UPDATE: This article was originally written for NCC 2022. The NCC 2025 has removed the requirement for electric vehicle charging equipment in Class 2 buildings.
The NCC clause J9D4 mandates that Class 2, 3, 5, 6, 7b, 8, and 9 building carparks must be equipped with electrical distribution boards that are solely dedicated to EV charging.
The number of electrical distribution boards correlates to the number of car spaces required to be ready for EV charging equipment. Each board must be clearly labelled to indicate that it is reserved for EV charging equipment. Each board must be connected to a charging control system capable of managing and scheduling the EV charging based on the building’s overall power consumption and needs.
For carparks associated with a Class 2 building, the circuits must be capable of supporting an EV charger that delivers a minimum of 12 kWh from 11:00 pm to 7:00 am.- For carparks associated with Class 5 to 9 buildings, the circuits should support an EV charger delivering a minimum of 12 kWh between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm.
These timeframes reflect periods when EVs are most likely to require charging for each building type.
- For Class 3 buildings, higher capacity is required, with each circuit capable of supporting an EV charger delivering a minimum of 48 kWh between 11:00 pm and 7:00 am.
The NCC does not require EV chargers to be installed at the time of construction. Instead, distribution boards must be designed to facilitate the future installation of 7 kW (32 A) Type 2 EV chargers. The percentage of car parking spaces required to be capable of supporting future EV charger installation is as follows:
100% of the car parking spaces associated with a Class 2 building- 10% of car parking spaces associated with a Class 5 or 6 building
- 20% of car parking spaces associated with a Class 3, 7b, 8 or 9 building
In addition, each distribution board must provide sufficient allowance for future individual sub-circuit metering, with a minimum of 36 mm of DIN rail provided for each outgoing circuit. This space must be clearly labelled to indicate its intended use for EV charging electricity metering.
If you need advice on the fire safety requirement of EV charging stations in your building – CJK can help.
To listen to Christina Knorr’s webinar on Fire Engineering and EVs click below.
