WA: Q&A Getting Ready for EV Charging in a Perth Apartment Building

These Q&A are about electrical repairs and access to common property electricity in WA strata buildings. We also discuss the decision making process for getting ready for EV charging in a Perth apartment building.

Table of Contents:

• QUESTION: Our strata plan is interested in conducting an initial feasibility study for EV chargers. Who should pay for this when most lot owners are not considering purchasing an EV?
• QUESTION: What studies are available to consider the most economical plan for gradually introducing charging stations within a large strata complex?
• QUESTION: Our apartment has an EV charging station compatible with Tesla EVs. My tenant has a hybrid car, and they have been charging their car via our storeroom powerpoint. I was served a breach notice. Am I in breach?
• QUESTION: Before installing EV charging stations at our scheme, do you have a list of items we should consider regarding the behaviour of residents and the safe use of EV chargers?
• QUESTION: How do you control access to EV charging stations? How do you ensure residents don’t leave their cars in the charging space for an extended period of time?
• QUESTION: As a small complex of 16 lots in WA, should we be thinking about EV charging and adding this into our reserve fund now?
• ARTICLE: Council of Owner’s Decision Making Process: Getting Ready for EV Charging in a Perth Apartment Building
• QUESTION: More and more of our owners and residents are using power from the common areas. Is this use of power considered acceptable, as it is paid for by all of the owners through strata fees?
• QUESTION: Within the main switchboard, a cable behind my fuse has blown out completely. Is there a resource that will help me identify if this is the strata’s responsibility or mine?
• QUESTION: Under what circumstances is it appropriate for a nonqualified person to carry out any type of repair of electrical infrastructure on common property or an individual lot?

Question: Our strata plan is interested in conducting an initial feasibility study for EV chargers. Who should pay for this when most lot owners are not considering purchasing an EV?

Answer: It is recommended the scheme consider paying for the feasibility.

It is recommended the scheme consider paying for the feasibility for the following primary reasons:

1. An EVC Feasibility is also a risk mitigation strategy to prevent disparate, unplanned EV charging approach by individuals.
   
   1. Electrical capacity, safety & fire mitigation & planning.
   2. Preventing EV charging attributable to common areas, hence common energy costs borne by the scheme.

2. Income generation: The scheme has the option and opportunity to generate an ongoing income stream from on-selling the electricity for EV charging.

Damien Moran
Energy-Tec
E: [email protected]
P: 08 9382 7700

This post appears in the November 2023 edition of The WA Strata Magazine.

Question: What studies are available to consider the most economical plan for gradually introducing charging stations within a large strata complex?

We live in a 124-unit strata complex in WA. Currently, we have no EV charging stations and no EVs. What is the forecast for E vehicles? It may reach 80% of the vehicle market by 2030. However, I’ve also read that vehicle ownership may be less than 80% due to the economical option to hire EVs. Are these forecasts accurate?

What studies are available to consider the most economical plan for gradually introducing charging stations within a large strata complex? Can a few visitor bays be nominated initially and progressively increased from 5 to 10 spots before providing each car bay with a charging station, which would appear to be overkill?

At what stage are power circuits likely to require upgrading? Will the provision of charging stations need consideration and upgrading of strata insurance for the additional fire risk?

Answer: You should undertake a capacity review and EVC feasibility study of your site.

A modest Australian EV uptake is estimated to be (49%) of total vehicle purchases by 2030.
Concerning vehicle ownership trends, we are not in a position to comment.

Energy-Tec undertakes EVC Feasibility Studies to identify the solutions and options specific to a scheme by working through a generic framework (infrastructure, car park layout/type, ownership structure, etc.).

Available electrical capacity would need to be ascertained at your specific site. You should undertake a capacity review and EVC feasibility study of your site.
You should advise your insurer of the additional electrical assets/equipment and an updated/amended fire plan to make provisions for EVC assets.

Damien Moran
Energy-Tec
E: [email protected]
P: 08 9382 7700

This post appears in the September 2023 edition of The WA Strata Magazine.

Question: Our apartment has an EV charging station compatible with Tesla EVs. My tenant has a hybrid car, and they have been charging their car via our storeroom powerpoint. I was served a breach notice. Am I in breach?

I own and rent out an apartment in a strata complex in South Perth. The custom charging station within the complex is suitable for a Tesla but is not compatible with hybrid cars. My tenant is trying to charge their plug-in EV hybrid.

Without prior notification, the Council of owners shut off the power to our lot’s storeroom and my tenant can no longer charge their car.

