The transition from REX to the new Portal continues, with Alterations set to move across in the coming months. Here's the latest update on what's coming next and what it means for industry.

Alterations coming soon 

More services continue to move into the Portal, with Alterations expected to be available in the next couple of months, pending final development and testing. 

This will be an important step forward for industry. Once Alterations is live, it will be the final remaining service to move across from REX, which means the old REX system can then be retired soon after. 

Moving Alterations into the Portal will make it easier to manage connection requests and give users better visibility of what is happening at each stage of the process. 

Alterations request overview

When Alterations becomes available in the Portal, you will be able to submit a single request for alteration works. This means you will no longer need to lodge a separate form to request a temporary disconnection alongside an alteration, as you do today. 

To help ensure requests are matched to the correct property, Alterations submitted through the Portal will require either the NMI and meter number, or NMI and two characters from the billing name to be entered before the request can be submitted. Many users already provide this information today when lodging Alterations in REX, however it has not previously been mandatory. Making this information required will help us confirm the correct job location earlier in the process, reducing follow-ups and helping requests move through more efficiently. 

The Portal will also provide improved notifications. In REX, notifications are currently sent only to electricians. In the Portal, additional contacts can be added to an application, so the right people stay informed, such as a billing contact, customer, project manager, developer or builder. 

As part of these notification improvements, users will also receive clearer advice about fuse pull arrangements where permitted. This will help reduce the need to contact us for updates, with notifications providing more visibility of when a fuse can be pulled and who is authorised to do it. 

Other Portal features already available include a customisable request list, which allows you to filter requests, manage layouts and set up custom views (see the quick guide to help you get this setup the way you want: Portal Guide - Request List), as well as a request tracker that provides clearer visibility of progress, status and next steps. You will also be able to create and save drafts, making it easier to start an application with the information available and return to it later when more details are on hand. 

Requests list

We will let you know when Alterations is ready to go live through messages in REX, the updated Portal notifications, and the A better way to manage your connection requests page. 

REX retirement 

Once Alterations is available in the Portal, REX will close soon after. Any jobs previously raised in REX will still be visible in the new Portal, so no information will be lost. 

To make sure you are ready before REX is retired, now is a good time to log into the Portal and get familiar with its features. 

https://portal.sapowernetworks.com.au 

If you have not used it before, you will need to create an account, which only takes a few minutes. The Portal is already available for a range of minor connections services, including new connections, customer enquiries and temporary disconnections. 

For more information on about the Portal, visit A better way to manage your connection requests or contact customerservice@sapowernetworks.com.au.