Guide
An installer checks your supply, runs a dedicated cable from your consumer unit, fits the charger, notifies your network operator and hands you certificates. Most homes need no work on the incoming supply. The main thing people are surprised by is how much the price depends on the distance the cable has to travel.
Before anyone visits
Several of these are conditions of getting a grant, not just good practice.
Installation is a straightforward job for a competent electrician, but the steps before it are where projects go wrong. In particular, doing the work in the wrong order can make you ineligible for money that would otherwise have paid part of it.
A few other things to settle first. If you rent your home, you need written permission from your landlord, freeholder or property manager, and you will usually need to provide it as part of a grant application. If you live in a flat, the permissions can involve more than one party, so allow time.
Decide where the charger will go, roughly, and where the car will sit. Both matter for the price and both are hard to change afterwards. Finally, get more than one quote, and check that the installer is authorised if you intend to claim a grant.
What is involved
Here is roughly how a straightforward home installation runs. The order matters because the survey sets the price and the price commits you.
01
Before
If you rent, you need written permission from your landlord or freeholder. If you intend to claim a government grant, you must apply and be confirmed eligible before any work starts. Get quotes from authorised installers, not just the cheapest.
02
The survey
Usually remotely, sometimes on site. They establish whether your consumer unit can take a new circuit, how the supply is arranged, how much demand the property already has, and how the cable would reach the car. This is where the price becomes real.
03
The work
The charger is wired back to your consumer unit, the box with the fuses, on a circuit of its own rather than sharing an existing one. Protective devices are fitted, the cable is run and terminated, and the unit is mounted where you agreed.
04
The paperwork
An electrical installation certificate for the work, a certificate covering building regulations, and written confirmation that the network operator has been notified. Keep all of them; they matter for your home and for selling it.
05
After
If you are claiming a grant, the authorised installer submits the claim and the money is paid to them, reducing the amount you owe. You should see the reduced figure on your invoice.
A home chargepoint draws a large current for a long time. Sharing a circuit with something else would mean both are affected when that circuit is loaded, and the protective devices would be selected for a load that never actually occurs. A dedicated circuit from the consumer unit avoids that, and it is why installation involves your fuse box rather than just the wall where the charger goes.
The company that brings electricity to your property is called your distribution network operator, or DNO. Adding a chargepoint is a change to what your connection draws, and these changes are notified. Guidance from OZEV describes two routes: an installer can install and then notify the DNO within 28 days, or they must apply to the DNO before installing, depending on the size of the equipment and what is already connected at the property.
Which route applies is decided by the installer as part of the survey. It is also your responsibility to make sure the DNO has been notified, so ask for written confirmation that it has been. OZEV requires authorised installers to notify the DNO in writing, and failure to do so can put their authorisation at risk.
Paperwork
Ask for these before the installer leaves. They are not optional extras.
Several documents come out of a compliant installation. You should expect all of them, and if something is missing, ask before paying.
Installation also has to comply with recognised standards, which OZEV lists for grant purposes: BS EN 61851, the IET wiring regulations BS 7671, the IET code of practice for electric vehicle charging equipment installations, and the Electricity Safety, Quality and Continuity Regulations, alongside the relevant building regulations. You do not need to know these, but it is reasonable to ask whether the work is being done to the current standards and which edition.
What changes the price
Almost all of the difference comes from the property, not the product.
The charger itself is the smaller half of most invoices. These are the things that move the number, and they are worth asking about in every quote.
Distance
Cable length is the single biggest variable cost in most quotes. A long run from the consumer unit to the far side of a driveway needs more cable, more labour, and possibly different protective devices. A post-mounted unit partway along the route can cost less than one at the house wall.
Groundwork
A cable crossing a lawn or a driveway needs to be buried properly, which adds excavation, reinstatement and possibly a notice to the network operator if the route crosses or runs near their equipment. Ask whether the quote includes reinstatement.
The consumer unit
Some installs need an extra protective device, and some need the consumer unit itself replaced or upgraded. A survey should establish this, but a quote that does not mention it is worth questioning.
Earthing
The earthing arrangement at the property affects what protective equipment the circuit needs. This is a technical detail, but it is one of the reasons two quotes for the same charger can differ.
Which installer
An installer registered with a competent person scheme can usually certify the work themselves. One that is not has to submit a building notice to the local authority, which adds a step and can add cost and delay.
This is also why a site survey is worth having before you commit. The same charger can differ in cost substantially between two homes that look identical from the outside.
What this means for you
If you are applying for a grant, get eligibility approval first. Then get more than one itemised quote and read the survey findings before agreeing to a price.
If you have not chosen a charger yet, how to choose a home EV charger sets out the sequence that avoids paying for speed you cannot use. The connector is rarely the deciding factor, which is explained in what a Type 2 connector is.
Further reading
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