Charging stations - Private or communal meter?

When the co-owners’ association De List wanted to install charging stations in their car park, we walked through a 4-step plan with them.

Step 1 - Checking the electrical installation

The electricity of the communal installation must be compliant. If it’s not, the installation should not be used to charge electric cars. If it is compliant, Fluvius can supply a new meter box for the charging station system.

Beware: Some suppliers do not submit an application to Fluvius themselves; the property manager often does this. It is obviously simpler for the supplier to request the meter box. In that case, it immediately has the necessary information to plan the work.

Example of an inspection report:

Step 2 - Choosing a private or communal meter

Each co-owner can - subject to the approval of a general meeting - have their own charging station installed on their private meter if it is found to be compliant. The advantage is that all costs are immediately charged to the private owner. The disadvantages are that the power grid can only serve about five charging stations in most buildings, and the co-owners’ association has no control over the quality of the electrical works.

When installing a communal system, the co-owners’ association has control over the quality of the system and its installation. In this case, one communal meter is installed with a capacity of 15 to 20 cars. A communal cable is also laid to which each co-owner can connect a charging station. Electricity consumption is automatically charged using a ‘charging card’.

Step 3 - Approval by the general meeting

The technical, administrative and financial arrangement of the charging station system is placed on the agenda of the general meeting. We document everything meticulously in the minutes of the meeting. This way, everyone is informed and no misunderstandings arise between co-owners.

“The co-owners’ association opted for private meters in an initial general meeting but soon encountered the limitations of that system. At a subsequent meeting, they decided to install a communal meter with a loop system to which everyone can connect a private branch.”