The Scottish Government has announced it will legislate to ensure developers provide electric vehicle charge points in the construction of new residential and non-residential buildings.
The policy proposals have been published as part of a summary of responses to the consultation titled “Scottish Building Regulations: Proposed Changes to Energy Standards Including Ventilation, Overheating and Electric Vehicle Charging Provision consultation.”
The proposals are drawn up to support and encourage the growing uptake of electric vehicles by ensuring that all new homes, including flats, with a dedicated car parking space are built with an electric charge point, which the Scottish Government says will make charging easier, cheaper and more convenient for drivers.
The new building regulations will mean that new residential buildings with a parking space have at least one EV charge point with a minimum 7kW rating. For new non-residential buildings with more than 10 parking spaces, 1 in every 10 would be expected to provide an EV charge point socket with a minimum 7kW rating. There are also requirements for residential and non-residential buildings undergoing major renovation to provide charge points.
To update the Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004, The Scottish Government will put forward secondary legislation for the consideration of the Parliament by the end of the year.
Minister for Transport Jenny Gilruth said, “We know that it is important to make charging as easy as possible to help make the switch to EV. I’m pleased to confirm that we will introduce legislation to ensure all new buildings are EV enabled.
“This step will help future proof Scotland’s buildings as we transition to a net zero transport system. This supports our ambition of phasing out the need for new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030 as part of our response to the global climate emergency.
“We’ve already seen private developers delivering EV charge points as part of new builds in Scotland. They recognise that charge points are an attractive feature to have and offer convenience as part of a wider charging mix. These changes will provide a minimum standard that developers will need to consider going forward.
“We also know that many households will not have access to dedicated parking spaces and that’s why earlier this year we announced our £60m EV Infrastructure Fund, to ensure that all households across Scotland can be confident that EV charging will be local, accessible and that they too can switch to zero emission.”
(Picture – Yay Images)
