Body corporate approval for EV chargers

Not legal advice. This is a general summary of the sectional title rules as we understand them on 22 October 2026. Schemes can amend their rules. Have a sectional title attorney or your managing agent confirm what applies to your scheme.

The current legal position

As of April 2026, there was no EV-specific law for community schemes, and no reported court or CSOS ruling on EV charging [5]. Approval therefore runs through the general rules in the Sectional Titles Schemes Management Act and its regulations.

The issue is real. Coverage in April 2026 described trustees as under pressure without policies, metering or billing frameworks, and estimated that a 7 kW charger could add R2 500 to R4 000 per car per month to a common electricity bill if it isn’t metered [6].

The rules that usually apply

Improvements to common property (PMR 29)

• Improvements that are not reasonably necessary require a unanimous resolution of the members [1].
• Improvements that are reasonably necessary require 30 days’ written notice to all members, setting out the costs and how they’ll be financed. If a member asks for a general meeting, a special resolution is needed [1][2].

Whether an EV charger is “reasonably necessary” isn’t settled by any source we found.

Separate metering (PMR 29(3) and (4))

Members may resolve to install separate meters for each section or exclusive use area and recover the metered costs from owners [1]. Installing prepayment meters requires a special resolution and 60 days’ notice [1].

Trustee consent and conduct rules

Prescribed Conduct Rule 5 requires the trustees’ written consent before an owner changes the external appearance of a section or exclusive use area [3]. Trustees must act in the body corporate’s best interests, and the regulations require reasonable steps to make sure owners act reasonably when altering sections or exclusive use areas [4]. Many schemes have amended conduct rules, so check yours.

Disputes

Any party to, or person materially affected by, a scheme-administration dispute may apply to the Community Schemes Ombud Service (CSOS) [7][8]. Adjudication orders can be appealed to the High Court [8]. An application fee of R50 was reported in 2016 [9]; check the current fee with CSOS.

What this means for you

If you’re an owner: put your request in writing with a technical assessment, a cable route, a metering proposal and your installer’s details. Expect the trustees to set conditions.

If you’re a trustee: commentators recommend a written EV charging policy, a load assessment and confirmation of electrical compliance [5]. Agree on metering and billing before the first charger goes live, and take legal advice on the type of resolution needed.

Our step-by-step guide, how to get body corporate approval for an EV charger, walks through the process in more detail.

How StrataCharge helps

We prepare an approval pack for trustees: load assessment, cable route plan, charger options, a metering and billing proposal and a draft EV charging policy template [coming soon] for your attorney to adapt. Then we install, meter and certify the work. See our site assessment service, our page for body corporates and HOAs, and our commercial chargers for shared bays.