Electric vehicle charging points on company premises: what are the obligations?

To support the development of electric mobility, recharging points for electric or hybrid vehicles must be provided in parking lots reserved for employees of tertiary and industrial buildings.
Thus, the Mobility Orientation Law (LOM) of December 24, 2019 reinforces the obligations to pre-equip and install recharging infrastructures for electric vehicles for both new and existing buildings.

Pre-equipping and equipping the parking lot: who is concerned? What are the obligations?

New buildings or major renovations⁽¹⁾, including the renovation of the parking lot or its electrical installation

Existing buildings

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⁽¹⁾ A major major renovation is defined as a renovation amounting to a quarter of the building's value, excluding land costs.

⁽²⁾ An SME is a company with fewer than 250 employees and annual sales not exceeding 50 million euros or total assets not exceeding 43 million euros.

⁽³⁾ Applied since January 2012 to new commercial buildings with an enclosed and covered parking lot for which the building permit application was submitted after January^1, 2012.

For mixed-use buildings, residential and non-residential: between 11 and 20 spaces, it is the majority use of the parking lot, residential or non-residential, that determines the applicable regime. For more than 20 spaces, the obligations apply in proportion to the use of the spaces.

What is pre-equipment?

Pre-equipping consists of equipping part of the parking spaces with conduits for the passage of electrical cables and the power and safety devices required for the subsequent installation of charging points for electric and rechargeable hybrid vehicles.

So what technical specifications do you need to meet?

For building permit applications or preliminary declarations submitted on or after March 11, 2021, the following will apply:

• The Order of December 23, 2020 on the application of Article R. 111-14-2 of the French Construction and Housing Code (pre-equipment characteristics depending on the origin of the electrical energy delivered, mandatory presence of an earthed protective conductor on each electrical circuit of the charging infrastructure, methods for determining the electrical power to cover the needs of charging infrastructures for electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids (PIRVE power), ....) ;
• Decree no. 2020-1696 of December 23, 2020, which lays down the minimum characteristics of power supply and safety devices for charging facilities for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles (pre-wiring, sizing of electrical installations, etc.).

To conclude ....

Today's businesses need to adapt, pre-equipping and equipping their parking lots with charging stations for electric vehicles.

Charging points must be installed by a professional holding an electrical qualification and the IRVE qualification issued by the QUALIFELEC organization, attesting to his or her competence to install charging infrastructures for electric vehicles.

This work must also be covered by a prevention plan (to identify and prevent, through general coordination, the risks associated with interference between activities, installations and equipment during work by external companies (EE) within a user company (EU)).

Last but not least, the French government offers financial assistance to support the installation of electric vehicle recharging infrastructures in companies (e.g.: Coup de pouce Programme ADVENIR, financing of private or public recharging points through CEE).

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Photo credit: Marek Studzinski