The Road Is Being Paved for EV Charging Stations on Strata Properties

The Government of B.C. is paving the way for more access to electric vehicle (“EV”) charging stations on strata properties.

Recently passed legislation allows strata corporations and owners to more easily install EV charging infrastructure. Effective May 11, 2023, strata corporations no longer need a ¾ vote to approve EV charging decisions – only a majority vote is required.

The government has indicated that lower voting thresholds will make it easier for EV infrastructure to be approved and installed as an expense funded by a strata corporation’s contingency reserve fund. To use the majority vote threshold, the expense must be:

• Related to installing EV charging infrastructure or managing the electricity it uses; or

• Necessary to obtain a report on the installation or operation of EV charging infrastructure or the electricity management—this could include an EV ready report or an electrical planning report.

The voting threshold has also been lowered to majority votes in the following situation:

• If the strata corporation needs to acquire or dispose of personal property in order to install, operate, maintain, or repair the EV charging infrastructure, or to manage the electricity used by EV charging. An example of personal property would be an EV charging station owned by the strata corporation.

Upcoming Changes to Come into Effect

Additional changes under this legislation will be effective later in the year. These include the following:

• Strata corporations must get an electrical planning report from a qualified person by a certain date.
• Strata councils can grant short-term exclusive use of parking stalls for longer than one year for a “prescribed class of parking stalls”. (This prescribed class will likely include parking stalls used for EV charging).
• Regulation that specifies the conditions and criteria a strata council may consider when reviewing an owner’s request for EV charging infrastructure.

Read the Government of B.C.’s news release for more details on the changes to the Strata Property Act. You can also subscribe to receive occasional email updates to strata legislation and the Province’s strata housing website.

Source: www.bcfsa.ca