Tag Archives: Electric Vehicle

SB-770 (Allen) Common interest developments: EV charging stations.

Would delete the requirement that the insurance policy for an EV charging station name the association as an additional insured party.

Current Status: Pending

FindHOALaw Quick Summary:

Existing law imposes various requirements regarding the installation and use of an electric vehicle (“EV”) charging station placed in a common area or an exclusive use common area of a common interest development, including that the owner is required to provide a certificate of insurance that names the association as an additional insured party.

This bill would amend Civil Code Section 4745 to delete the requirement that the insurance policy name the association as an additional insured party, and would correct an erroneous cross-reference regarding the amount of that insurance.

View more info on SB 770
from the California Legislature's website

Related Links

Governor Signs Bill Prohibiting HOAs from Unreasonably Restricting EV Charging Stations
Published on HOA Lawyer Blog (July 2011)

Electric Vehicle Charging Stations in Your Community?
Published on HOA Lawyer Blog (November 2011)

New Legislation: SB 880 – EV Charging Stations (Round 2)
Published on HOA Lawyer Blog (March 2012)

SB 1016 Signed! New Law Expands Rights to Use EV Charging Stations in HOAs
Published on HOA Lawyer Blog (September 2018)

New Legislation: California Paves the Way for Mandatory EV Charging Stations in Existing Buildings
Published on HOA Lawyer Blog (May 2023)

SB 1016 (Allen). Common interest developments: EV-dedicated TOU meters.

Would provide that any provision of the governing documents that effectively prohibits or restricts the installation or use of an electric vehicle charging station within an owner’s unit, or an EV-dedicated TOU meter, is void and unenforceable.

Current Status: Chaptered

FindHOALaw Quick Summary:

Existing law provides that any provision of the governing documents that effectively prohibits or restricts the installation or use of an electric vehicle (“EV”) charging station in an owner’s designated parking space is void and unenforceable. The association may impose reasonable restrictions on those stations, including approval requirements. If the station is to be placed in the common area or exclusive use common area, the homeowner is responsible for the costs associated with maintaining and repairing the station, as well as costs for damage to the common area and adjacent units as a result of the installation and maintenance of the station. This bill would amend Civil Code Section 4745 to allow a homeowner to install an EV charging station within the owner’s unit or in a designated parking space.

This bill would also add Civil Code Section 4745.1, which would provide that any provision of the governing documents that effectively prohibits or unreasonably restricts the installation or use of an EV-dedicated time of use (“TOU”) meter is void and unenforceable. An association may impose reasonable restrictions, “[h]owever, it is the policy of the state to promote, encourage, and remove obstacles to the effective installation of EV-dedicated TOU meters.” An association that violates this section is liable for actual damages, and is subject to a civil penalty of up to one thousand dollars ($1,000.00). The prevailing plaintiff in an action by a homeowner shall be awarded reasonable attorney’s fees.

**UPDATE: SB 1016 was signed by the Governor on September 14, 2018. Its changes to the law take effect January 1, 2019.

View more info on SB 1016
from the California Legislature's website

Related Links

New Law Expands Rights to Use EV Charging Stations in HOAs Published on HOA Lawyer Blog (September 14, 2018) Governor Signs Bill Prohibiting HOAs from Unreasonably Restricting EV Charging Stations - Published on HOA Lawyer Blog (July 26, 2011) Electric Vehicle Charging Stations in Your Community? - Published on HOA Lawyer Blog (November 4, 2011) New Legislation: SB 880 - EV Charging Stations (Round 2) - Published on HOA Lawyer Blog (March 7, 2012)

Government Code Section 65850.7. Electric Vehicle Charging Stations; Local Ordinances.

Note – This Section will not become operative until January 1, 2016. For more information, See AB 1236.

(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(1) The implementation of consistent statewide standards to achieve the timely and cost-effective installation of electric vehicle charging stations is not a municipal affair, as that term is used in Section 5 of Article XI of the California Constitution, but is instead a matter of statewide concern.

(2) It is the intent of the Legislature that local agencies not adopt ordinances that create unreasonable barriers to the installation of electric vehicle charging stations and not unreasonably restrict the ability of homeowners and agricultural and business concerns to install electric vehicle charging stations.

(3) It is the policy of the state to promote and encourage the use of electric vehicle charging stations and to limit obstacles to their use.

(4) It is the intent of the Legislature that local agencies comply not only with the language of this section, but also the legislative intent to encourage the installation of electric vehicle charging stations by removing obstacles to, and minimizing costs of, permitting for charging stations so long as the action does not supersede the building official’s authority to identify and address higher priority life-safety situations.

