DCC User Interface Specification (DUIS) and Message Mapping Catalogue (MMC) DCC conclusions and report to Secretary of State

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1 DCC User Interface Specification (DUIS) and Message Mapping Catalogue (MMC) DCC conclusions and report to Secretary of State Date: 27 May 2016 Classification: DCC Public

2 Table of Contents 1 Executive Summary Report structure Summary of the DUIS and MMC consultation Document development process for DUIS and MMC DCC Conclusions in light of consultation responses and feedback sessions 6 6 Why DCC considers the SSD to be fit for purpose Appendix A Summary of DUIS Amendments made post consultation Appendix B Summary of MMC Amendments made post consultation DUIS/MMC consultation response DCC Public Page 2 of 15

3 1 Executive Summary This report covers the submission of the draft DCC User Interface Specification (DUIS) and Message Mapping Catalogue (MMC). Each are resubmitted to the Secretary of State in accordance with requirements described in Schedule 5 Annex 5 of the Smart Meter Communication Licence. The DUIS sets out the technical details of the DCC User Interface, which is the means by which Users interact with Devices. Communications from Devices are received by the User via the DCC User Interface, in a format as set out in the Great Britain Companion Specification (GBCS). The MMC specifies the translation of data created by Devices in GBCS format, into a format that is standardised and interpretable (the MMC Output Format ). Following their baselining under the Smart Meter Implementation Programme Transitional Governance Framework on 26 August 2015, draft versions of both the DUIS and MMC are set to be designated into the SEC in time for DCC Live. In order to finalise the DCC solution design to support the DCC 1.3 Release, DCC has made updates to the draft baselined versions of the documents and their supporting schema. Between 1 April and 29 April 2016, DCC consulted on updates made to these documents. DCC did not seek comments on the un-amended sections of the documents, which are already part of the baselined technical specification documents under SMIP Transitional Governance. DCC can confirm that it has taken into account consultation feedback such that it has sought to reach an agreed solution with parties raising disagreements. The proposed updates have been discussed with relevant parties during the feedback on the consultation and, following this process, these updates have been included in the draft DUIS and draft MMC (and their supporting schema) submitted to the TBDG. In some cases DCC has amended the proposed updates in light of feedback received (but without prejudice to the particular purposes of the documents), as set out in the consultation feedback and response tracker document submitted alongside this report. It is DCC s view that we have fulfilled our obligations in relation to Annexes 6 and 9 of Schedule 5 of the Licence by consulting with Parties, responding to feedback and resubmitting the DUIS and MMC to the Secretary of State via the TDBG. DCC considers both the DUIS and MMC are defined to a sufficient level of detail for the Technical Baseline Design Forum (TBDG) to reincorporate each within its baseline, and that both the DUIS and MMC are defined to a sufficient level of detail for incorporation into the Smart Energy Code (SEC). DCC Public Page 3 of 15

4 2 Report structure This document has four core sections: firstly, it sets out summary detail of the DUIS and MMC consultation; secondly, it outlines the process followed to consult with Parties and respond to their feedback; thirdly, it outlines DCC s conclusions in light of the consultation response review and post-consultation feedback sessions; and lastly, it summarises why DCC believes the DUIS and MMC are fit for purpose. Provided along with this report are the following documents: DUIS - final draft SEC Subsidiary Document; supporting Schema for the DUIS; MMC - final draft SEC Subsidiary Document; supporting Schema for the MMC; and the Consultation feedback and response tracker document 3 Summary of the DUIS and MMC consultation The DUIS and MMC documents and associated XML schemas were updated from the baselined versions in response to the following activity: DECC s legal review of the DUIS and MMC documents and their suitability for inclusion within the SEC as SEC Subsidiary Documents; the identification of updates required to support the design of the DCC Systems for the DCC 1.3 Release; updates based on review comments received by DCC from Parties and feedback received from Design forums on the baselined v0.8.2 documents; and non-material issues identified by DCC where ambiguities existed or additional clarification was required within the specifications. 3.1 Changes DUIS and XML Schema Changes were made to the DUIS in relation to each of the four change categories identified above, but with the vast majority relating to either review comments received from DECC following their legal review of both the DUIS and MMC, or where ambiguities existed or additional clarification was required. Updates were considered to have not caused a material impact on the technical specifications which would not result in changes to either the design of the DCC Systems or User Systems. For the supporting DUIS schema, inclusion of new functionality to support the SMKI Recovery Procedure led to changes into the DCC solution, requiring two new Smart Metering Inventory (SMI) DeviceStatus attribute enumeration values, Recovery and Recovered within the DUIS XML Schema, and two new additional DCC Alerts. DCC Public Page 4 of 15

