Common use of Core Requirements Clause in Contracts

Core Requirements. The following is a list of mandatory functional requirements. Any tender should reflect understanding and demonstrate wherever appropriate how any proposed solutions will fulfil these requirements: Ref Requirement Type Requirement Outline Non-Functional Requirements R01 Functional Request Unique Property Reference Number The EA must request a UPRN directly from the NDR through the Accreditation Scheme or directly from the NDR before any Energy Documents and Model Data can be lodged. The UPRN can be obtained on a complete or partial address to identify the Property that the Energy Documents relate to. The facilities available for searching are dependent on the underlying data-set that is licensed. From a successful search the UPRN that uniquely identifies the Property of interest is returned or a request to add a “Missing” Address is raised. The UPRN is a unique identifier that identifies every usable property in England and Wales including sub-buildings and sublets within a building. The UPRN generated by the NDR should be unique and distinct from that used by the HCR Register operated by Landmark to avoid the risk of any duplication of UPRNs across the NDR and the HCR Register. The UPRN generated by the NDR is not in anyway related to that used by the Royal Mail or Ordnance Survey. A building subdivided in several parts will have separate UPRNs. This division will depend on several criteria, which as still being finalised, but are likely to include criteria such as the functional use of the space (e.g. if a building has both office and retail space, separate NDEPCs will be required for each space) and whether the energy supplied to the space is under the direct control of the occupier (e.g. if retail shops each had individually heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems they would each require a separate EPC whereas if there was a common HVAC system they would require a single EPC). The energy assessor and accreditation scheme will know whether a separate part requires its own UPRN and energy certificate. A property in Wales has both an English and Welsh Address and when producing a certificate or report in those languages the EA should consistently use the correct address in the relevant language. The NDR will be responsible for: (a) providing a facility to authorised users to search for an existing UPRN and request a new one if necessary; Availability: Very High (99.99%) Response: < 30 seconds (24 hours for new UPRNs) See also transactional volumes & data consistency no-functional requirements Security: CLG approved Non Domestic energy software or EA (b) creating a new UPRN (if necessary) and returning the new UPRN to the requesting user. R02 Functional Submit and lodge Energy Documents and Model Data The EA will be able to lodge Energy Documents and the Model Data via the Accreditation Schemes Only EAs who are registered with an Accreditation Scheme will be able to submit and lodge Energy Documents via an Accreditation Scheme. The NDR must authenticate that the EA is indeed an active Member at the time of submission. There should also be data integrity checks made before any lodgement is made. Once a lodgement takes place it cannot be modified in anyway except for a change of status. Any lodgement process must not obstruct or delay the work of the EA. Accreditation Schemes will lodge Energy Certificates and Reports in PDF as well as the accompanying Input and Output Model data into the NDR. It can be assumed that these PDFs are correct therefore no validation need take place. The onus will be on the Accreditation Scheme to correctly lodge the Energy Documents against the correct UPRN that was requested. The Model Data will be received in XML and will also be stored in the NDR. NDEPC and RR reports are normally submitted together. However the DEC may be submitted separately from the Advisory Report. The NDR will allow flexibility in what order and combinations of documents and Model Data can be sent. The NDR will also be able to collect record & process a lodgement fee, payable by the Accreditation Scheme. The NDR will therefore be responsible for receiving, authenticating, initial validation, collection of the lodgement fee and the lodgement of the Energy Documents and Model Data and finally the response back to the Accreditation Scheme. Availability: Very High (99.99%) Response: < 1 minute during operational window or before the start of business the next day if invoked outside the operational window e.g. overnight batch process. This is to allow for overnight maintenance outages for housekeeping tasks. Security: CLG approved Non Domestic energy software or EA See also transactional volumes & data consistency no-functional requirements An internal technical problem such as transaction failure must not be a reason to fail a lodgement of data. R03 Functional Change in status of Energy Documents