EV Charger Installation for New Build Homes: A Guide for Developers

From June 2022, all new build homes and buildings in England became legally required to have electric car charging points, whether residential or commercial, as part of the Part S building regulations. All new builds have to have electric car charging points installed on the property but only if they have an associated parking space. For developers, this is no longer a value-add feature or a planning negotiation; it is a mandatory compliance requirement, and Building Control must check for Part S compliance before issuing a Completion Certificate. 

This guide covers exactly what Part S requires from developers, what the compliance options are, how EV charger installation interacts with VAT and the zero-rating for new dwellings, how to choose the right installer for a development project, and what gets checked at Completion Certificate stage.

What Part S Actually Requires

The Part S Building Regulations state that all new build properties with associated parking need an EV charger, whether residential or non-residential, as well as properties undergoing major renovation. Under the new EV charging requirements, it’s important to note that the requirements are different for differing property types. 

Residential new builds the specific requirement

Every new dwelling with an associated parking space must be provided with a 7kW EV charger or EV-ready infrastructure. Under Standard 7.2 (Sustainability), every new home with a parking space must be provided with an EV charging socket.  

The requirement breaks down as follows:

• Dwellings with private parking: A 7kW smart charger must be installed at the property
• Dwellings with associated communal parking (flats with allocated spaces): A 7kW charger per allocated space, or cable management and electrical capacity enabling future installation

The “associated parking” definition matters. A parking space is associated with a dwelling if it is dedicated to that dwelling whether a private driveway, an integral garage, or an allocated space in a communal car park. Visitor parking and non-allocated communal spaces are not captured by the per-dwelling requirement.

What “EV-ready” means vs. a full installation

Some developments are completed with “EV-ready” or “cable-ready” infrastructure rather than a fully operational charger. This means the electrical capacity and ducting are in place for a charger to be added without major additional work but the charger itself is not installed. Whether this satisfies Part S depends on the specific circumstances; in most cases, the requirement is for an operational charge point, not infrastructure alone. Developers should confirm with their Building Control body what will and will not be accepted at the Completion Certificate stage.

Commercial new builds and major renovations

The inclusion of EV charging infrastructure at new build properties creates benefits for both property developers and future and pre-existing residents. For commercial buildings/offices, retail, leisure the requirement applies where the building has associated parking, with a specified ratio of charge points to parking spaces. Major renovation projects that affect the building structure also trigger Part S requirements. Commercial developers should obtain specific guidance from their Building Control body on the number of charge points required for their specific development type. 

Scotland and Wales

Under Standard 7.2 (Sustainability), every new home with a parking space must be provided with an EV charging socket. Scotland includes a cost-cap clause: if the cost of the grid connection exceeds £2,000, the developer may instead install enabling infrastructure (ducting), though this exception rarely applies to standard residential developments. Wales implemented its own version of Approved Document S under the Building Regulations 2010 (as amended), effective from March 2023. The requirements largely mirror the English standards, mandating a 7kW charge point for every new dwelling with a parking space. As of early 2026, Northern Ireland has not yet mandated EV chargers in its building regulations.  

Why Installation During Construction Is Significantly Cheaper Than Retrofit

Installing new electric car chargers during the construction phase can be more cost-effective than retrofitting later.

For new builds, developers specify modern RCBO-protected consumer units from the start, making EV integration straightforward. For retrofits, you’re explaining to a homeowner why their £1,000 charger install requires a £600 consumer unit upgrade first. 

The cost advantage of new build installation is significant and comes from several sources:

Electrical infrastructure is planned from the outset. New build consumer units are specified to accommodate EV charging circuits as standard. There are no existing consumer unit upgrades, no retrospective RCD upgrades, and no cable runs through finished walls or under completed surfaces.

Cable runs are installed before finishes. Running cables from the distribution board to external charge point positions is straightforward during constructionconduit is laid before plasterwork, before groundworks are complete, and before driveways are surfaced. The same cable run retrofitted into a completed property requires core drilling, surface mounting, or trunking across finished surfaces.

DNO coordination happens once. A development with 50 dwellings can have a single coordinated DNO notification and grid assessment rather than 50 separate applications. Your OZEV-authorised installer should handle DNO notification as part of the installation. 