We have solid proof that the vehicle is not an insurance risk nor a drain on the power as it is a trickle charge that occurs over six hours. It uses a three-prong normal charger.

I was served a notice for breach of by-laws. I have checked the by-laws and do not believe I’m in breach of any. I was cited for insurance risk. I am not an insurance risk. Several attempts to have the power restored have failed.

The Council of owners has not responded. What avenue do we have available to us?

Answer: If no by-laws regulate the charging of EVs, the Council cannot prevent you from using a storeroom powerpoint to charge an EV.

I assume your set-up is a car bay in the basement with a storeroom power connection next to it, and your tenant ran the cable to charge the EV from a powerpoint in the storeroom. You could run the cable over other owners’ or common property if it is covered by a utility service easement.

I infer that the Council disconnected the electricity to the storeroom because it allegedly amounts to a breach of the by-laws and is considered an insurance risk. To answer your question, we need to know what by-law was allegedly breached.

If there is a Tesla custom charging station (not clear from your question) in the strata scheme (‘Scheme’), your Scheme likely has by-laws regulating EV charging. By-laws dealing with EVs will be a recent addition, and you may be looking at an old set of by-laws.

If the Council cited you for a by-law breach, they must send you a breach notice complying with section 47(2)(a) of the Strata Titles Act 1985 (WA) (‘STA’). The notice should specify the by-law you have breached and the facts relied on as evidence of the breach. It seems that you have not received a detailed notice. I suggest contacting the Council and requesting a STA compliant notice to clarify what by-law you have breached and why.

Generally, if no by-laws regulate the charging of EVs, the Council cannot prevent you from using a storeroom powerpoint to charge an EV. If the storeroom power supply is a utility service (electricity) provided to you under section 63(4) of the STA (it seems likely, but we need more information to be sure), the strata company cannot disconnect the supply unless:

1. it amounts to a reasonable exercise of their rights under a utility service easement of which they have the benefit; or
2. it is done in the performance of their function of controlling and managing the common property in the Scheme for the benefit of all owners.

Schemes have restricted electricity capacity and need to control how much is being used. An EV, on average, adds about 32% to the usage component of a household electricity bill. If the number of EV owning occupiers grows, it will significantly impact the Scheme’s electricity usage. If your building’s electricity capacity is under pressure, the Council may be justified in disconnecting the electricity supply in managing the Scheme for the benefit of all owners.

EVs with lithium batteries pose a fire risk, but I doubt whether insurers will charge more or exclude cover for EVs or EV charging stations. Unless the Council has a good motivation (is the tenant’s charging station installation safe?) for alleging that the EV poses an insurance risk, I doubt whether they can disconnect the power based on increased insurance risk.

If you are confident that you are not breaching any by-laws, you can apply to the State Administrative Tribunal (‘SAT’) for an order resolving the electricity supply dispute between you and the Council. Otherwise, I recommend that you speak to a lawyer. A letter from a lawyer may be enough to convince the Council to switch on your power, or if you overlooked something, it could save you from commencing a SAT application that may not succeed.

Eduard Ferreira
Douglas Cheveralls Lawyers
E: [email protected]
P: 08 9380 9288

This post appears in the July 2023 edition of The WA Strata Magazine.

Question: Before installing EV charging stations at our scheme, do you have a list of items we should consider regarding the behaviour of residents and the safe use of EV chargers?

Answer: A properly drafted by-law will help to provide a Governance structure around the implementation of EVCs.

A properly drafted by-law will help to provide a Governance structure around the implementation of EV chargers (EVCs). Here are some of the items you may consider:

• An EV charging station must not be installed in a car bay without the prior written consent of the strata company.
• The strata company may:
  
  • charge a fee to consider a request for consent;
  • require the owner to enter into a license agreement or infrastructure contract with the strata company that may condition any subsequent approval that may be granted;
  • limit the charging capacity of the EV charging station (maximum allowance 15/kw/hr) to help regulate the electricity load management of the scheme;
  • designate where and how the EV charging station must be connected to the scheme’s electricity infrastructure
  • require the EV charging station is metered, ensuring the utility usage can be easily recorded and subsequently on-billed to the occupier. Subsequent charges may include any meter reading and billing costs the strata company may charge or recover in performing this administrative duty;
  • withhold consent if the strata company, acting reasonably, considers the proposed installation of an EV charging station would cause an unreasonable strain on the electricity load capacity of the scheme;
  • prescribe an authorised and qualified provider that may install the EV charging station;
  • prescribe an authorised and qualified provider that may be required to sign off on the works undertaken and warrant the system is correctly installed; and
  • require an occupier to attend an induction before they are permitted to use an EV charging station.
  • The strata company may enter into an agreement with an appropriate authorised service provider in respect of the installation, maintenance and repair of an EV charging station.