and Model Data The Accreditation Scheme will be able to change the status of any of the earlier lodgements of Energy Documents made by an EA. An EA cannot request a change of status direct to the NDR. The status of an Energy Document and Model Data may change during its lifecycle to indicate the usability and reliability of the Energy Documents in certain scenarios. In all of these cases it is necessary to update the status of an Energy Document recorded in the NDR. Any document must never be removed from the NDR once it is lodged but can be archived as historical data. Once lodged, the status of the Energy Documents and Model Data can only be altered with the approval from the Accreditation Scheme. Consequently all requests, whether made directly to the Accreditation Scheme or via its Complaints & Disciplinary Body, will be sent to the NDR Operator by the Accreditation Scheme that accredited the EA who undertook the original energy assessment and lodged the document. The NDR will therefore be responsible receiving the change request, authenticating, initial validation, Availability: Very High (99.99%) Response: < 1 minute Transaction Volumes: 0.1% of Total Energy Assessments will need to go through a change of status. Security: CLG approved Non Domestic energy software. See also transactional volumes & data consistency no-functional requirements changing the status and sending the response back to the Accreditation Scheme. R04 Functional Retrieve and view Energy Documents & Model Data Unregistered users with the RRN can request the Energy Documents directly from the NDR. They are also entitled to any document of the same kind relating to the same UPRN as the requested document, which was registered at any time during the period of 10 years ending on the date of the request. EAs or Accreditation Schemes should be able to access information (by RRN or UPRN) from the previous years Energy Documents for use in current energy assessments for example automatic pre- fill basic building data in an assessment which can then be changed if necessary or use previous years’ energy readings. There is no time limit i.e. if the document is on the register it should be accessible. Registered users such as Enforcement bodies should also be able to search by address (street name, postcode etc) and EA as well as the RRN. There is no time limit i.e. if the document is on the register it should be accessible. It is expected that a majority of the requests will come directly from unregistered users i.e. potential purchasers or tenants and therefore an online web portal must be made available to service these transaction requests. Any retrieval request must be subject to acceptance of the terms and conditions before the request can be satisfied. The NDR will authenticate and service any request to retrieve and display the appropriate NDEPC, DEC, RR, AR. Response: < 30 seconds Availability: 99.99% , Very High Security: Unregistered and registered users to functionality as described. See also transactional volumes & data consistency no-functional requirements R05 Functional Lookup of Energy Assessor Anybody who needs to find and/or authenticate an EA must be able to lookup an EA in the NDR using one or more of the following search criteria Accreditation Number, Name (Full or partial) and Assessor Type. In the search results the NDR should then show the EA’s Accreditation Number, Full Name and Assessor type. Only active EA’s will be returned in the results. It is expected that a majority of the requests will come directly from potential landlords or owners and therefore an online web portal must be made available to service these transaction requests as well as those originating from the Accreditation Scheme. The data in the lookup facility will also be used to validate a lodgement request i.e. any lodgement request must have been submitted by an active accredited EA The NDR will be responsible for keeping an up to date index of EAs which will be supplied by each of Response: < 15 seconds (incl. Internet requests) assuming 1 Mb Internet connection Availability: Very High (99.99%) Security: No restrictions the Accreditation Schemes and providing this lookup facility which will return the Assessor details and additional information including status. R06 Functional Update Energy Assessor Index The Accreditation Schemes will be responsible for supplying the central NDR with an updated list of EAs within their Scheme on a frequent basis. The content of the EA Index needs to be accurate and complete and reflect the state of all EAs provided by the Accreditation Schemes as at the close of business the previous day. The assumption is that a newly accredited EA would not be performing inspections on the day that they become accredited because the details of their accreditation would be in the post (or whatever delivery mechanism is used to courier it to them). All changes to EAs will be effective by the next day. The NDR