EV Charger Work: October 2026 Rules for Electricians

From 21 October, revised Classes D and E extend chargepoint rights beyond lawful off-street parking to other areas within a dwellinghouse or block of flats’ curtilage. Where a cable crosses a footway, it must use an authorised pavement-embedded cable channel. A loose cable or surface mat does not meet that definition.

New Class F covers the channel installed by, on behalf of, or with authorisation from the highway authority. It excludes scheduled-monument sites, listed-building curtilage and conservation areas. The associated chargepoint has its own Class D or E conditions; channel approval alone does not establish compliance.

This change applies in England. Planning routes in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland must be checked separately. Read the order’s conditions for the proposed location and equipment, including dimensions and clearance, before treating a job as permitted development.

• Describe the parking: driveway, shared car park or street; send photos of the proposed charger position and route. A channel does not reserve a parking space.
• Ask the highway authority: does it accept applications for your address, which systems and contractors can it authorise, and what permissions and street-works arrangements does it require?
• Confirm ownership: identify any landlord, freeholder or shared-land consent needed before agreeing a route.
• Ask for the full cost boundary: charger and electrical work, channel, authority fees, reinstatement, any supply work and ongoing maintenance charges.
• Agree responsibility: who applies, installs and maintains the channel, and what happens when it is damaged, you move or you stop using it?

DfT’s cross-pavement guidance explains local approval, ownership and maintenance arrangements. Check its planning discussion against the newer October order; the guidance was published before that change.

Take a terraced-home enquiry where the car is parked across a public footway. Three decisions need separate evidence: whether the charger and channel meet the applicable planning route, whether the highway authority authorises the channel and works, and whether the assessed electrical installation is suitable. A customer accepting your quote answers the commercial question.

Record each outstanding decision, its owner and the evidence needed. Price the survey and confirmed scope separately from work dependent on permissions or supply changes. State who pays authority and maintenance fees, what making good is included and how a changed route will be agreed.

Tradehand quotes can hold the itemised scope for customer acceptance; the job record keeps the survey, correspondence, appointments and shared documents together. Retain the actual authority response on the job before treating the installation date as confirmed. For the electrical survey and handover questions, use our EV installation red-flags checklist.

HMRC’s temporary 0% rate covers qualifying electricity supplies in England, Scotland and Wales from 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027. Qualifying electricity in Northern Ireland remains at 5%; electricity supplied through public charging points remains standard rated.

This electricity-supply relief does not zero-rate your charger hardware or installation quote. Show the installation’s own VAT treatment. For running-cost comparisons, use the customer’s current electricity tariff, its VAT basis and charging times, alongside any channel fees. A cheaper electricity supply does not establish the payback period for a particular installation.

The IET edition checker says the transition period for BS 7671:2018+A2:2022 ended on 15 October 2026 and that BS 7671:2018+A4:2026 is the current edition. The previous edition, BS 7671:2018+A2:2022+A3:2024, was withdrawn on that date. Amendment 3:2024 is incorporated into the current edition. That standards date is separate from the 21 October planning change.

Record the standard used for the work and agree the handover pack: electrical certification, commissioning and manufacturer information, DNO correspondence and any required building-regulations evidence. Our Electrical Installation Certificate guide explains the EIC’s scope and single-signature responsibility. An EIC records electrical work; it does not grant highway permission or replace a building-regulations notification.