(b) A city, county, or city and county shall administratively approve an application to install electric vehicle charging stations through the issuance of a building permit or similar nondiscretionary permit. Review of the application to install an electric vehicle charging station shall be limited to the building official’s review of whether it meets all health and safety requirements of local, state, and federal law. The requirements of local law shall be limited to those standards and regulations necessary to ensure that the electric vehicle charging station will not have a specific, adverse impact upon the public health or safety. However, if the building official of the city, county, or city and county makes a finding, based on substantial evidence, that the electric vehicle charging station could have a specific, adverse impact upon the public health or safety, the city, county, or city and county may require the applicant to apply for a use permit.

(c) A city, county, or city and county may not deny an application for a use permit to install an electric vehicle charging station unless it makes written findings based upon substantial evidence in the record that the proposed installation would have a specific, adverse impact upon the public health or safety, and there is no feasible method to satisfactorily mitigate or avoid the specific, adverse impact. The findings shall include the basis for the rejection of potential feasible alternatives of preventing the adverse impact.

(d) The decision of the building official pursuant to subdivisions (b) and (c) may be appealed to the planning commission of the city, county, or city and county.

(e) Any conditions imposed on an application to install an electric vehicle charging station shall be designed to mitigate the specific, adverse impact upon the public health or safety at the lowest cost possible.

(f)

(1) An electric vehicle charging station shall meet applicable health and safety standards and requirements imposed by state and local permitting authorities.

(2) An electric vehicle charging station shall meet all applicable safety and performance standards established by the California Electrical Code, the Society of Automotive Engineers, the National Electrical Manufacturers Association, and accredited testing laboratories such as Underwriters Laboratories and, where applicable, rules of the Public Utilities Commission regarding safety and reliability.

(g)

(1) On or before September 30, 2016, every city, county, or city and county with a population of 200,000 or more residents, and, on or before September 30, 2017, every city, county, or city and county with a population of less than 200,000 residents, shall, in consultation with the local fire department or district and the utility director, if the city, county, or city and county operates a utility, adopt an ordinance, consistent with the goals and intent of this section, that creates an expedited, streamlined permitting process for electric vehicle charging stations. In developing an expedited permitting process, the city, county, or city and county shall adopt a checklist of all requirements with which electric vehicle charging stations shall comply to be eligible for expedited review. An application that satisfies the information requirements in the checklist, as determined by the city, county, or city and county, shall be deemed complete. Upon confirmation by the city, county, or city and county of the application and supporting documents being complete and meeting the requirements of the checklist, and consistent with the ordinance, a city, county, or city and county shall, consistent with subdivision (b), approve the application and issue all required permits or authorizations. However, the city, county, or city and county may establish a process to prioritize competing applications for expedited permits. Upon receipt of an incomplete application, a city, county, or city and county shall issue a written correction notice detailing all deficiencies in the application and any additional information required to be eligible for expedited permit issuance. An application submitted to a city, county, or city and county that owns and operates an electric utility shall demonstrate compliance with the utility’s interconnection policies prior to approval.

(2) The checklist and required permitting documentation shall be published on a publicly accessible Internet Web site, if the city, county, or city and county has an Internet Web site, and the city, county, or city and county shall allow for electronic submittal of a permit application and associated documentation, and shall authorize the electronic signature on all forms, applications, and other documentation in lieu of a wet signature by an applicant. In developing the ordinance, the city, county, or city and county may refer to the recommendations contained in the most current version of the “Plug-In Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Permitting Checklist” of the “Zero-Emission Vehicles in California: Community Readiness Guidebook” published by the Office of Planning and Research. A city, county, or city and county may adopt an ordinance that modifies the checklists and standards found in the guidebook due to unique climactic, geological, seismological, or topographical conditions. If a city, county, or city and county determines that it is unable to authorize the acceptance of an electronic signature on all forms, applications, and other documents in lieu of a wet signature by an applicant, the city, county, or city and county shall state, in the ordinance required under this subdivision, the reasons for its inability to accept electronic signatures and acceptance of an electronic signature shall not be required.

(h) A city, county, or city and county shall not condition approval for any electric vehicle charging station permit on the approval of an electric vehicle charging station by an association, as that term is defined in Section 4080 of the Civil Code.

(i) The following definitions shall apply to this section:

(1) “A feasible method to satisfactorily mitigate or avoid the specific, adverse impact” includes, but is not limited to, any cost-effective method, condition, or mitigation imposed by a city, county, or city and county on another similarly situated application in a prior successful application for a permit.

