THE RIGHT TO CHARGE: WHAT NSW APARTMENT OWNERS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE PROPOSED EV CHARGING REFORMS
Too long; didn’t read
A bill currently before the NSW Legislative Council would give apartment owners the right to install an electric vehicle charging station on their lot without needing a strata vote. The strata committee must respond within three months, and silence counts as approval. Objections must be reasonable and given in writing. The owner bears all installation and ongoing costs. But several critical details, including which chargers qualify and what counts as a reasonable objection, are left to future regulations not yet made.
The problem with charging in strata buildings
For electric vehicle owners living in strata-titled apartments in New South Wales, charging at home has long been less a matter of convenience than of legal frustration. Under the existing framework, installing a charger in a strata building typically requires the approval of a general meeting of the owners corporation. Committees have had broad discretion to delay or refuse, and the renovation approval process under sections 108 to 110 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 has added further procedural weight to what is, for most owners, a straightforward practical need.
The Strata Schemes Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous) Bill 2026 proposes to change this. The bill passed the NSW Legislative Assembly and is now before the Legislative Council. If enacted in its current form, it will insert new sections 132D and 132E into the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015, creating a dedicated and streamlined approval pathway for EV charger installations.
How the new right works
The right conferred by section 132D applies to the installation of an electric vehicle charging station on an owner’s lot, including where the installation requires changes to or work on common property. Rather than seeking approval at a general meeting, an owner exercises the right by giving the strata committee written notice of the intention to install, along with any documents or information prescribed by the regulations.
Once notice is given, the strata committee has a required period of three months in which to respond. It must either issue a written no-objection notice, or provide written notice of an objection that includes the reasons for it. If the committee does not respond within three months, it is taken by operation of law to have issued a no-objection notice. Silence, in other words, becomes approval.
The committee’s power to object is constrained in a way that matters. Section 132D(4) provides that the strata committee must not unreasonably object to the installation. An objection must therefore be both reasoned and defensible. Where an owner considers the objection unreasonable, section 132D(5) permits an application to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal for an order requiring the committee to issue a no-objection notice. Section 132D(7) further provides that any by-law unreasonably prohibiting the installation of an EV charger on a lot will have no force or effect to that extent.
Section 132D(9) is a provision that practitioners should note carefully. It expressly excludes the operation of sections 108 to 110 of the Act from installations carried out under this new regime. Those sections govern major work, minor work, and cosmetic work by owners, and would otherwise impose an additional layer of approval requirements where work touches common property. Their exclusion is deliberate and removes a procedural obstacle that would otherwise undermine the utility of the new right.
Who pays, and for what
Section 132E addresses costs, and its scope is broader than a casual reading might suggest. The owner of the lot on which the charging station is installed must pay the costs of installation. Beyond that initial outlay, the owner must indemnify the owners corporation against the reasonable costs of maintaining and operating the charging station, making good any damage to common property arising from the installation or its ongoing use, and any further matter prescribed by the regulations.
This indemnity obligation is continuous and runs with the use of the charging station. Owners should take care to understand it fully before proceeding. The language of indemnity places the financial risk squarely with the individual lot owner, not with the owners corporation, and that position will not shift over time simply because the charger has been in place for years or because the owners corporation has not actively enforced its position.
What the bill does not yet tell us
A significant limitation of the bill as currently drafted is that it defers several critical questions to regulations that have not yet been made. The definition of electric vehicle charging station in section 132D is not self-contained on the face of the legislation. It refers to a charging station of a kind prescribed by the regulations. Which types of charging equipment actually attract the new right will not be known until those regulations are published.
Similarly, the bill empowers the regulations to specify what constitutes a reasonable or unreasonable objection by a strata committee, and a reasonable or unreasonable prohibition in a by-law. Until that guidance exists, those questions will fall to the Tribunal to determine on a case-by-case basis, applying general principles of reasonableness without the benefit of legislative prescription.
The regulations will also determine what documents must accompany an installation notice. An owner who gives notice without the required documentation may find that the three-month clock does not begin to run as anticipated, or that their right to proceed is contested on procedural grounds.
This is not unusual in the architecture of contemporary NSW legislation, but it does mean that the full practical framework is not yet in place. Owners and strata committees alike should monitor the regulatory process closely following any enactment.
Where things stand
The bill has passed the Legislative Assembly and remains before the Legislative Council. If it passes without amendment, commencement of the EV charging provisions will depend on a date appointed by proclamation, meaning they will not take effect immediately on assent. The regulations necessary to give the scheme full operation will also need to be made before owners can move with confidence.
What this means for owners and committees now
For lot owners, the bill offers a meaningful and practical improvement over the current position, once enacted and supported by the necessary regulations. The removal of the general meeting requirement is the most significant change. The notice-based process will be considerably faster and less politically fraught than seeking approval from a body of owners. However, the indemnity obligations are real, and the regulatory gaps are not trivial. Owners who move prematurely or without proper documentation risk disputes that the legislation, in its current form, does not fully resolve.
For strata committees and owners corporations, the bill does not extinguish the right to object. It constrains that right in a way that demands documented, defensible reasons. Committees that have relied on informal resistance or bare refusals will need to adjust their approach. Existing by-laws that impose blanket prohibitions on charger installations warrant review now, before the legislation takes effect.
For practitioners advising either side, the interplay between the new provisions and the cost indemnity framework, combined with the unresolved regulatory detail, will require careful attention over the coming months as the scheme moves toward commencement.
If you would like advice on how the proposed changes may affect your lot, your strata scheme, or your clients, I am happy to assist. Please feel free to get in touch to arrange a consultation.