EV-ready apartment buildings under Victoria's NCC 2022

Since 1 May 2024, every new apartment building in Victoria must include EV-ready infrastructure. If you're a developer, builder, strata manager or body corporate — this is what you need to know.

What the rule actually says

Victoria adopted the National Construction Code (NCC) 2022 energy efficiency provisions on 1 May 2024. The relevant section requires that all new Class 2 (apartment) buildings provide:

• Adequate space at the main switchboard for future EV-related distribution boards
• Conduit pathways from the main switchboard to each car space
• Sufficient supply capacity headroom so future EV chargers can be installed without a network supply upgrade

The chargers themselves don't have to be installed at handover — but the path for them does. If a unit owner later wants to install a charger, the bones are already there.

Why it matters at design stage

Retrofitting EV-ready infrastructure into a building that wasn't designed for it is expensive — typically $2,000-$5,000 per car space, sometimes more for older buildings with constrained switchboards. Building it in at construction adds a few hundred dollars per car space and avoids all of that.

What "EV-ready" means in practice

For a typical 40-unit apartment building, EV-ready provision usually includes:

• A dedicated EV distribution board adjacent to the main switchboard, sized for current and projected future load
• Conduit and cable trays from the EV distribution board running to each car space
• A junction box or terminal at each car space ready to accept a charger
• Network supply sized with EV load headroom — typically 5-10kW per car space allocated, with load management software in mind

What we do at design stage

We work with builders and developers from the electrical design stage to ensure the EV-ready provision is properly specified. That includes:

• Load calculation accounting for projected EV uptake (typically 30-50% of car spaces within 5 years)
• Load management strategy — OCPP-compliant chargers so future installs can share supply intelligently
• Conduit and cable tray routing
• Switchboard sizing and spare capacity
• Network connection paperwork with Powercor or Essential Energy where needed

For existing buildings

The rule applies to new builds. For existing apartment buildings, charger installs follow a different process — usually a by-law approval via the owners' corporation. Victoria's 2025 guidelines have streamlined the by-law process for individual lot installs, but each building's situation is different.

For existing strata buildings considering EV charging, we offer:

• Site assessment and load study
• Recommendation for individual lot charging vs shared common-area chargers
• Load management design
• Technical documentation for OC approval
• Staged install plan so the building can scale up as EV uptake grows

Who to call

If you're a developer, builder, strata manager or body corporate in Mildura or the Sunraysia looking at EV-ready infrastructure or strata EV charger installs, we'd happily walk through the requirements.

Get in touch: 0413 635 112 or request a quote.