5 3.2 Changes to MMC and XML Schema Changes made to MMC related to either review comments received from DECC following their legal review of both the DUIS and MMC or where ambiguities existed or additional clarification was required. Updates were considered to have not caused a material impact on the technical specifications. DCC informed stakeholders that as a result of changes to the MMC schema, an updated Parse and Correlate software version aligned to this new schema would be required. 3.3 Versioning of the DUIS and MMC schemas Following feedback from stakeholders suggesting that the DUIS and MMC XML schemas should have more precise definitions with respect to version numbers, DCC proposed to add a separate DUIS/MMC development schema version to be notified within the schema comments. 3.4 Changes to support potential amendments to GBCS DCC was asked by DECC if the DUIS and MMC documents could be changed as part of the consultation to support a Change Resolution Proposal for GBCS, changing the Units value for the UncontrolledGasFlowRate data item defined in DUIS under Service Reference Variant UpdateDeviceConfiguration(GasFlow) and in MMC under Service Reference Variant ReadDeviceConfiguration(Gas), to support Industry s requirement for granular control of this function. 4 Document development process for DUIS and MMC DCC has followed the process below to comply with its regulatory obligations: discuss procedures and requirements in technical design forums with industry; circulate work-in-progress drafts to DECC for discussion; formally, publicly consult for an appropriate number of weeks (in this case 4 weeks); collate and review consultation feedback; provide feedback to, and seek agreement with, consultation respondents that commented on the consultation proposals; and produce amended and assured draft for submission to Secretary of State. DCC issued a formal consultation on its public-facing website on 1 April Parties were notified of its release by . The consultation was open for 4 weeks; closing on 29 April DCC Public Page 5 of 15

6 5 DCC Conclusions in light of consultation responses and feedback sessions Activity during consultation DCC asked 6 specific questions on the key proposals set out in the consultation and received 132 comments in writing from 12 separate parties (Critical Software provided only technical review comments and answered no questions as part of the consultation response). 5.1 Question 1 DCC asked consultees: [Question 1] Do you agree with the updates that the DCC has made to the DUIS and its associated XML schema to support its designation within the SEC as a Subsidiary Document? If not, please provide any specific issues and the rationale to support your response DCC received responses from 10 parties, 5 of whom responded positively with no other comments, 3 responded positively with comments and 2 responded negatively with issues. All comments received from respondents have been addressed via the response tracker spreadsheet and responses provided to parties, with minor changes made to the DUIS where appropriate. The two parties which responded negatively with issues were both Network Operators who both had similar concerns regarding the new DCC Alert definitions to support the SMKI Recovery Procedure. These concerns were also raised by the same parties as feedback to the recent SMKI Recovery Procedure consultation. DCC has noted concerns raised by Network Operators during both the recent SMKI Recovery process and DUIS/MMC consultations regarding the absence of DCC Alerts to support the SMKI Recovery Process and has concluded that the current proposed solution could be extended to incorporate the changes suggested. DCC recommends that these changes are progressed as part of the change process and be submitted as a change candidate for inclusion in a subsequent release of the DCC systems. On this basis, DCC is not proposing to change the current design of the DCC Systems at this point in time as part of the consultation responses for the SMKI Recovery process and DUIS/MMC consultations. Instead, the design changes to support the concerns raised by Network Operators regarding the absence of DCC Alerts to support the SMKI Recovery Process will be discussed with Users separately and agreed as part of the change process. In summary, taking all consultation responses to Question 1 into account, DCC concludes that on balance the majority of parties agree with the updates that DCC has made to the DUIS and its associated XML schema and support their designation within the SEC as a Subsidiary Document. DCC Public Page 6 of 15