Volume pricing. A developer commissioning 20, 50, or 200 charger installations with a single specialist contractor benefits from bulk pricing on both hardware and labour that individual homeowners cannot access.

The cost saving of installing during construction rather than after is typically 30 to 50% per unita material consideration when multiplied across the units in a development.

Smart Charger RequirementsWhat Part S Chargers Must Be

All new domestic and workplace EV chargers in Great Britain must be smart chargers under the Electric Vehicles (Smart Charge Points) Regulations 2021, in force since June 2022. 

A smart charger is not simply a charger with an app. To meet the Smart Charge Points Regulations 2021, every installed unit must be capable of:

• Default off-peak scheduling automatically avoiding charging during peak demand windows unless overridden by the user
• Demand-side response responding to time-of-use signals without user intervention
• Randomised start delays preventing simultaneous demand spikes from multiple chargers activating at the same time
• Secure remote communication via Wi-Fi or mobile data using open standards

Any grant application would be rejected, and the installation would not meet the legal standard for notifiable electrical work if a non-smart charger is installed. For developers, this means specifying smart-compliant charger hardware is not optionalit is the minimum standard for Part S compliance. 

Technical Standards That Apply

Every EV charger installation on a new build development must comply with:

BS 7671:2018+A4:2026Section 722: A4:2026 was issued 15 April 2026 and replaced A2:2022+A3:2024 from 15 October 2026. Section 722 governs EV charging installations specifically covering RCD protection, isolation requirements, cable sizing, and earthing. For new build installations, the consumer unit specification should be designed from the outset to meet Section 722 requirements. 

Part P Building Regulations: EV charger installation is notifiable electrical work. All charger installations must be carried out by a Part P registered installerNICEIC or NAPIT registered who self-certifies the work. Building Control will require Part P certification before issuing Completion Certificates.

The Electric Vehicles (Smart Charge Points) Regulations 2021: As described above all installed chargers must be smart-compliant.

PAS 1899:2022: The British Standard for EV smart charging, setting out interoperability, smart functionality, and communication protocol requirements.

Regulation 722.311.201Load curtailment (A4:2026)load curtailment, including automatic or manual load reduction or disconnection, may be taken into account when determining the maximum demand of the installation or part thereof. This is the regulatory basis for dynamic load management systems on multi-charger commercial or fleet sites, allowing the supply to be sized for managed simultaneous demand rather than worst-case peak load. For developments with multiple chargers, this regulation enables load management design that avoids the need to size the incoming grid supply for full simultaneous demand significant infrastructure cost saving on larger developments. 

VAT on New Build EV Charger Installation

This is one of the most significant financial considerations for developers and is frequently underestimated.

EV charging points installed by house builders as part of constructing a new dwelling are zero-rated for VAT as “builders’ materials.” This means no VAT is charged on the supply and installation of charge points in new residential dwellings during construction. The zero-rating applies as part of the broader zero-rating for new dwelling construction; it does not apply to chargers retrofitted after the dwelling is completed, which are subject to standard 20% VAT.

For a developer installing 50 chargers at an average installed cost of £600 each (£30,000 total), the zero-rating represents a £6,000 saving compared to the equivalent retrofit scenario. Multiplied across a larger development, the VAT treatment of new build EV installation is a material cost consideration.

Developers working with VAT-registered contractors should ensure the VAT treatment is correctly reflected in purchase invoices and discuss the zero-rating position with their tax adviser for confirmation in the context of their specific development structure. See our VAT on EV charger installation guide for the full rules on VAT across different installation scenarios.

What Building Control Checks at Completion Stage

Building Control must check for Part S or Part T compliance before issuing a Completion Certificate.  

In practice, Building Control officers assessing Part S compliance at Completion stage will look for:

• An operational, smart-compliant 7kW charge point at every dwelling with associated parking
• Part P certification confirming the electrical installation was carried out by a registered competent person
• Evidence that the charger is smart-compliant and meets the Electric Vehicles (Smart Charge Points) Regulations 2021
• Where communal parking is involved, confirmation that cable management and electrical capacity meet the relevant specification

Developers who have completed build without Part S compliance face Completion Certificate delay and potential enforcement action. Retrospective installation to satisfy Part S after the fact is significantly more expensive than installation during construction.