We recommend you engage the services of a qualified legal professional to draw up relevant by-laws.

Damien Moran
Energy-Tec
E: [email protected]
P: 08 9382 7700

This post appears in the May 2023 edition of The WA Strata Magazine.

Question: How do you control access to EV charging stations? How do you ensure residents don’t leave their cars in the charging space for an extended period of time?

Answer: It comes back to policing your bylaws and enforcing bylaws.

It really comes back to the management plan and understanding the demand within the scheme. How many owners are looking to buy an electric vehicle? From experience, as soon as the scheme provides for electric vehicle charging, the take up of electric vehicles will increase.

To actually control how long residents park in the charging spaces, it comes back to your bylaws. You need to have bylaws providing the governance structure that limits how long you can park a car in the spaces and how you can get residents to move on. It also comes down to the charger’s capacity and how quickly you can charge a car.

It comes back to policing your bylaws and enforcing bylaws.

Scott Bellerby
B Strata
E: [email protected]
P: 08 9382 7700

This post appears in the May 2023 edition of The WA Strata Magazine.

Question: As a small complex of 16 lots in WA, should we be thinking about EV charging and adding this into our reserve fund now?

With Electric Vehicles on the horizon, should this be something we add to the reserve fund?

How many existing complexes have a Grid Supply that can cater for large number of charging stations? We’re a small complex of 16 Units with 24 car bays. We expect costs to be somewhere in the $80-$100k range.

Is there a quota for the number of EV Chargers per number of lots – say 2 car bays per EV Charger?

Should we be looking at this now to ease the burden later?

Answer: We commend you and the Council of Owners for being so proactive and thinking ahead in this regard.

Well firstly, we commend you and the Council of Owners for being so proactive and thinking ahead in this regard. After our presentation that showed what happens if you fail maintenance, it is nice to see committees out there thinking ahead for the future.

We have had a lots of requests and discussions in regard to installing EV Charging and at this stage all you can really do for forecasting is get some comparative quotations and we can incorporate these into a report.

What I think we will see, like all technology that has come before it, is that over time and as demand increases the cost of the technology will fall dramatically. As the tech advances and becomes more widely used, the expense will drop for Strata Schemes. TVs are a good example. Big Plasmas at one point cost $15,000 each now you can pick up a random one in Aldi next to the oranges for $499.

Dakota Panetta
Solutions in Engineering
E: [email protected]
P: 1300 136 036

This post appears in the April 2022 edition of The WA Strata Magazine.

ARTICLE: Council of Owner’s Decision Making Process: Getting Ready for EV Charging in a Perth Apartment Building

Getting Ready for EV Vehicles in our Perth Apartment Building

During a recent webinar about 10 Year maintenance funds, a question was asked about the decision making process and costs when preparing for EV charging stations in an apartment building.

A lot owner in an apartment building in Perth was generous enough to share the following insight into the retrofitting of their building to meet the future needs of lot owners with electric vehicles.

We have published this information to begin a discussion on what other WA buildings, council of owners and suppliers have discovered. As this is new to WA apartment buildings, we acknowledge this information is a work in progress and should be used to prompt ideas and solve unforeseen problems as we all move forward. Some information contained in the article may be speculative and may require adjustment. We stress this is in no way advice and we suggest you seek independent advice from a specialist before acting on the information contained in this post.

We encourage you to share your process, thoughts and discoveries with us in the comment section below this article.

Discussion Points When Considering Electric Vehicle Charging

1. We do not provide petrol free to owners in our complex, therefore, providing free power or the infrastructure for increased power is not a strata company responsibility.
2. It is the responsibility of the strata company to assist rather than hinder residents as we consider EV charging in our building.
3. Although it is better to use a 3Phase powerpoint, all residents have the ability to charge an EV from any ordinary power point. Charging from an ordinary power point just takes longer.
4. Rapid charges vary between car suppliers at the moment and this may well be different in future.
5. People should pay for their power usage via their meters.

To assist lot owners as we move towards this process, the decision was to permit any request from lot owners who wish to put a 3Phase power point near their parking spot. The point needs to be connected to their meter.

Most parking spots in our complex include a shed at one end. We recommend the point terminate in their shed and the sheds be padlocked.

For any lot owners wishing to install a rapid charger in their shed, this is permitted as long as safety rules are complied with.

