Charging in strata and office buildings

The Owners Corporation Network of Australia was established to assist strata owners navigate the complexities of strata living, and has created an information portal for their members to access information and resources on EV charging. While based in New South Wales, their resources will be helpful for guiding Western Australian strata Owners Corporations to allow EV charger connections within strata complexes.

The Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety has supported amendments to the National Construction Code (NCC) to include a requirement that new buildings are EV ready. The Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) revised the NCC in 2022 to enable several building classes – including units, offices, shops and other public buildings – to be easily fitted with distributed energy resources equipment, such as electrical distribution boards dedicated to EV charging, to support future EV uptake.

An advisory note on EV charging was published by the ABCB and can be found on their website EV charging – Making it easy. Making it safe. | NCC (abcb.gov.au) which describes the minimum requirements for EV-charging equipment in new buildings.

The Western Australian Building Regulations 2012 have been amended, making these provisions available for voluntary adoption in WA from October 2023, and mandatory application starting 1 May 2025.

Western Power offers information to assist homeowners and electricians connect an EV charger to the network. This covers both single direction and bidirectional chargers that can feed electricity from an EV back into the home or grid.