An Independent Design Review, Before It Is Submitted
A design package is read hardest by the person who did not write it. Design assurance is that reading, done early enough to act on. It is an independent design review of the package against the Employer’s Requirements, the standards it claims to follow and the connection agreement it has to satisfy, carried out before the package goes to the owner’s engineer, the DNO or the market.
We review incoming designer submissions on live grid connection projects, which means a design assurance register is written the way the reviewer on the other side will read it. The findings are the ones that get raised, in the form they get raised in.
We are not the designer on the package under review, and we do not tender for the design work behind it. There is nothing to defend, so the review says what it finds.
What You Get
A findings register. Every finding is located to a drawing number and sheet, cites the clause or standard it fails against, and states what closing it requires. A covering summary names the findings that will hold up an approval, so the package can be prioritised rather than read end to end.
Non-compliance
Fails a named clause of the Employer’s Requirements, a standard, or the connection agreement. Has to be fixed.
Has to be fixedTechnical risk
Compliant as drawn, but will not survive the owner’s engineer, the DNO, or the site. Fix it now or defend it later.
Fix now or defend laterObservation
Improves the package. Not load-bearing.
Not load-bearingWhen To Use It
- • Before issue to an owner’s engineer or technical adviser
- • Before a DNO, TSO or planning submission
- • Before a design package goes out to tender, where an error becomes a variation
- • When taking over a design produced by another party
What We Need
- • The drawing and document register for the package under review
- • The Employer’s Requirements, specification, or connection offer the design has to satisfy
- • Any previous comment register on the same package
Typically two weeks from receipt of a complete package.
What It Is Not
Not due diligence
Due diligence values an asset for a buyer or a lender. This checks a design against the requirements it has to meet.
Not a design review meeting
The output is a written register, not minutes.
Not an owner’s engineer appointment
An owner’s engineer holds a role for the duration, with delegated authority: attending site, witnessing tests and certifying milestones. This is a deliverable, not a seat. We review the package and hand the findings back.
Not a design service
We do not redesign. Findings are handed back for the designer to close, and responsibility for the design stays with the designer.
Scope
Priced by package. A single discipline, a full electrical design package, or a complete grid connection submission pack.
Reviewing a cable package?
Cable manufacturer submittals carry their own standards and their own failure modes, so they have a dedicated service. Cable Design Review covers pulling calculations, type test coverage, bonding and installation parameters, line by line.
Cable Design Review →Frequently Asked Questions
What is design assurance?
An independent design review of a package before it is submitted, checking it against the requirements it actually has to meet. We are not the designer and carry no interest in defending the design, so the review is a fresh reading rather than a repeat of the assumptions that produced the package. It is sometimes called a pre-submission review or a cold eyes review.
How is this different from due diligence?
Due diligence values an asset for a buyer or a lender and reports on whether the investment is sound. Design assurance checks a design against the Employer’s Requirements, the standards and the connection agreement, and reports what will stop it being accepted. Different question, different reader, different document.
What do I actually receive?
A findings register. Every finding is located to a drawing number and sheet, cites the clause or standard it fails against, and states what closing it requires. Each one is classified as a non-compliance, a technical risk or an observation, so the package can be prioritised rather than read end to end. A covering summary names the findings that will hold up an approval.
Do you take on responsibility for the design?
No. Responsibility for the design stays with the designer. We review the documents listed in the register and hand the findings back for the designer to close. That boundary is set out in our terms as well as here.
How long does it take?
Typically two weeks from receipt of a complete package. A complete package means the drawing and document register, the requirements the design has to satisfy, and any previous comment register on the same documents.
Can you review a cable package specifically?
Yes, and there is a dedicated service for it. Cable manufacturer submittals carry their own standards and their own failure modes, so they are reviewed under Cable Design Review rather than here. Use design assurance for a whole design package across disciplines.
Send Us The Package
Send the drawing and document register and the requirements the design has to meet, and we will come back with a scope and a fee.