will be responsible for keeping an up to date index of EAs which will be supplied by each of the Accreditation Schemes and providing this lookup facility. Response: Changes effected by before next day Availability: Very High (99.99%) Updates to index time to time…small percentage subject to change 1- 3% of reports lodged. Security: Accreditation Schemes only R07 Transitional NDR Accept DECs, ARs and Model data before delivery of the NDR Some Accreditation Schemes and EAs will wish to submit DECs, ARs and Model Data before the delivery of the final NDR. A transitional NDR of accepting DECs, ARs and the Model Data must be in place by 6th April 2008. The data collated must be received from an Accreditation Scheme or EA and stored in a suitable repository so that it can be migrated to the final NDR. Once the data migration has been successful the transitional NDR can be disabled. Minimum requirements for a transitional NDR are listed in the BaFO documentation. 10,000 – 20,000 DECs and ARs to be collected in the period 1st Feb 2008 to 7th March 2008 R08 Reporting / Data Extract Produce regular data extracts and reporting to CLG CLG will require regular and periodic updates to a CLG data repository so that management reporting and data analysis can be carried out. The data extract should extract all NDR data contents and there may be some selection, summarisation, sorting, and grouping of the data that needs to be applied. Any data must also be depersonalised. Regular reports will be required to monitor and aid the implementation of the Energy Performance of Buildings Regulations and help reporting to the EC. Typical MI Requirements for the 6th April 08 are to answer the following queries: Any data extract or report should be implemented as a backend batch process outside the NDR operational window to allow off peak processing. Therefore the data extract or report should successfully complete its processing before the start of the operational window. • how many EAs are registered as "active" for each Scheme and for each strand (Non Domestic 3, 4, 5 and DEC) • how many EAs are registered as status other than "active" for each scheme and for each strand (Non Domestic 3, 4, 5 and DEC) • what has been lodged by Assessor, Scheme and strand (including details on assessment software used, which is a field in the output data - e.g. SBEM) • what lodgment failures have occurred by Assessor, Scheme and strand (including details on assessment software used, which is a field in the output data - e.g. SBEM) R09 Central Information Point Provision of CIBSE & Degree Day data from a Central Information Point CLG may require the NDR Operator to design, host, run and on a monthly basis update a DEC and AR Central Information Point (CIP). The CIP will hold information used by the Operational Rating calculation software and the AR generation software. The CIP will allow real time, automatic access to the information held by multiple software as well as providing a web-based interface for conventional website type access The information to be held on the CIP will include: • The CIBSE benchmarks tables. The benchmarks tables hold basic benchmark data. Five years historical CIBSE data will be required to be kept as a minimum. This is required to produce a DEC. As a guide there will be approximately 10Mb of raw data. On go live up to two yrs CIBSE data will be available with a rolling five years worth of data, when available, thereafter • The degree days data. Note that this will be an expanding database of information as data will be added regularly (monthly). Five years historical Degree data will be required to be kept as a minimum. This is required to produce a DEC. As a guide there will be approximately 10Mb of raw data. On go live two yrs degree data will be available with a rolling five years worth of data, when available, thereafter • The CO2 emission factors • The approved area conversion factors • The database of energy improvement measures to be used for the generation of Advisory Reports • Any other information as specified by CLG Response is <30 seconds Availability: Very High (99.99%) Security: Registered users only. The NDR Operator will be require: • To obtain standard degree day data. This may require entering into contract with a service provider. The provision of Degree and CIBSE data is required by the Accreditation Schemes to enable their Software to operate. The Accreditation Scheme will be able to request this data directly from the CIP on an ad hoc basis.