Choosing the Right Installer for a Development

Developers build 180,000+ homes annually in England. Most have parking. That’s 180,000 mandatory EV charging installations every year, plus commercial properties, major renovations, and retrofit demand from existing homeowners.

At development scale, the choice of installer carries more weight than for a single domestic installation. The checklist for selecting an EV charger installer for a new build development:

OZEV-approved installer status: Planning permission is no longer required for most home and workplace EV charger installations (from May 2025). However, OZEV-approval remains relevant for developments that include affordable or rented housing where resident-level grant eligibility may apply, and for Workplace Charging Scheme applications on commercial elements. 

NICEIC or NAPIT registration: Required for Part P self-certification across all installations. Without this, each installation requires separate Building Control notification adding time and cost at scale.

Demonstrated development-scale experience: A domestic installer who has fitted 200 single-home chargers is a different proposition from one who has delivered multi-unit development projects with coordinated DNO notification, bulk ordering, and Completion Certificate documentation management. Ask specifically for development-scale references.

DNO coordination capability: A single development-wide DNO notification and grid assessment is significantly more efficient than managing individual notifications per unit. Confirm the installer can handle this as part of the project rather than requiring it to be managed separately.

Documentation management at scale: Every unit requires Part P certification and smart charger compliance documentation for Building Control. A development-scale installer has systems for producing and managing this documentation across multiple units rather than handling it ad-hoc.

Hardware specification and supply: Developers typically specify a single charger brand across a development for consistency, ease of resident support, and procurement simplicity. The installer should be able to supply and install the specified brand or advise on appropriate alternatives, not substitute hardware based on what they happen to have in stock.

EV Install Pro works with residential and commercial developers across London, Surrey, Kent, Essex, Hertfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East and West Sussex, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, and North Yorkshire. Contact us to discuss your development and arrange a site-level assessment.

Options for Flat Developments and Communal Parking

Flat developments with communal or underground parking require a different approach to the straightforward detached house with a private driveway.

Does Part S apply to flats with underground parking? Yes, if the parking is “associated” with the building (allocated to specific flats).  

For developments where parking spaces are allocated to specific flats, the requirement is typically a charge point per allocated space, or cable management and electrical infrastructure that enables future installation without major additional work. For communal parking areas that are not allocated to specific dwellings, the requirement differs to confirm the specific position with your Building Control body.

The infrastructure design for flat and communal parking installations typically involves:

A distribution board in or near the car parka dedicated sub-distribution board feeding the EV charging circuits rather than running individual circuits from the main incoming supply for each charger.

Load management system for a block with 20 allocated spaces, installing 20 simultaneously operational 7kW chargers without any load management would require 140kW of simultaneous capacity. A dynamic load management system distributes available capacity intelligently across active chargers, allowing the development to be served by a grid connection sized for managed demand rather than worst-case simultaneous full load. This is the practical application of Regulation 722.311.201 described above and produces infrastructure cost savings that are significant at development scale. 

DNO application for the communal installation a communal multi-charger installation is a G99 application in most cases, requiring formal DNO assessment. This can take four to eight weeks and should be factored into the construction programme.

Planning and Programming: Lead Times to Account For

Developers who leave EV charger installation to the end of the construction programme consistently encounter the same problems: DNO applications that have not been submitted, documentation that is incomplete at Completion Certificate stage, and rushed installations that produce quality issues under time pressure.

The timeline that avoids these problems:

At design stage: Specify the charger hardware, confirm the DNO notification route (G98 or G99), and design the electrical infrastructure/consumer unit specification, cable routes, sub-distribution board for communal installations into the build programme. RCBO-protected consumer units designed for EV should be specified from the outset.

Before groundworks and first-fix electrical: Submit the DNO notification. G98 notifications are typically straightforward; G99 applications for higher-capacity communal installations can take four to eight weeks. Submitting at this stage ensures the DNO process is complete before installation is needed.

At second-fix electrical: Install the EV charger circuits and, where the charger can be installed before external finishes, the chargers themselves. Integrating EV circuit installation into the second-fix electrical programme is more efficient than treating it as a separate later programme.

