Scottish building regulations to mandate EV charging requirements
The Scottish Government has announced plans to ensure developers provide electric vehicle (EV) charge points at new residential and non-residential buildings.
The policy proposals have been published as part of a summary of responses to a consultation on proposed changes to Scottish Building Regulations.
The proposals aim to support and encourage the growing uptake of electric vehicles by ensuring that all new homes, including flats, with a dedicated car parking space are built with an electric charge points, making charging easier, cheaper and more convenient for drivers.
The new building regulations will mean that new residential buildings with a parking space have at least one EV charge point with a minimum 7kW rating. For new non-residential buildings with more than 10 parking spaces, 1 in every 10 would be expected to provide an EV charge point socket with a minimum 7kW rating. There are also requirements for residential and non-residential buildings undergoing major renovation to provide charge points.
To update the Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004, The Scottish Government will put forward secondary legislation for the consideration of the Parliament by the end of the year.
To launch the proposals, the Minister for Transport Jenny Gilruth joined East Lothian Council and Springfield Properties at Windygoul South in Tranent – to learn more about the work already underway to provide charge points as part of the new housing development.
Minister for Transport Jenny Gilruth said, “We know that it is important to make charging as easy as possible to help make the switch to EV. I’m pleased to confirm that we will introduce legislation to ensure all new buildings are EV enabled.
“This step will help future proof Scotland’s buildings as we transition to a net zero transport system. This supports our ambition of phasing out the need for new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030 as part of our response to the global climate emergency.
“We’ve already seen private developers delivering EV charge points as part of new builds in Scotland. These changes will provide a minimum standard that developers will need to consider going forward.”
Cllr John McMillan, East Lothian’s Cabinet Member for Environment, Economic Development and Tourism said, “As we respond to the climate emergency, East Lothian Council now requires housing developers to report on how their infrastructure is mitigating climate change, and allowing new residents to adapt.
“It is also our aim that every EV owner will have access to a charger on or near their usual parking place, and we engage constructively with developers to ensure their sites are capable of accommodating charging needs. We encourage innovative means of delivering chargers for everyone through features such as electrical load management.
“We have not forgotten existing residents, and continue to improve access to public chargers so that East Lothian now has one of the highest numbers of chargers per head of population in the UK.”
Tom Gibbs, Quality, Environmental and Sustainability Manager and Springfield Properties said, “In 2018, when grants for electric charging points were widely available, we decided to include the cabling for electric car charging in all of our houses. With an electricity supply to the most convenient point of the house, typically by the driveway or the garage, the installation of a charging point is less intrusive for our customers when they decide to make the switch to electric. And we’re delighted that this includes our affordable development in partnership with East Lothian Council at Tranent.
“It’s great to see the Scottish Government and East Lothian Council taking further steps to enhance the electric vehicle charging infrastructure as we move towards a greener Scotland.”