Core Requirements. The following is a list of mandatory functional requirements. Any tender should reflect understanding and demonstrate wherever appropriate how any proposed solutions will fulfil these requirements: Ref Requirement Type Requirement Outline Non-Functional Requirements R01 Functional Request Unique Property Reference Number The EA must request a UPRN directly from the NDR through the Accreditation Scheme or directly from the NDR before any Energy Documents and Model Data can be lodged. The UPRN can be obtained on a complete or partial address to identify the Property that the Energy Documents or Energy Model Input Data relate to. The facilities available for searching are dependent on the underlying data-set that is licensed. From a successful search the UPRN that uniquely identifies the Property of interest is returned or a request to add a “Missing” Address is raised. The UPRN is a unique identifier that identifies every usable property in England and Wales including sub-buildings and sublets within a building. The UPRN generated by the NDR should be unique and distinct from that used by the HCR Domestic EPC Register operated by Landmark to avoid the risk of any duplication of UPRNs across the NDR and the HCR Domestic EPC Register. The UPRN generated by the NDR is not in anyway related to that used by the Royal Mail or Ordnance Survey. A building subdivided in several parts will have separate UPRNs. This division will depend on several criteria, which as still being finalised, but are likely to include criteria such as the functional use of the space (e.g. if a building has both office and retail space, separate NDEPCs will be required for each space) and whether the energy supplied to the space is under the direct control of the occupier (e.g. if retail shops each had individually heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems they would each require a separate EPC whereas if there was a common HVAC system they would require a single EPC). The energy assessor and accreditation scheme will know whether a separate part requires its own UPRN and energy certificate. A property in Wales has both an English and Welsh Address and when producing a certificate or report in those languages the EA should consistently use the correct address in the relevant language. The NDR will be responsible for: (a) providing a facility to authorised users to search for an existing UPRN and request a new one if necessary; Availability: Very High (99.99%) Response: < 30 seconds (24 hours for new UPRNs) See also transactional volumes & data consistency no-functional requirements Security: CLG DCLG approved Non Domestic energy software or EA if necessary; (b) creating a new UPRN (if necessary) and returning the new UPRN to the requesting user. R02 Functional Submit and lodge Energy Documents and Model Data The EA will be able to lodge Energy Documents and the Model Data via the Accreditation Schemes Only EAs who are registered with an Accreditation Scheme will be able to submit and lodge Energy Documents via an Accreditation Scheme. The NDR must authenticate that the EA is indeed an active Member at the time of submission. There should also be data integrity checks made before any lodgement is made. Once a lodgement takes place it cannot be modified in anyway except for a change of status. Any lodgement process must not obstruct or delay the work of the EA. Accreditation Schemes will lodge Energy Certificates and Reports in PDF as well as the accompanying Input and Output Model data underlying Energy Certificates and Reports into the NDR. It can be assumed that these PDFs are correct therefore no validation need take placeNDR from which the Register Operator will generate the Energy Certificate or Report in PDF format. The onus will be on the Accreditation Scheme to correctly lodge the Input and Output Model data underlying the Energy Documents against the correct UPRN that was requested. The Model Data will be received in XML and will also be stored in the NDR. NDEPC and RR reports are normally submitted together. However the DEC may be submitted separately from the Advisory ReportRR. The NDR will allow flexibility in what order and combinations of documents and Model Data can be sent. The NDR will also be able to collect record & process a lodgement fee, payable by the Accreditation Scheme. The NDR will therefore be responsible for receiving, authenticating, initial validation, collection of the lodgement fee and the lodgement of the Energy Documents and Model Data and finally the response back to the Accreditation Scheme. Availability: Very High (99.99%) Response: < 1 minute during operational window or before the start of business the next day if invoked outside the operational window e.g. overnight batch process. This is to allow for overnight maintenance outages for housekeeping tasks. Security: CLG DCLG approved Non Domestic energy software or EA See also transactional volumes & data consistency no-functional requirements An internal technical problem such as transaction failure must not be a reason to fail a lodgement of data. R03 Functional Change in status of Energy Documents and Model Data The Accreditation Scheme will be able to change the status of any of the earlier lodgements of Energy Documents made by an EA. An EA cannot request a change of status direct to the NDR. The status of an Energy Document and