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Hi all
We have a new owner moving into our 38 unit complex in NSW and they have a Tesla. Our unit complex is approximately 15 years old
We assume they will want to charge the EV from time to time when parked in their car space.
We do not have a bylaw in place for EV charging nor do we have a bylaw for using electricity in the owner car space.
Most car spaces have a power point [ standard 10amp] and electricity used [like for opening owner garage doors, there is a caravan on trickle charge not approved by the OC etc., ] is paid by the owners corp.
Our complex garage is under the building – 3 levels.
Individual lot owners electricity meters are about 30-50 meters away from each car space.
We are currently reviewing & updating our bylaws but a 6 – 8 months away to presenting a draft of Bylaws to the OC for review / feedback then a vote by OC a few months later.
We realise we may have to upgrade the power leads 15amp [? ] from the Electricity meter room to each car space and to also allow for each owner to be billed for the electricity they use in their car space
From some preliminary research we have heard [ mostly ] the install of the new power leads & connection from the meter room to the car space is paid by the individual lot owner and infrastructure/racking to hold the cable is paid by the OC [if needed] as more than owner will be using racking to hold the power leads from the meter room to their car space
So what options do the new owners have till we get sorted with the bylaw review ? – for instance :
could they put power usage meter on the powerpoint in their car space they use to record : date, time & power used to charge their Tesla and reimburse the OC for the electricity used till the bylaws are passed in 8 months time ?
request an EGM to pass a bylaw for EV charging asap ? if so who would be liable for the cost of calling the EGM & registering the bylaw – the OC or lot owner ?
Something elseIf you have passed a bylaw for your strata for EV charging could you please post your bylaw on this thread – this would be extremely helpful in guiding the SC in drafting a bylaw
thanks in advance
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could they put power usage meter on the powerpoint in their car space they use to record : date, time & power used to charge their Tesla and reimburse the OC for the electricity used till the bylaws are passed in 8 months time ?
Absolutely. And make sure they know that you can seal off the power supply if they just try to “steal” the electricity. There’s a lot of info about EV charging here on the website so have a look around.
And think about contacting our strata law sponsors who will be able to offer you an off-the-peg by-law that may be more reliable than a second-hand one for a different building.
The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers.
15 amp outlets are supposed to be on their own circuits, so you’ll have to run cables to each outlet anyway. I’d upgrade to 32 amp, it’s not much more expensive to install and you can use either the standard 10/15 amp chargers or faster 32 amp chargers.
Sorry Jimmy and Charger
only a registered energy provider can charge for electricity. So the OC cant put an electricty meter on a power point and charge a lot owner.
Also how do they know it was that lot owner who used the electricty. etc etc
Until an EV charging system is installed you have to consider the situation as this.
In many older building, the water is metered at the incoming point to the building. Each lot is not metered. The OC pays the water bill for the building and recovers the cost of water usage through the levies.
No different if its electricity.
A standard power point will be adequate to for level 1/ mode 2 chargers which allows overnight charging of vehicles.
Any other systems will require an augmented supply. In this case, a whole of strata approach should be taken as its likely in the future more users will want this capability.
… only a registered energy provider can charge for electricity. So the OC cant put an electricty meter on a power point and charge a lot owner…
I think this only applies when supplying ‘premises’ eg. residential units. The Australia Energy Regulator has strict requirements for supplying premises. They are much more relaxed about supplying vehicles. The rationale is that premises need more consumer protections than vehicles because only the latter have the option to go elsewhere if they don’t like the deal.
only a registered energy provider can charge for electricity. So the OC cant put an electricty meter on a power point and charge a lot owner.
Not so. Reading the Australian Energy Regulator’s information on exempt networks, owners corporations are deemed exempt from those legal provisions, both generally and specifically for EV charging, provided they are not adding a surcharge to the costs.
Also how do they know it was that lot owner who used the electricty. etc etc
At a very basic level, you can have a padlock on the powerpoint. It’s not rocket science.
Until an EV charging system is installed you have to consider the situation as this.
No, you really don’t. We need to stop placing imaginary obstacles in the way of providing clean energy for current and future car owners. One minute it’s exploding batteries, the next it’s non-existent regulations. You should read what horse and carriage owners used to say about cars when they first became popular.
No different if its electricity.
If electricity supply is no different from water, that kind of blows your whole argument out of the … um … water. But it is different and it has different regulations and they allow owners corps to charge costs of individuals’ use of OC power, provided the OC isn’t making a profit on the electricity that’s on-sold.
Any other systems will require an augmented supply. In this case, a whole of strata approach should be taken as its likely in the future more users will want this capability.
Many schemes, particulary small ones, are taking an incremental approach to this.