Issues the strata company need to overcome

Holes need to be drilled into the floor of our metering area to allow for all the 3 phase cables. It is reasonable that the strata company do this to prepare the building’s power supply. This is a relatively minor cost.

Since the power to the rapid charge goes through an individual lot owner’s meter, they cannot draw more than they are permitted. If lot owners wish to upgrade their meter, that is up to them at their cost.

Future Concerns

If enough residents draw power to their rapid chargers, this will exceed the building’s limit. We can be solve this by increasing the capacity cable into the building. We understand this will be quite costly at this stage of the process.

We are considering installing a controller to monitor the power into the building and limit power to extra people drawing on their rapid chargers until the power consumption lowers.

We will monitor the situation and install a controller when the need arise. When this becomes necessary, we may have installed a large battery in the building or some other solution may have presented itself as the industry evolves. We will monitor the situation over the next few years and are confident any changes will be 5 years away, or more, or never.

By following this method, the cost to the strata company is minimal. People can participate if they want. The majority of the costs are born by those with the need and those lot owners own it. They can take their property with them or sell it with their apartment etc.

We may not be 100% sure about all of the technical points above, but the above has prepared a path for us to follow as we move to the next stage of retrofitting our building for EV charging.

Perth Lot Owner and Council of Owners Member

This post appears in Strata News #547.

Question: More and more of our owners and residents are using power from the common areas. Is this use of power considered acceptable, as it is paid for by all of the owners through strata fees?

More and more of our owners and residents are using power from the common areas.

Some of this is via power points added to the individual unit storage areas (sourced from connections to the common network) for everything from recharging bicycle batteries to running freezers. While others are using communal power points in the car park to recharge electric cars.

Is this use of power considered acceptable, as it is paid for by all of the owners through strata fees?

Also, how is it recommended that we allocate this additional cost to those who use this power for non-communal purposes?

Answer: What is considered acceptable is completely up to the strata council.

What is considered acceptable is completely up to the strata council and then you can act accordingly to what you think is acceptable.

If the strata company (all owners or their Council of Owners) is aware that some owners, residents or tenants are permanently using the common power supply in an inequitable manner e.g. power to the freezer, then the Strata Company would be best to review the property as a whole, issues notices to cease these activities, remove or decommission illegally installed power points and adopt a specific bylaw which outlines common power usage.

Utility services may not be on-charged to any lot owner, resident or tenant unless:

• It is billed direct by the Utility provider via metering direct eg Synergy bills Miss Smith for power direct, OR
• It is via an individual common power sub meter billed directly by the Strata Company, and the Strata Company has a by-law that authorises the on-charging of the cost of service and usage for that meter to be borne by the lot owner/ resident, tenant.

Jordan Dinga
Abode Strata
P: 08 9368 2221
E: [email protected]

This post appears in Strata News #430.

Question: Within the main switchboard, a cable behind my fuse has blown out completely. Is there a resource that will help me identify if this is the strata’s responsibility or mine?

Answer: Generally, the main switchboard is located in the common property area so I would expect this to be a strata responsibility.

Generally, the main switchboard is located in the common property area so I would expect this to be a strata responsibility.

To provide a definitive answer, a qualified electrician should inspect and provide a report. The blown cable might not be associated with the occupant’s fuse.

Greg McCulloch
FVS Services Group
E: [email protected]
P: 0413 228 224

This post appears in the October 2020 edition of The WA Strata Magazine.

Question: Under what circumstances is it appropriate for a nonqualified person to carry out any type of repair of electrical infrastructure on common property or an individual lot?

Answer: A non qualified person can do simple electrical maintenance tasks.

A licensed electrician must do direct electrical/wiring work. This includes items like:

• Replacing a light switch or power point
• Building your own extension lead
• Repairing an electrical appliance
• Installing a new light fitting
• Attaching a new plug to the end of a lead
• Replacing a lead on an appliance
• Installing a ceiling fan

A non qualified person can do simple electrical maintenance tasks like:

• Installing low voltage garden lighting
• Installing pond pumps
• Re-wire old style fuses
• Change out a blown light bulb
• Replace LED down-lights
• Fitting an electric wall oven but not connecting it
• Install a battery operated smoke alarm/detector

Greg McCulloch
FVS Services Group
E: [email protected]
P: 0413 228 224

This post appears in Strata News #328.

Have a question about electrical repairs, accessing common property electricity or something to add to the article? Leave a comment below.

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Read next:

• WA Strata Titles Amendment Act 2018: duties of a council member and how to protect yourself from liability
• WA: Maintenance Planning and Insurance: The Strata Titles Amendment Act 2018 (STAA 2018)

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