Model Data may change during its lifecycle to indicate the usability and reliability of the Energy Documents in certain scenarios. In all of these cases it is necessary to update the status of an Energy Document and Energy Model Input Data recorded in the NDR. Any document must never be removed from the NDR once it is lodged but can be archived as historical data. Once lodged, the status of the Energy Documents and Model Data can only be altered with the approval from the Accreditation Scheme. Consequently all requests, whether made directly to the Accreditation Scheme or via its Complaints & Disciplinary Body, will be sent to the NDR Operator by Availability: Very High (99.99%) Response: < 1 minute Transaction Volumes: 0.1% of Total Energy Assessments will need to go through a change of status. Security: DCLG approved Non Domestic energy software. See also transactional volumes & data consistency no-functional requirements the Accreditation Scheme that accredited the EA who undertook the original energy assessment and lodged the document. The NDR will therefore be responsible receiving the change request, authenticating, initial validation, Availability: Very High (99.99%) Response: < 1 minute Transaction Volumes: 0.1% of Total Energy Assessments will need to go through a change of status. Security: CLG approved Non Domestic energy software. See also transactional volumes & data consistency no-functional requirements changing the status and sending the response back to the Accreditation Scheme. R04 Functional Retrieve and view Energy Documents & Model Data Unregistered users with the RRN can request the Energy Documents directly from the NDR. They are also entitled to any document of the same kind relating to the same UPRN as the requested document, which was registered at any time during the period of 10 years ending on the date of the request. EAs or Accreditation Schemes should be able to access information (by RRN or UPRN) from the previous years Energy Documents for use in current energy assessments for example automatic pre- fill basic building data in an assessment which can then be changed if necessary or use previous years’ energy readings. There is no time limit i.e. if the document is on the register it should be accessible. Registered users such as Enforcement bodies should also be able to search by address (street name, postcode etc) and EA as well as the RRN. There is no time limit i.e. if the document is on the register it should be accessible. It is expected that a majority of the requests will come directly from unregistered users i.e. potential purchasers or tenants and therefore an online web portal must be made available to service these transaction requests. Any retrieval request must be subject to acceptance of the terms and conditions before the request can be satisfied. The NDR will authenticate and service any request to retrieve and display the appropriate NDEPC, DEC, RR, ARAR and ACIR. Response: < 30 seconds Availability: 99.99% , Very High Security: Unregistered and registered users to functionality as described. See also transactional volumes & data consistency no-functional requirements R05 Functional Lookup of Energy Assessor Anybody who needs to find and/or authenticate an EA must be able to lookup an EA in the NDR using one or more of the following search criteria Accreditation Number, Name (Full or partial) and Assessor Type. In the search results the NDR should then show the EA’s Accreditation Number, Full Name and Assessor type. Only active EA’s will be returned in the results. It is expected that a majority of the requests will come directly from potential landlords or owners and therefore an online web portal must be made available to service these transaction requests as well as those originating from the Accreditation Scheme. The data in the lookup facility will also be used to validate a lodgement request i.e. any lodgement request must have been submitted by an active accredited EA The NDR will be responsible for keeping an up to date index of EAs which will be supplied by each of Response: < 15 seconds (incl. Internet requests) assuming 1 Mb Internet connection Availability: Very High (99.99%) Security: No restrictions The NDR will be responsible for keeping an up to date index of EAs which will be supplied by each of the Accreditation Schemes and providing this lookup facility which will return the Assessor details and additional information including status. R06 Functional Update Energy Assessor Index The Accreditation Schemes will be responsible for supplying the central NDR with an updated list of EAs within their Scheme on a frequent basis. The content of the EA Index needs to be accurate and complete and reflect the state of all EAs provided by the Accreditation Schemes as at the close of business the previous day. The assumption is that a newly accredited EA would not be performing inspections on the day that they become accredited