7 5.2 Question 2 DCC asked consultees: [Question 2] Do you agree with DCC s recommended approach for changing the DUIS XML schema to support the SMKI Recovery Procedure functionality in time for the DCC 1.2 release as a forward compatibility change to prevent the need to change XML schema versions between the DCC 1.2 and 1.3 Release? If not, please provide rationale to support your response and your preferred implementation option. DCC received responses from 10 parties, 5 of whom responded positively with no comments, 4 responded positively with comments and 1 responded negatively with issues. All but one respondent agreed with DCC s recommended approach. The one respondent who disagreed believed that the timing of this change creates unacceptable additional risks to the programme and to DCC Users, and would not like to see any further changes included for R1.2. DCC notes the concerns raised and the potential risk highlighted, but considers that the only other realistic option regarding DCC s proposals in this area is to not include the additional functionality now, and instead release an updated schema for DCC R1.3, which creates different and significant risks at a critical point in the programme plan, whilst also increasing effort for all parties by requiring an additional change process to be undertaken. DCC does not consider this to be appropriate and agrees with most other respondents who supported DCC s proposed position. DCC is therefore not planning to change its proposed approach. In addition to the responses to this question, there were two points of clarification raised by several users: Several respondents requested clarification regarding a scenario where a Device has an SMI status of Recovery and the responsibility for a Device is switched to a new supplier as part of the Change of Supply (CoS) process. It was queried whether the CoS process would recover the Device without the new supplier needing to issue a Service Request 6.21 Handover of DCC Controlled Device. DCC can confirm that as defined in the SMKI Recovery Procedure a Device must complete the SMKI Recovery Process before any change of supplier (replacement of security credentials) can occur on a Device. When a Device has an SMI status of Recovery all communication to that Device via the DCC core communications service is prevented, as are all Service Requests targeted to that Device, as defined by the SMKI Recovery Process. The CoS Party processing within the DCC solution will NOT recover a Device as part of its standard processing and is not designed to do so. CoS and Recovery are two separate processes that must complete individually in their own right and are not designed to be linked within the DCC solution. All other comments received from respondents have been addressed via the tracker spreadsheet and responses provided to parties and minor changes made to the DUIS where appropriate. In summary, taking all consultation responses to Question 2 into account, DCC concludes that the majority of parties agree with DCC s recommended approach for changing the DUIS XML schema to support the SMKI Recovery Procedure functionality in time for the DCC Public Page 7 of 15

8 DCC 1.2 release. On this basis DCC intends to proceed and submit the DUIS and its associated XML schema at v to the Secretary of State as the recommended version for designation into the SEC. 5.3 Question 3 DCC asked consultees: [Question 3] Do you agree with the updates that the DCC has made to the MMC and its associated XML schema to support its designation within the SEC as a Subsidiary Document? If not, please provide any specific issues and the rationale to support your response. DCC received responses from 10 parties, 7 of whom responded positively with no comments, 3 responded positively with a few minor comments and none responded negatively with issues. All comments received from respondents have been addressed via the tracker spreadsheet and responses provided to parties. Minor changes have been made to the MMC where appropriate. In summary, as all respondents agreed with updates made to the MMC and its associated schema, DCC will incorporate the updates made to the MMC and its associated XML schema in preparation for their designation into the SEC as a Subsidiary Document. 5.4 Question 4 DCC asked consultees: [Question 4] Do you agree with the proposed versioning approach and support its implementation in all future versions of the DUIS and MMC XML schemas? If not, please provide the rationale to support your response. DCC received responses from 10 parties, 6 of whom responded positively with no comments, 4 responded positively with a few minor comments and none responded negatively with issues. Whilst all respondents agreed with the DCC proposals, several included some minor points for DCC to consider and some wider comments. These have been noted and addressed as appropriate in the tracker spreadsheet and the responses provided to parties. In summary, as all respondents agreed with the proposed versioning approach, DCC will follow its intended implementation approach for all future versions of the DUIS and MMC XML schemas. DCC will continue to work with Parties to review this and discuss future improvements to incorporate some of the comments made as appropriate. DCC Public Page 8 of 15

9 5.5 Question 5 DCC asked consultees: [Question 5] Do you agree that DCC should update the Units value for the UncontrolledGasFlowRate data item in both DUIS and MMC within the consultation response versions as requested by DECC to support the GBCS CRP449? If not, please provide the rationale to support your response. DCC received responses from 11 parties, only 1 of whom responded with wholehearted support for the proposed change. 3 parties responded positively with a few minor comments agreeing with the intent of the change but disagreeing with the solution proposed, 4 responded with no comment responses and 3 responded negatively with issues and were not supportive of the proposed change. The majority of respondents disagreed with the solution proposed by DCC, and many of the responses received noted an alternative recommendation for wider changes than the simple documentation update proposed. This implies that a wider, more detailed solution is required to resolve this issue than the one proposed in this consultation. On the basis that only one respondent agreed that the DCC should update the Units value for the UncontrolledGasFlowRate data item in both DUIS and MMC to support the GBCS IRP, and noting that there were a number of significant objections received from different parties, DCC has concluded that it will not introduce the proposed changes to the Units value for the UncontrolledGasFlowRate data item. Both the DUIS and MMC will remain as they are without change in this regard. This response will be circulated to DECC and all interested parties at the next TSIRS meeting for DECC to decide how to proceed with this issue and advise industry of the next steps for the issues identified as part of GBCS CRP449. To confirm, the Unit value for the UncontrolledGasFlowRate data item will remain as m 3 per hour. 5.6 Question 6 DCC asked consultees: [Question 6] Do you agree with DCC s recommended approach for the re-baselining of DUIS and MMC and the submitting of any required updates post v in order to get to a designated version of DUIS and MMC in time for DCC Live? If not, please provide rationale to support your response. DCC received responses from 10 parties, of whom 2 responded positively with no comments; 6 responded offering support for the approach but raising detailed comments and concerns in the process; and 2 responded negatively, raising issues with the approach. Whilst there was broad support for the concepts outlined by DCC in response to this question, respondents generally wanted more clarity and certainly over the proposals put forward by DCC. Whilst we recognise that, in an ideal world, there would be no need to change DUIS and MMC from the existing v0.8.2 baseline, adopting this approach creates issues which will persist through to DCC Live, as subsequent changes would still be required at a later date to support the DCC R1.3 Release and to resolve issues already identified through testing (unless functional defects are accepted by Industry). DCC Public Page 9 of 15