(2) “Electronic submittal” means the utilization of one or more of the following:

(A) Email.

(B) The Internet.

(C) Facsimile.

(3) “Electric vehicle charging station” or “charging station” means any level of electric vehicle supply equipment station that is designed and built in compliance with Article 625 of the California Electrical Code, as it reads on the effective date of this section, and delivers electricity from a source outside an electric vehicle into a plug-in electric vehicle.

(4) “Specific, adverse impact” means a significant, quantifiable, direct, and unavoidable impact, based on objective, identified, and written public health or safety standards, policies, or conditions as they existed on the date the application was deemed complete.

AB 1236 (Chiu). Local Ordinances: Electric Vehicle Charging Stations.

Requires approval of electric vehicle (“EV”) charging station installations by local public agencies regardless of whether the association issues approval for the station. Requires establishment of standards and creation of streamlined permitting process.

Current Status: Chaptered

FindHOALaw Quick Summary:

Civil Code Section 4745 limits the degree to which an association’s governing documents may prohibit or restrict the installation of an electric vehicle (“EV”) charging station in a member’s separate interest, or in common area or exclusive use common area. (See “Electric Vehicle Charging Stations.”)

AB 1236 (Chiu) would add Section 65850.7 to the Government Code to incorporate numerous requirements and permitting processes applicable to the installation of EV charging stations. For example, AB 1236 would require an EV charging station to meet applicable health and safety standards and requirements imposed by state and local permitting authorities, not simply those which are imposed by the association. This bill would also require a city, county, or city and county to approve an application for the installation of EV charging stations through the issuance of specified permits unless the city or county makes specified written findings based upon substantial evidence in the record that the proposed installation would have a specific, adverse impact upon the public health or safety, and there is no feasible method to satisfactorily mitigate or avoid the specific, adverse impact.

AB 1236 would also prohibit a city or county from conditioning a permit for an EV charging station on the approval of the station by the association in which the station is to be installed (i.e., city may not mandate that the permit applicant first obtain association approval for the EV charging station before being eligible to obtain a city permit). This bill would also require a city, county, or city and county with a population of 200,000 or more residents to adopt an ordinance, by September 30, 2016, that creates an expedited and streamlined permitting process for electric vehicle charging stations, as specified.

*UPDATE: AB 1236 was signed into law on October 8, 2015 and its changes to the law will take effect January 1, 2016.
View more info on AB 1236
from the California Legislature's website

Electric Vehicle Charging Stations

Civil Code Section 4745 limits the degree to which an association’s governing documents may prohibit or restrict the installation of an electric vehicle (“EV”) charging station in a members separate interest, or in common area or exclusive use common area:

“A covenant, restriction or condition contained in any deed, contract, security instrument or other instrument affecting the transfer or sale of any interest in a common interest development, and any provision of a governing document, as defined in Section 4150, that either effectively prohibits or unreasonably restricts the installation or use of an [EV] charging station within an owner’s unit or in a designated parking space, including, but not limited to, a deeded parking space, a parking space in an owner’s exclusive use common area, or a parking space that is specifically designated for use by a particular owner, or is in conflict with [Section 4745], is void and unenforceable.” (Civ. Code § 4745(a).)

“Reasonable Restrictions” Permitted
Civil Code Section 4745 permits “reasonable restrictions” on the installation or use of an EV charging station. A “reasonable restriction” is defined as a restriction that does “not significantly increase the cost of the station or significantly decrease its efficiency or specified performance.” (Civ. Code § 4745(b)(2).)

Application & Timeline for Approval
Where association approval for the installation or use of an EV charging station is required, the application must be processed and approved in a manner consistent with that utilized for approving an application for modifications to the owner’s property. (Civ. Code § 4745(e); See also “Architectural Application & Approval Process.”) Approval or denial must be in writing, and must not be willfully avoided or delayed. If no approval or denial is received within sixty (60) days of submission, the application will be deemed approved unless the delay is due to a reasonable request for the owner to provide additional information. (Civ. Code § 4745(e).)

Common Area or Exclusive Use Common Area; Approval Requirements
Where an owner intends on installing an EV charging station within common area or exclusive use common area (i.e., the owner’s designated exclusive use parking space), the owner must first obtain approval from the association. The association must approve the installation if the owner agrees in writing to do all of the following:

Comply with the association’s architectural guidelines;

Use a licensed contractor for the installation;

Provide a certificate of insurance that names the association as an additional insured under the owner’s insurance policy within fourteen (14) days of approval; and

Pay for the electricity usage costs associated with the use of the EV charging station, as well as the costs associated with the installation of the station. (Civ. Code § 4745(f)(1)(A)-(D).)