because the details of their accreditation would be in the post (or whatever delivery mechanism is used to courier it to them). All changes to EAs will be effective by the next day. The NDR will be responsible for keeping an up to date index of EAs which will be supplied by each of the Accreditation Schemes and providing this lookup facility. Response: Changes effected by before next day Availability: Very High (99.99%) Updates to index time to time…small percentage subject to change 1- 3% of reports lodged. Security: Accreditation Schemes only R07 Transitional NDR Accept DECs, ARs RRs and Model data before delivery of the NDR Some Accreditation Schemes and EAs will wish to submit DECs, ARs RRs and Model Data before the delivery of the final NDR. A transitional NDR of accepting DECs, ARs RRs and the Model Data must be in place by 6th April 2008. The data collated must be received from an Accreditation Scheme or EA and stored in a suitable repository so that it can be migrated to the final NDR. Once the data migration has been successful the transitional NDR can be disabled. Minimum requirements for a transitional NDR are listed in the BaFO documentation. 10,000 – 20,000 DECs and ARs RRs to be collected in the period 1st Feb 2008 to 7th March 2008 R08 Reporting / Data Extract Produce regular data extracts and reporting to CLG CLG DCLG DCLG will require regular and periodic updates to a CLG DCLG data repository so that management reporting and data analysis can be carried out. The data extract should extract all NDR data contents and there may be some selection, summarisation, sorting, and grouping of the data that needs to be applied. Any data must also be depersonalised. Regular reports will be required to monitor and aid the implementation of the Energy Performance of Buildings Regulations and help reporting to the EC. Typical MI Requirements for the 6th April 08 are to answer the following queries: Any data extract or report should be implemented as a backend batch process outside the NDR operational window to allow off peak processing. Therefore the data extract or report should successfully complete its processing before the start of the operational windowBuildings Regulations and help reporting to the EC. Typical MI Requirements for the 6th April 08 are to answer the following queries: • how many EAs are registered as "active" for each Scheme and for each strand (Non Domestic 3, 4, 5 and DEC) • how many EAs are registered as status other than "active" for each scheme and for each strand (Non Domestic 3, 4, 5 5, DEC and DECACIR 3 and 4) • what has been lodged by Assessor, Scheme and strand (including details on assessment software used, which is a field in the output data - e.g. SBEM) • what lodgment failures have occurred by Assessor, Scheme and strand (including details on assessment software used, which is a field in the output data - e.g. SBEM) operational window. R09 Central Information Point Provision of CIBSE & Degree Day data from a Central Information Point CLG DCLG may require the NDR Operator to design, host, run and on a monthly basis update a DEC and AR RR Central Information Point (CIP). The CIP will hold information used by the Operational Rating calculation software and the AR RR generation software. The CIP will allow real time, automatic access to the information held by multiple software as well as providing a web-based interface for conventional website type access The information to be held on the CIP will include: • The CIBSE benchmarks tables. The benchmarks tables hold basic benchmark data. Five years historical CIBSE data will be required to be kept as a minimum. This is required to produce a DEC. As a guide there will be approximately 10Mb of raw data. On go live up to two yrs CIBSE data will be available with a rolling five years worth of data, when available, thereafter • The degree days data. Note that this will be an expanding database of information as data will be added regularly (monthly). Five years historical Degree data will be required to be kept as a minimum. This is required to produce a DEC. As a guide there will be approximately 10Mb of raw data. On go live two yrs degree data will be available with a rolling five years worth of data, when available, thereafter • The CO2 emission factors • The approved area conversion factors • The database of energy improvement measures to be used for the generation of Advisory Reports • Any other information as specified by CLG Response is <30 seconds Availability: Very High (99.99%) Security: Registered users only. • Any other information as specified by DCLG The NDR Operator will be require: • To obtain standard degree day data. This may require entering into contract with a service provider. The provision of Degree and CIBSE data is required by the Accreditation Schemes to enable their Software to operate. The Accreditation Scheme will be able to request this data directly from the CIP on an ad hoc basis.