10 DCC would like to confirm that any further changes to the DCC User Interface will only be made in line with the scope of the 1.x release strategy and changes will only be proposed to ensure that the existing defined functionality operates correctly without any known issues. It is not DCC s intent to create any unnecessary new versions that could become active during testing, as this approach may lead to issues that could affect all parties at what is a critical period of delivery. It is DCC s intent to only change the DUIS and MMC when it is clear that there are issues that would prevent expected functionality from successfully operating as intended, and DCC would consult on all possible changes with all impacted parties at the earliest point, were these issues to arise. DCC would seek collective agreement with parties prior to any new versions being activated. It is anticipated that this process would be managed by the DCC s Issue Resolution Board (IRB) process. DCC recognise and fully support several respondents comments that any release approach for MMC must also consider the delivery to users of the aligned version of Parse and Correlate (P&C) software, and that designating an updated MMC is insufficient without the delivery of an updated software release of P&C that is aligned to MMC. DCC confirm that any change to the MMC XML schema will result in an updated version of the P&C software being made available to Users. Considerations regarding re-baselining of DUIS By continuing to implement DUIS v0.8.2 for R1.2 there would be no impact on the functionality of the R1.2. However, this would mean that the two new DCC Alerts associated with the SMKI Recovery Procedure would still need to be implemented at R1.3 implementation. This would require Users to use a changed DUIS XML schema as part of this release. In Design forum discussions with Parties, it was agreed that this was desirable for neither DCC nor Users, and on this basis DCC will include the change as a forward compatibility change to prevent the need to change XML schema versions between the DCC R1.2 and R1.3. DCC s view that implementing the v version of DUIS for R1.2, as opposed to the existing v0.8.2 is the most appropriate option and this remains DCC s position. Considerations regarding re-baselining of MMC It remains DCC s view that implementing v and an updated associated Parse and Correlate software version for R1.2 and not the existing v0.8.2 and associated Parse and Correlate software version is the most appropriate approach. The need for an updated Parse and Correlate software version has already been established by the issues that have been raised and noted in the MMC consultation, so there is an existing need for v at some point prior to DCC Live in order to avoid these issues. DCC considers the implementation of v as soon as practically possible the most sensible option to avoid going into live with known issues, which would also require the implementation of the new MMC schema and associated Parse and Correlate software version. Of key consideration therefore is the question of whether is it appropriate for all Parties to implement the new MMC schema and associated Parse and Correlate software version for R1.2 or at a later release. DCC Public Page 10 of 15

