Doctor sells electric car after EV charging blocked

Mailbox wrote:

… I think it should be legislated that all new apartment blocks should have a power point in each car spaces to charge an EV its the only way to force developers to do this…

You might be interested in the Australian Electric Vehicle Association’s submission on recent draft amendments to the National Construction Code. https://aeva.asn.au/news/national-building-code/

The draft suggested 20% of apartment block spaces be ‘EV ready’. AEVA pointed to many problems that could arise and proposed 100%.

The story about the doctor who was told that he could not install EV charging in his car space raises important issues, and the podcast helps us understand them, but our sympathies for the doctor, and tugs at the heart strings, must be tempered by the legal realties of strata living…

“It says in strata law, that if you want to make a change to common property that is environmentally sustainable, it’s a minor renovation. It does not require a bylaw.”

Hmmm…

It is great that strata law is moving to make EV charging ( & solar pv) easier to get going in a strata building. s132B  of the SSMA provides for these sorts of changes to common property  to be the subject of a Sustainability Infrastructure Resolution that only requires a simple majority to get passed – no longer 75%. And the same applies to any by-law associated with the measure.

(b) to add to the common property, alter the common property or erect a new structure on common property for the purpose of installing sustainability infrastructure,

(c) to change the by-laws of the strata scheme for the purposes of the installation or use (or both) of sustainability infrastructure.

However…

There is nothing here to say that Sustainable Infrastructure Resolutions can somehow by-pass the usual s108 requirements.

The usual processes of s108 to authorise changes to common property still  need to be followed  and sustainability by-laws need the Consent of affected lot owners. s108 even references sustainability infrastructure resolutions.

So where does it say you don’t require a by-law and a general meeting resolution ?

s110 which deals with the approval of Minor Renovations is typically delegated to the Strata Committee and includes at s110 (3) (d)

“installing or replacing wiring or cabling or power or access points”

You would really have to doubt whether this was intended by the legislators to cover anything more than putting in an extra powerpoint or two in an apartment kitchen.

Any view that it somehow includes  EV charging  conflicts with the NSW government recently released Guide to Making your Residential Strata EV Ready which  does not envisage strata committees  providing consent without both by-laws and sustainability infrastructure motions passed at a general meeting of owners

https://www.energysaver.nsw.gov.au/reducing-emissions-nsw/electric-vehicles/electric-vehicle-ready-buildings/making-your-residential-strata-building-ev-ready

If EV charging is approached in a piecemeal fashion, without any strategic planning, the owners corporation’s buildings are going to end up with legacy arrangements that could well conflict with a whole of building approach – that gives full consideration to electrical loads etc.

Enlightened buildings will take the whole of building approach in their planning and in the approvals they give …..from day one.

Back to our doctor….connecting a charger to common property power is very different to extending kitchen power points on your own supply.

John Hutchinson
m: 0418 797470  e: john.hutchinson@strataanswers.com.au

S T R A T A   A N S W E R S  PTY  LTD      practical solutions for strata living
abn 11 600 590 083
http://www.strataanswers.com.au

I think we all want to remove the roadblocks to EV charging and the reality is that EV charging in buildings has to happen in an incremental way, but there has to be some discipline around the way it is done. Not harsh discipline but the sort of discipline that typically is applied to other changes an owner wants to make….

That discipline  comes from having suitable by-laws and those by-laws may  come about from the initiative of the strata committee, a champion or from an individual owner who is a first mover. …Open options.

You can’t bypass obstinacy and ignorance, but there is no  impediment getting EV charging going in a building unless one believes that approval of a by-law by a mere 50% of those attending a meeting is an impediment. Is it really ?

Looking at s108 it is clear that the section applies to Sustainability Infrastructure as much as to other changes to common property, it’s just the size  of majority required that is reduced to make it easier  – the legislators even put a note in there

(1) Procedure for authorising changes to common property ……

(2) Any such action may be taken by the owners corporation or owner only if a special resolution has first been passed by …….

Note : If the special resolution is a sustainability infrastructure resolution fewer votes may be needed to pass it. See section 5(1)(b).

John Hutchinson
m: 0418 797470  e: john.hutchinson@strataanswers.com.au

S T R A T A   A N S W E R S  PTY  LTD      practical solutions for strata living
abn 11 600 590 083
http://www.strataanswers.com.au

I agree with Jimmy’s points regarding charging points for EV’s.

However his analogy to owners subsidising pools/gyms when they don’t use it is IMHO invalid as those owners presumably bought into the complex when those facilities were already there, so they need to pay levies for the facilities as does everyone else.

sleepless in strata wrote:

At the outset it is important to consider what most owners would want for EV charging both now & into the future & aim to set up accordingly…

While that is a noble sentiment, most people might know what they want but don’t know what they really need for charging. They tend to err on the side of caution and think they need much faster charging that most people really do. They also tend to focus on the time it would take to charge from fully discharged to 100% charged, which is rarely ever relevant.

I have been driving electric cars since 2009. I still don’t have a dedicated wall charging unit and doubt that I would bother to get one for a long time. For most of that time since 2009, I have used an ordinary 10A three pin wall socket for charging. An ordinary wall socket can add almost 200km of range overnight, which is far more than most people drive most days.

As car battery capacities get larger, the need for faster charging goes down, not up. If my car is only charged to 50%, I still have well over 200km of local driving range. In fact I limit charging to 80% except when about to do a longer trip out of town. I also rarely discharge below 40% around town. Operating in the 40-80% range is good for the battery and ample for local driving.

The supply capacity of a building is a resource of the owners corporation that should be shared equitably among residents. Therefore, it is important to resist expectations that fast charging rates are needed and understand that slow trickle charging is ample where people live and park their cars for many hours at a time.

Fast charging is for long trips out of town charging en route.

Our strata committee received a request to use a common property power socket to charge a battery for an electric bicycle… The occupier agreed to install an in-line meter for billing purposes and the strata committee was able to approve the minor works.

I bet the cost of installing the meter was more than cost of the electricity that an electric bicycle would consume in a very long time. For such a low level of consumption, I suggest it would have been more reasonable to calculate the likely consumption over a year (A generous calculation might be 10 cents per day x 365), round it up and request a payment that would be certain to more than cover the expense, say $50 for the year.