New Australian law grants apartment owners right to install EV chargers
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The New South Wales parliament passed amendments to the Strata Schemes Management Act to give apartment owners a right to install electric vehicle charging stations.
These changes mean that Strata Committees in New South Wales cannot unreasonably object to an owner's request to install a charger on their specific lot. The law also covers instances where the installation requires modifications to common property within the apartment complex.
The legislation requires owners corporations to select a scalable demand-management solution for the entire building to prevent overloading the power supply. This approach aims to make buildings EV ready by ensuring that individual chargers are integrated into a managed system. The government website states that this typically excludes unmanaged chargers that connect directly to an individual owner's switchboard. To prevent obstruction, the new rules invalidate any existing building by-laws that unfairly block the installation of charging stations.
The law also sets maximum time limits for committees to respond to requests. While owners or tenants usually pay for their own chargers, the owners corporation retains the right to develop a charging strategy to address safety and infrastructure needs. The NSW government provided a 5-step process and various templates to help communities transition to EV ready status.