11 Several respondents commented that DCC needed to explain how the updated P&C software version associated with the proposed MMC changes should be managed by Users in time for User Entry Process Testing (UEPT). There are no direct requirements on Users to indicate which version of Parse and Correlate software they will be using for UEPT, and DCC notes that no party is required to use the DCC-provided P&C software, as it is made available for use on an optional basis, depending on Users own implementation decisions. DCC would strongly recommend that parties test with the latest version of the Parse and Correlate software wherever possible, but we recognise that there may be some constraints to this approach; the timing of testing being one of these. Whilst conducting UEPT on the current version of the P&C software is not incorrect, DCC would note that some testing issues may arise in the areas where changes have been made to the current version of P&C software. If these issues are identified during UEPT then they can be noted and resolved with the use of the updated P&C software, and DCC s testing issues resolution process can be used to manage these situations. Given this flexibility, the timing of when each party updates its P&C software version should be decided by that individual party, based on their test approach and their willingness to accept the issues already identified within the existing P&C software, as well as their risk appetite given the increased likelihood of known issues with the software impacting their test schedules and results. A Testing Participant may therefore commence UEPT using DUIS and MMC versions but are likely to have to upgrade to version (of at least MMC) in order to complete UEPT, on the basis that most Testing Participants are likely to provide evidence of successful UEPT tests using Service Responses that have been through Parse. Conclusions After taking all comments from respondents into consideration, DCC considers that the most appropriate next step is to continue with its recommended approach for the rebaselining of DUIS and MMC at the v versions. These will be submitted to the Secretary of State with a DCC recommendation to designate these versions into the SEC at the appropriate point in time as determined by the Secretary of State. This will ensure that designated versions of DUIS and MMC are in place in time for DCC Live. However, DCC recognises that careful consideration must be paid to any future versions of the documents, and it will be crucial that DCC continues regular and direct communication with Users prior to any further potential changes to DUIS and MMC before the designation date. DCC recommends that these communications, if required, will be made via the DCC s IRB (Issue Resolution Board) and the TBDG. Activity post consultation DCC is confident that the revised draft documents, submitted to the Secretary of State, do indeed reflect, and where necessary address, the relevant comments made by Parties, in terms of definitions, consistency, timescales and other SEC-related alignment issues. It is DCC s view that it has met its SEC obligation to consult with Parties, to address the points of disagreement that have arisen and that have not been resolved in line with the purpose of the document, and that it has met its regulatory obligation in this regard. DCC Public Page 11 of 15

12 6 Why DCC considers the SSD to be fit for purpose The DUIS and MMC are in line with the overall solution design, security requirements and other relevant documents. The contents of both documents were discussed and approved for submission to the Secretary of State at the DCC s internal Design Assurance Board on 25 th May The DUIS and MMC have been assured and approved against the requirements defined in the version of the SEC available at the time. DCC considers that the DUIS and MMC are defined to a sufficient level of detail for inclusion within the baseline and for designation into the SEC because each document is useful and meaningful to Parties, is clear and unambiguous, is consistent / aligned with the rest of SEC, in respect of common terminology and appropriate use of references. Each document does not contradict other parts of the SEC and does not introduce new rights or obligations not already provided for by policy upon which we have consulted, or which are included in the SEC. The DCC asserts its view that the documents deliver the regulatory requirements specified in the SEC and the Licence, are materially complete, and the content of each is technically accurate. DCC Public Page 12 of 15

13 Appendix A Summary of DUIS Amendments made post consultation Change Ref # A summary of the changes made to the DUIS document as a result of consultation responses in contained below. No further changes were made to the DUIS XML Schema as a result of consultation responses received. Summary of Changes 1 The definition of Transport Layer Security (TLS) has been aligned with other SSDs. The requirement for TLS 1.2 is retained within the DUIS at section 2.2 Establishment of Logical Connection. 2 Section has been corrected to be 3.1 causes several changes to crossreferences. 3 References to 31/12/3000 within sections and have been updated to use the full date and time format T00:00:00Z 4 Some typos have been corrected including: a. 'an SMI Status' (from 'a SMI Status') b. Security from Security c. Supplier from Supplier 5 The Error Handling Strategy procedure for Response Code E50 is updated to remove procedure Z1 as there will already be an Incident in this instance. 6 The descriptions for the 'true' and 'false' values of SuspendDebtDisabled and SuspendDebtEmergency have been updated to align with GBCS. (Table 89) 7 The correction of descriptions/valid set definitions where appropriate: a. DayOfWeekApplicability - table 99 b. DebtRecoveryRate - table 114 c. Index - table 174, Index - table 201 d. Index - table 203, Index - table 206 e. FirmwareVersion - table 219 f. InstallCode - table Table XML group name corrected 9 Table XML group name corrected DCC Public Page 13 of 15

14 10 The cross-reference for DSPScheduleRemoval in table 249 is corrected. 11 The reference to the alert code (under 'mandatory') for RecoveryComplete in table 252 is corrected. 12 References to values being in binary format have been removed from the firmware version Description / Values, table 219, and InstallCode Description / Values table 232 DCC Public Page 14 of 15

15 Appendix B Summary of MMC Amendments made post consultation A summary of the changes made to the DUIS document as a result of consultation responses in contained below. No further changes were made to the MMC XML Schema as a result of consultation responses received. Change Ref # Summary of Changes 1 A reference to the data and time formatting has been added to section 2.3 to reflect the inclusion of the UTC character of Z within the time and date formats. 2 Descriptions/Valid set definitions for the following have been updated: a. TariffThesholds table 88 b. PriceScale table 90 c. CertificationRequest table 162 DCC Public Page 15 of 15