, or anything requiring more capacity, is an application.
The distinction matters because of time. Notification is administrative. An application can take weeks for a straightforward answer, and months if the network needs reinforcing. If your project has a deadline — a new building, a fleet transition, a lease event — the DNO process is the item most likely to miss it, and it is the one to start first.
What happens if capacity is short
If the DNO says your supply cannot carry the load, you have three options.
Pay for reinforcement. The network operator upgrades your connection. It works, and it is expensive and slow — potentially thousands of pounds and several months. Sometimes it is genuinely the right answer, particularly for a large fleet depot or a rapid charging site.
Install fewer or slower chargers. The obvious response, and usually the wrong one, because it solves today's problem by capping the site permanently.
Manage the load instead. Load management monitors the site's total draw in real time and reduces charger output when the rest of the building needs power. The chargers give way to the business, charging simply takes longer during busy periods, and the main fuse is never at risk. This is what allows sites to install several times more charge points than raw headroom would suggest, and it very often removes the need for reinforcement altogether. At £160 for a single-phase device and £495 for three phase, it is cheap against the alternative.
Why the DNO cares about smart chargers
A charger that can be remotely controlled and curtailed is a very different proposition to a fixed 32A load. Smart charging with dynamic load management means the site's peak draw is bounded and predictable, which is a large part of why network operators are comfortable with charging installations that would once have needed an upgrade. Every commercial charger we stock supports this — it is not an optional extra.
What your installer will need
Have these ready before the conversation starts: your MPAN, whether the supply is single or three phase, the main fuse rating, the site's existing maximum demand, the number and power rating of chargers proposed, and whether load management will be fitted. That last point can change the answer entirely, so include it in the application rather than as an afterthought — a proposal for twelve chargers with dynamic load management is a smaller ask than twelve uncontrolled chargers, and is assessed differently.
Plan the sequence
The order that works is: assess existing demand, decide the socket count, specify load management, submit to the DNO, then order hardware. Sites that buy the chargers first and discover the supply problem afterwards end up either storing equipment for months or reducing the installation to fit. Start the DNO conversation before the purchase order, not after it.
Where we can help
We are not your DNO and we cannot make an application for you — that is your installer's job. What we can do is help you specify the right number and rating of chargers and the right load management for your supply, so the application you submit is one likely to be approved. Tell us about the site and we will work through it: get in touch. See also our guides to workplace charging and fleet and depot charging, and our 22kW commercial charger range.