New laws now in force will affect electric vehicle charge points in homes, commercial buildings and new developments.

The legislation comes as part of an overview of Building Regulations, designed to ensure the provision of charge points in developments in England and other parts of the UK. It aims to develop a new charging infrastructure everywhere we park our cars in an effort to stay ahead of organic demand from drivers.

Home charging systems.

Electric car owners are being alerted to new laws which could mean important changes to their home charging systems.

Since December 30, 2022, the requirements cover cybersecurity and tamper-protection of the charging devices. In more detail, the new legislation seeks to ensure that charge points give appropriate protection to the electricity system, the relevant charge point and the personal data of the owner.

A further requirement is for the charge point to have a unique passport and is not set by the owner, to further help protect personal information.

Should an installer wish to fit non-compliant EV chargers, they will need to seek prior approval from the Office for Product Safety and Standards.

Charging points in new developments.

The UK government’s new EV charging requirements came into force in England in June 2022 as part of an overhaul of the country’s Building Regulations, which include the following stipulations:

• Every new home, including those created from a change of use with associated parking, must have an EV charge point.

• Residential buildings undergoing a major renovation with more than 10 parking spaces must have at least one EV charge point per dwelling with associated parking, along with cable routes in all spaces without charge points.

• All new non-residential buildings with more than 10 parking spaces must have a minimum of one charge point, and cable routes for one in five (20%) of the total number of spaces.

• All non-residential buildings undergoing a major renovation that will have more than 10 parking spaces must have a minimum of one charge point, along with cable routes for one in five spaces.

With the introduction of the Part S Regulations on June 15th 2022, developers aren’t currently compelled to install active charging points into covered car parks, only to fit cable routes.

Currently, no changes are announced for EV charging requirements for Wales and Northern Ireland. However, the Scottish Government will be putting forward secondary legislation to update their Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004 with similar new requirements.

The objective of EV charging regulations.

In 2021, the government brought forward the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles from 2040 to 2030.

In line with that initiative, and to encourage its swift uptake, the new charging infrastructure must develop everywhere we park our cars slightly ahead of organic demand from drivers.

The government has said that it may make some direct investments to help seed the market in respect of that demand, and to address any ongoing/potential areas of market failure. 

The government’s view is that most charging infrastructure will be privately funded. To encourage this they plan to use the new Building Regulations to ensure adequate charging infrastructure is provided in developments with suitable parking.

For more information on these changes visit gov.uk here.