Critical Software Becomes SMDA Test House

As the official Test House for SMDA—offering assurance services for the GB energy industry—we will be responsible for testing smart meter devices, ensuring they meet the standards required to be added to the Device Assurance Register (DAR). This will, for instance, help support the rollout of high-quality smart meters across the UK, working toward the goal of enabling suppliers to offer devices to all households by the end of June 2021.

Over the past five years, we have worked in partnership with Dutch-based NMi on assuring smart meters.

Matt Brake, Division Director for Smart Technology Services at Critical, commented: “The awarding of Test House status to Critical is a fantastic achievement and demonstrates confidence in the work we’ve put in alongside NMi over the past five years. We’re excited to put our smart meter assurance skills to the test as the SMDA’s sole Test House and look forward to developing new ways of increasing the value of the scheme in the years to come.”

The Smart Meter Device Assurance (SMDA) scheme provides assurance to customers, suppliers, and investors in the energy sector that smart devices work as they should in real-world conditions. The testing conducted by the SMDA laboratory focuses particularly on the interoperability and interchangeability of devices. SMDA is the only scheme that tests one smart device against multiple others.

Critical Software has worked alongside NMi to support the SMDA laboratory since 2016, with Gemserv as the Scheme Operator. Our role as the SMDA Test House began on April 1, 2021.