About Consultation
This document consults on our supplementary guidance for assessing whether customers in England and Wales are eligible to be supplied by a licensed water supplier (WSL) and/or will be eligible to be supplied with water by a water supply licensee and/or provided with water and/or sewerage services by a water and sewerage licensee (such licensees are referred to as (WSSLs) when the new retail market opens in April 2017.
The supplementary guidance focuses on whether or not premises should be treated as household premises under section 17C of the Water Industry Act 1991 (WIA91) and so ineligible to switch supplier. This follows requests from companies operating in the market for additional clarity for some customer groups following the consultation and publication of our revised “Guidance on assessing whether customers in England and Wales are eligible to switch their water and wastewater retailer”, which we published in August 2015 (the eligibility guidance).
Consistent with the eligibility guidance, this supplementary guidance, in terms of its guidance on defining household premises, will apply to both England and Wales and to WSLs and WSSLs.