Stage one: let owners use overnight charging or install their own charging system at their own expense, with metered costs charged back to the car owner.
Stage two: If there is enough demand, install the infrastructure for a supply and charging system.
Stage three: If prospective demand is high enough, explore the possibilites of an embedded network which includes supply, distribution and charging.
The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers.
Also, Owners Corporations in NSW should look out for announcement of an EV charging grant scheme that is under development at the moment. Late last year there was a consultation program between the NSW government department developing the program and representatives of various interested bodies. The general thrust of it was that the government wanted to assist in the creation of a collection of demonstration projects that would cover a representative range of building types, sizes, locations etc.
Our block of 21 units has an individual lighting circuit to each parking bay, which is connected to a separate 20A breaker for each unit on the sub-boards. Initially there was just a switch for the lights, but some units have had power points installed.
Perhaps the OP needs to get the main board checked to see if those power points are on a CP circuit, or individual units’ circuits.
Our block of 21 units has an individual lighting circuit to each parking bay, which is connected to a separate 20A breaker for each unit on the sub-boards. Initially there was just a switch for the lights, but some units have had power points installed.
Absolutely ideal situation to be in!
Lights in each parking bay would take almost nothing. A 15A socket would allow charging with the 10Amp portable EVSE charge cord that is supplied with most electric cars or can be purchased for a few hundred dollars. 15A charging, 50% faster, with a socket and 15A portable charge cord or a hard-wired unit set to a 15A limit is possible and they also don’t cost much. By limiting charging to 15A max. the building is unlikely to experience over-load problems and there might be that much new spare capacity anyway if people have replaced resistance heaters with heat pumps and got other more efficient electric devices.
Residents could be informed about options for time of use or other tariff structures that would provide a financial incentive to avoid charging on the evening peak.
The Owners Corporation has no administrative burden billing for charging from the common property supply.
Residents can proceed to getting an EV when it suits them rather than some being held back while others are not yet ready.
Perhaps all that is needed is a resolution to approve charging at up to 15A from each unit’s individual supply with the addition of a 15A socket or a wall-mounted EVSE outlet limited to 15A in each unit’s parking space with all repair and maintenance the responsibility of the relevant unit owner.
So what options do the new owners have till we get sorted with the bylaw review ?
An electrician could inspect the power point circuit in the parking area. They might find that the circuit has cabling and a circuit breaker sufficient for 10A to be drawn simultaneously from some fraction of the power sockets. So, the OC would know how many EVs could be accommodated in a short term, ad hoc solution before something more permanent was needed. 10A charging from an ordinary portable charge cord in an ordinary wall socket is adequate and very much better than having no charging at home.
An electrician could put a simple kWh counter in line with each outlet that is to be used by each of the first several EV owners at their (minor) cost. This would enable the OC to be reimbursed for the electricity cost. The approval of this should make it clear that permission for all this may be rescinded at any time and is only granted until EV numbers increase to the point that a better, long-term solution is needed and has been researched, funded and installed.
Charging of any vehicle, cars or scooters, when left for a long time and unattended seems to be a real fire issue. I wonder if location of any charging point should then be considered – not near flammables, easy access for fire brigade to get water and service to, and if in a garage (which most new places do not have) not surrounded by all sorts of junk. Billing for an owner’s with an in-garage power-point most often is not linked to the common property account but you’d need check that for sure.
As a temporary solution, the Owners Corporation could ask the EV owner to purchase at their own expense a plug-in electricity meter ($25 from bunnings) and sign an End-user agreement to manually re-imburse the Owners Corporation.
This can be done under s.171 in NSW strata schemes act and doesn’t require a by-law, as there is no change to common property.
An example of this type of agreement is attached.
Regards,
Brent Clark
Wattblock
Perhaps all that is needed is a resolution to approve charging at up to 15A from each unit’s individual supply with the addition of a 15A socket or a wall-mounted EVSE outlet limited to 15A in each unit’s parking space with all repair and maintenance the responsibility of the relevant unit owner.
AS3000 rules say that 15A sockets are supposed to be on their own circuits. So in this situation, you should have a switchboard in each parking space, one breaker for the 15A socket and another breaker for everything else.
Perhaps all that is needed is a resolution to approve charging at up to 15A from each unit’s individual supply with the addition of a 15A socket or a wall-mounted EVSE outlet limited to 15A in each unit’s parking space with all repair and maintenance the responsibility of the relevant unit owner.
AS3000 rules say that 15A sockets are supposed to be on their own circuits. So in this situation, you should have a switchboard in each parking space, one breaker for the 15A socket and another breaker for everything else.
Not hard to include two breakers when splitting the 20A supply between a 15A socket (or hard-wired EVSE set to 15A) and the lights.
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