The EV charging station must also meet “applicable health and safety standards and requirements imposed by state and local authorities, and all other applicable zoning, land use, or other ordinances, or land use permits.” (Civ. Code § 4745(c).)

Exclusive (“Private”) Use EV Charging Station on Common Area
Installation of an EV charging station in a common area (not within an exclusive use common area parking space) for the exclusive (or “private”) use of a particular owner must be allowed by the association “only if installation in the owner’s designated parking space is impossible or unreasonably expensive.” (Civ. Code § 4745(g).) Under such circumstances, the association is required to “enter into a license agreement with the owner for the use of the space in a common area, and the owner shall comply with all” of the approval requirements listed above. (Civ. Code § 4745(g).)

Open (“Public”) Use EV Charging Station on Common Area
The association or owners may install an EV charging station in common area for the use of all members of the association. In such cases, the association is required to “develop appropriate terms of use for the charging station.” (Civ. Code § 4745(h).)

Creation of New Parking Space
An association is permitted to create a new parking space where one did not previously exist in order to facilitate the installation of an EV charging station. (Civ. Code § 4745(i).)

Common Area Access for Utility Lines or Meters
Civil Code Section 4600 restricts the degree to which a board may grant exclusive use of any portion of the association’s common area to a member. (See “Granting Exclusive Use of Common Area.”) Those limitations do not apply to a grant of exclusive use that is needed:

“to install and use an [EV] charging station in an owner’s garage or a designated parking space that meets the requirements of Section 4745, where the installation or use of the charging station requires reasonable access through, or across, the common area for utility lines or meters.” (Civ. Code § 4600(b)(3)(H).); or

“to install and use an [EV] charging station through a license granted by an association under Section 4745.” (Civ. Code § 4600(b)(3)(I).)

Owner Responsibilities
The owner (and each successive owner) of an EV charging station is responsible for all of the following:

Any cost associated with damage to the EV charging station, common area, exclusive use common area, or separate interests resulting from the installation, maintenance, repair, removal, or replacement of the EV charging station;

Any cost associated with the maintenance, repair, and replacement of the EV charging station, and any cost associated with removing the EV charging station, including the restoration of the common area after removal;

The electricity cost associated with the use the EV charging station; and

Disclosing to prospective buyers the existence of any EV charging station owned by the owner and the owner’s responsibilities under Civil Code Section 4745. (Civ. Code § 4745(f)(2)(A)-(D).)

Insurance Requirement
The owner of an EV charging station, regardless of whether it is installed in the owner’s unit or in the common area, is required to “at all times, maintain a liability coverage policy. The owner that submitted the application to install the charging station shall provide the association with the corresponding certificate of insurance within 14 days of approval of the application. That owner and each successor owner shall provide the association with the certificate of insurance annually thereafter.” (Civ. Code § 4745(f)(3).)

Violation & Enforcement of Section 4745
An association that “willfully violates” the requirements of Civil Code Section 4745 is liable to the applicant or other party for actual damages and a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000.00). (Civ. Code § 4745(j).) In any action “by a homeowner requesting to have an [EV] charging station installed and seeking to enforce compliance with [Civil Code Section 4745], the prevailing plaintiff shall be awarded reasonable attorney’s fees.” (Civ. Code § 4745(k).)

EV-Dedicated TOU (time of use) Meters
Effective January 1, 2019, new Section 4745.1 was added to the Civil Code as a result of SB 1016. Section 4745.1 basically extends much of Section 4745’s requirements associated with the installation and use of EV charging stations to the installation and use of EV-dedicated “TOU” (time of use) meters. An EV-dedicated TOU meter is an electric meter supplied and installed by an electric utility, that is (a) separate from, and in addition to, any other electric meter, (b) is devoted exclusively to the charging of EVs, and (c) that tracks the time of use when charging occurs. (Civ. Code § 4745.1(d).)

Related Links

California Paves the Way for Mandatory EV Charging Stations
Published on HOA Lawyer Blog (May, 2023)

New Law Expands Rights to Use EV Charging Stations in HOAs
Published on HOA Lawyer Blog (September 14, 2018)

SB 880 – EV Charging Stations (Round 2)
Published on HOA Lawyer Blog (March 7, 2012)