HOA - Charging Station Requirements

Beginning January 1, 2012, any restriction that prohibits or restricts the installation or use of an electric vehicle ("EV") charging station in a common interest development is void and unenforceable. (Civ. Code § 4745(a)) If approval is required for the installation or use of an EV charging station, the application must be processed and approved in the same manner as any other architectural application and not willfully avoided or delayed. Approval or denial of the application must be in writing. If an application is not denied in writing within 60 days of receipt, the application shall be deemed approved unless the delay results from a reasonable request for additional information. (Civ. Code § 4745(e))

Restrictions and Expenses. Associations may impose reasonable restrictions on EV charging stations, provided those restrictions do not significantly increase the cost of the station or significantly decrease its efficiency or specified performance. (Civ. Code § 4745(b)(2)) Boards can grant members exclusive use of common areas for running utility lines and installing meters for charging stations. (Civ. Code § 4600(b)(3)(H)) All installation costs are at the requesting owner’s expense. If installing a charging station is impossible or unreasonably expensive, an owner may install it in the common area. Doing so requires a license agreement between the owner and the association. (Civ. Code § 4745(g)) Neither the Davis-Stirling Act nor case law offers a guide for determining what is “unreasonably expensive.” A starting point would be to compare the proposed installation cost with the cost of installing at a different feasible location within the development. Giving an EV owner a parking space closer to an existing electric panel may benefit the member, but at what cost to future EV owners?  Also, most electrical panels in common areas do not provide sufficient power for EV charging, so upgrades are necessary to support charging stations. Rather than responding ad hoc to members’ requests to install charging stations, associations should develop a comprehensive plan for electrical upgrades to allow owners to install charging stations in their parking spaces.

Owner - Charging Station Requirements

If an owner wants to install an EV charging station in a common area or an exclusive use common area (his parking space), he/she must meet applicable health and safety standards and requirements imposed by state and local authorities, as well as all other applicable zoning, land use, ordinances, or land use permits. (Civ. Code § 4745(c)) In addition, the owner must obtain HOA approval and agree in writing to the following (Civ. Code § 4745(f)(1)):

• Architectural Standards. Comply with the association's architectural standards.
• Licensed Contractor. Use a licensed contractor to install the station.
• Insurance. Within 14 days of approval, provide a certificate of insurance showing liability coverage.
• Installation Costs. Pay for the cost of installing the charging station.
• Utility Costs. Pay for electricity usage associated with the station.

Duties & Liability. The owner and each successive owner of the EV charging station is responsible for all of the following (Civ. Code § 4745(f)(2)):

• Damage. Damage to the station, common areas, exclusive common areas, or adjacent units resulting from the installation, maintenance, repair, removal, or replacement of the station.
• Maintenance. Maintenance, removal, repair, and replacement of the electric vehicle charging station until it has been removed from the common area or exclusive use common area.
• Electricity. Electricity associated with the station.
• Disclosure. Disclosing the EV charging station to buyers and the related responsibilities of the homeowner.
• Insurance. Maintain a liability coverage policy. (Civ. Code § 4745(f)(3))

EV Charger Insurance

Beginning January 1, 2011, EV owners with charging stations were required to carry insurance and name the association as additional insured. Effective January 1, 2026, owners are no longer required to name the association as additional insured. They are still required to maintain a liability coverage policy. In addition, the owner who installed the charging station and each successor owner must provide the association with a certificate of insurance annually thereafter. (Civ. Code § 4745(f)(3)) An owner is not required to maintain liability coverage for an existing National Electrical Manufacturers Association standard alternating-current power plug. (Civ. Code § 4745(f)(4))

"Public" Charging Stations

Associations and homeowners may install a charging station in the common area for all members to use. This authority also lets associations develop rules for using "public" charging stations. It allows associations to create new parking spaces where none previously existed, facilitating their installation. (Civ. Code § 4745(h)) Owners may install "private" charging stations in the common areas, but only if installing them in an owner's exclusive use common area is impossible or unreasonably expensive. (Civ. Code § 4745(g)) An association may create a new parking space where none previously existed to facilitate installing an electric vehicle charging station. (Civ. Code § 4745(i))

Recommendation: Whenever an owner installs an EV Charging Station, record a maintenance covenant signed by the owner, putting future owners on notice of their obligation to maintain the charging station and carry proper insurance. This matters because future owners may not have an electric vehicle. It also satisfies the requirements found in Civil Code § 4745(f)(2)(D) to disclose to prospective buyers the existence of the charging station and the related responsibilities of the owner.

Insurance. When the EV statute was adopted in 2011 (as Civ. Code § 1353.9), it required owners in two places to name the association as an additional insured: sections (f)(1)(C) and (f)(3). In 2018, the statute (now Civ. Code 4745) was amended to remove the insurance amount ($1 million) and the additional insured requirement from section (f)(3). The Legislature left in place in section (f)(1)(C) the requirement that owners name the association as an additional insured "in the amount outlined in paragraph (3)." Because the dollar amount was removed from (f)(3), some believe owners are no longer required to name the association as an additional insured, even though Civil Code § 4745(f)(1)(C) still requires it. This issue will likely draw more attention as more EV charging stations are installed in parking structures. The reason is electrical fires.

TOU (time of use) Meters

Effective January 1, 2019, a new section was added to the Civil Code that addresses the installation and use of EV-dedicated “TOU” (time of use) meters. (Civ. Code § 4745.1) An “EV-dedicated TOU meter” means an electric meter supplied and installed by an electric utility, that is separate from, and in addition to, any other electric meter and is devoted exclusively to the charging of electric vehicles, and that tracks the time of use (TOU) when charging occurs. An “EV-dedicated TOU meter” includes any wiring or conduit necessary to connect the electric meter to an electric vehicle charging station.  If the TOU meter is to be placed in a common area or an exclusive use common area, the following provisions apply:

• The owner must obtain the association's approval, 
• The association must approve the installation if the owner agrees in writing to: (i) comply with the association’s architectural standards, and (ii) engage the relevant electric utility to install the TOU meter and, if necessary, a licensed contractor.

The owner and each successive owner of the TOU meter is responsible for the following:

• Damage to the TOU meter, common area, exclusive use common area, or separate interests resulting from the installation, maintenance, repair, removal, or replacement of the meter.
• The maintenance, repair, and replacement of the EV-dedicated TOU meter.
• Disclosing to prospective buyers the existence of the meter and the owner's responsibilities.

E-Fires on the Rise

Fires from lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles remain low but are increasing. EV fires burn faster and hotter than combustion engine fires and release more toxic fumes. Typically, a gas-powered vehicle burns at 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit, while an EV fire burns at 5,000 degrees. Because EV fires are so intense, they can damage buildings. EV fires are also extremely difficult to put out, especially inside parking structures, where proximity to other vehicles can create a chain reaction. It takes about 2,000 gallons of water to extinguish a gas-powered vehicle fire; an EV fire can take 20,000 gallons or more. According to testimony in Congressional hearings, "extinguishing lithium-ion battery fires has proven difficult for fire services across the country. For instance, in 2021, after a Tesla caught fire following a crash in a Houston suburb, eight firefighters spent over seven hours and 28,000 gallons of water, an amount the department normally uses in a month, before the fire was fully extinguished. The reality is that some lithium-ion battery fires can reignite hours later, some even days later, and traditional fire extinguishing methods do not always work on them."

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