EV charging compliance for car-park operators
Four overlapping regimes govern EV charging in a car park: consumer-facing operating law, building regulations, planning, and electrical/grid/fire standards. Here's what each one actually requires — a checklist the ranking operator pages skip.
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If your chargers are public, the Public Charge Point Regulations 2023 require pence-per-kWh pricing up front and — since November 2024 — contactless on new 8kW+ units, a free 24/7 helpline, open data and 99% reliability on rapid networks. New or majorly-renovated car parks fall under Building Regs Part S (over 10 spaces → at least one chargepoint plus cable routes for one in five). Most chargers are permitted development; accessible bays follow PAS 1899:2022; import chargers use the DNO demand-connection process (not G99); and covered car parks follow interim fire guidance with a competent fire risk assessment. Private, staff-only bays are exempt from the public-charger rules.
The Public Charge Point Regulations 2023 (PCPR / 'PFAR')
the consumer-facing operating law for PUBLIC charge points (a chargepoint the public can access), made as SI 2023/1168, in force 24 November 2023. It does not apply to genuinely private/workplace-only bays.
Pricing: the maximum price must be shown clearly before the session in a single, comparable metric — pence per kWh — from 24 November 2023.
From 24 Nov 2024: a phased tranche took effect 24 November 2024: contactless payment at every new public charger of 8kW and above (and existing chargers of 50kW and above); a free-to-use, staffed 24/7 helpline displayed on site; near-real-time open data on location, availability and price; and a 99% average reliability standard across an operator's rapid (50kW+) network, measured per calendar year.
Roaming: payment roaming via at least one third-party provider from 24 November 2025 (free-to-use points excluded).
Enforcement: enforced by the Office for Product Safety & Standards on behalf of OZEV; operators can face civil penalties for non-compliance.
Building Regulations Approved Document S — Infrastructure for charging electric vehicles (England)
in force 15 June 2022. New non-residential buildings, and major renovations, with more than 10 parking spaces must have at least one chargepoint plus cable routes (ducting) for one in five (a minimum of 20%) of the remaining spaces.
Residential: new dwellings with an associated parking space get one chargepoint each; where a residential building has more than 10 spaces, cable routes are required to all of them.
Cost exemption: a per-chargepoint exemption applies where the connection cost would exceed £3,600 per chargepoint.
Why it matters: for any car park being built or materially altered, Part S is the trigger to design in passive provision (ducting/capacity) now so phase-2 chargers can be added later without re-digging — the phasing question generalists skip.
Planning & permitted development (GPDO, England)
Upstands: a free-standing charge-point upstand in off-street parking is permitted development up to 2.7m from the parking surface (raised from 2.3m by the GPDO (England) (Amendment) Order 2025, in force 29 May 2025), or 1.6m within the curtilage of a dwellinghouse or block of flats.
Wall outlets: a wall-mounted charge-point outlet is permitted development where the outlet and its casing do not exceed 0.2 cubic metres — it is limited by volume, NOT height.
Equipment housing: one associated equipment-housing cabinet is permitted (max 29 cubic metres, max 3m high, at least 5m from a highway and 10m from any dwelling/flats curtilage). Above these limits, a full planning application is needed.
PAS 1899:2022 — accessible EV charging
the BSI specification (co-sponsored by OZEV and the Motability Foundation) for accessible public chargepoints: interface/screen height 800-1300mm and socket 800-950mm from the ground, a free cable length of 7.5m or less when not in use, and adequate bay dimensions and spacing.
Why it matters: increasingly expected in public and local-authority procurement; designing at least a proportion of bays to PAS 1899 is a credibility and tender-eligibility win.
Grid connection (DNO)
import-only EV chargers connect via the DNO's demand-connection/notification process (the ENA 'Connecting EVs and Heat Pumps' route under the DCUSA) — notify-after for smaller installs, apply-before for larger ones or where the network can't accommodate. This is NOT G99; G99/G98 govern generation/export (solar, battery, V2G).
Reinforcement: no wider-network reinforcement charge since 1 April 2023; DNOs can offer flexible/managed connections with dynamic load management instead of a full upgrade.
Fire safety & installation standards (covered/underground car parks)
the Government's interim fire-safety guidance for EVs in covered car parks (July 2023) recommends a competent fire risk assessment and notes sprinklers are effective at controlling fire development. Installations must comply with BS 7671:2018+A2:2022 (18th Edition, Section 722) and the IET Code of Practice for EV Charging Equipment Installation, 5th Edition (2023).
Why it matters: multi-storey and underground sites are an anxiety-heavy segment — ventilation, structural loading and charger siting near exits are real design questions generalist installers gloss over.