Before Completion Certificate application: Confirm that all Part P certifications and smart charger compliance documentation are complete for every unit. Building Control will require this at Completion stage.

What Happens if Part S Is Not Complied With

Non-compliance with Part S is not a minor regulatory oversight. Building Control must check for Part S or Part T compliance before issuing a Completion Certificate.  

Without a Completion Certificate, the development cannot legally be occupied or sold. The practical consequences of Part S non-compliance at Completion stage are:

• Completion Certificate refused the development cannot be occupied
• Retrofit installation required at significantly higher cost than installation during construction
• Programme delay the time required to install, certify, and re-present for Building Control approval
• Potential NHBC warranty implications depending on how non-compliance is characterised and how it is remedied

The straightforward prevention is treating EV charger installation as an integral part of the construction programme designed in at the outset, installed at the right construction stage, and documented for Completion Certificate before that stage is reached.

Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

Are EV chargers mandatory on new build homes in the UK?

In England, Part S of the Building Regulations requires new residential buildings with associated parking to have electric vehicle chargepoint provision, subject to the regulations and applicable exemptions. Similar requirements apply in Wales and Scotland, while Northern Ireland has different rules. Developers should check the requirements that apply to the specific development and location.

What type of EV charger is required for Part S compliance?

Where a chargepoint is required under Part S, the installation needs to meet the relevant technical and smart-charging requirements. For standard residential installations, a 7kW smart chargepoint is commonly used, with features such as off-peak scheduling, demand-side response, randomised delay and secure communications required under the applicable smart charging regulations.

Does Part S apply to flats and communal parking?

It can. Part S applies differently depending on whether parking is associated with the building and whether spaces are allocated to individual dwellings or shared communally. For flats and developments with communal parking, developers should confirm the specific requirements with Building Control for the project.

Is VAT zero-rated on EV charger installation in new build homes?

EV charging points installed as part of the construction of qualifying new residential dwellings can benefit from the applicable zero-rated VAT rules. The treatment can differ for retrofits and other types of property or installation, so developers should check the circumstances of their project. For more detail, see our VAT guide.

What happens if EV chargers are not installed before the Completion Certificate?

If EV charging requirements apply to the development, the developer will need to provide the relevant evidence of compliance to Building Control. Failing to meet the applicable requirements can delay sign-off and create additional work before completion. Installing the required infrastructure during construction is generally more straightforward and cost-effective than retrofitting it later.

Can developers choose any EV charger brand for Part S compliance?

Generally, yes, provided the chosen chargepoint meets the applicable Part S and smart-charging requirements. Developers may choose a suitable manufacturer based on factors such as cost, availability, warranty, connectivity, load management and ongoing support. The brand itself does not determine compliance.

Do EV charger installations on new builds need DNO notification?

Depending on the installation and connection arrangement, the Distribution Network Operator (DNO) may need to be notified or consulted. G98 notification is commonly used for qualifying standard installations, while larger or more complex connections may require a G99 application. Developers should allow sufficient time for any DNO process as part of the project programme.

What installer qualifications are required for Part S EV charger installations?

EV charger installation work should be carried out by a suitably qualified and competent electrical installer who can meet the applicable Building Regulations and electrical safety requirements. In England and Wales, a Part P registered installer can generally self-certify relevant notifiable domestic electrical work, while alternative notification arrangements may apply. NICEIC and NAPIT are examples of competent person schemes. Additional scheme requirements may apply where grants or specific funding are involved.

Speak to EV Install Pro About Your Development

EV Install Pro is OZEV-approved and NICEIC-registered, with experience delivering EV charger installations at residential and commercial development scale. We handle DNO notification, Part P certification, smart charger compliance documentation, and Completion Certificate support as part of every development project.

We work with developers across London, Surrey, Kent, Essex, Hertfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East and West Sussex, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, and North Yorkshire.

For a full breakdown of commercial EV charger installation options including communal and flat development solutions, see our commercial installation guide. For information on grants available to residents and businesses within your development, see our EV charger grants guide. For the full picture on installation costs, see our EV charger installation cost guide.

Contact us to discuss your development, get a site-level assessment, and obtain a project quote.