Can Your Strata Committee Legally Refuse an EV Charger Request?

Every week, apartment owners across NSW submit a written notice to install an EV charger and get knocked back by their strata committee. Some of these refusals hold up under NSW law. Most don't. The difference matters, because it determines whether you accept the decision or take it further.

The Right to Charge reforms changed the balance of power on this question. Before, committees held broad discretion to approve or reject EV charging requests. Now, a refusal has to meet specific legal criteria and a committee that can't meet that bar is exposed to a formal challenge, mediation, or a binding order from NCAT.

This guide sets out what a lawful refusal actually looks like, which objections carry no legal weight at all, and what happens next if your building's decision doesn't survive scrutiny.

The Legal Baseline

Strata committee decisions in NSW can't be unreasonable, and by-laws can't be harsh, unconscionable or oppressive. That principle now has real teeth for EV charging specifically.

Once an owner submits a written notice to install a charger, the committee has three months to respond with a valid, written, reasoned objection. Miss that window, or respond with grounds that don't meet the legal standard, and the installation is automatically deemed approved. No further permission or order is required.

This flips the traditional burden. It's no longer the owner's job to convince the committee. It's the committee's job to justify saying no.

Three Grounds That Actually Hold Up

A refusal can be legitimate when it rests on:

Genuine electrical capacity constraints. The building's switchboard can't support the additional load without an upgrade, and this is backed by an actual electrical assessment.

Documented safety risk. An objection citing fire or electrical safety needs specific, building-related evidence, not general unease about EVs as a category.

An incomplete proposal. The owner's submission is missing a compliant electrical design, doesn't specify the cable route through common property, or hasn't named a licensed contractor to carry out the work.

Each of these requires evidence, not opinion. A committee citing one of these grounds without backing it up hasn't actually made a valid objection, it's made an assertion.

Four Grounds That Won't Survive a Challenge

Aesthetics. Since 1 July 2025, owners corporations cannot block an EV charger installation on the basis that it doesn't suit the look of the carpark or the building. The only exception is heritage-listed buildings or those in a heritage conservation area.

Precedent-setting. "If we approve yours, we'll have to approve everyone's" describes a planning problem the committee needs to solve. It isn't a legal basis to refuse an individual request.

Unsubstantiated risk. A vague reference to electrical or fire risk, with no assessment attached, doesn't meet the legal threshold. NCAT gives weight to expert evidence, not general concern.

Insurance. Australia's largest strata insurer, CHU, has confirmed that EV charging installed by a licensed contractor to code doesn't change premiums or risk ratings. This objection has no factual basis and no legal standing.

If your refusal letter cites any of these four reasons, the committee's position is weak.

The Three-Month Clock

Deemed approval is the mechanism that gives this legislation its force. The countdown starts from the date your written notice reaches the committee, not from any internal meeting schedule.

Two scenarios put you in a strong position without needing to challenge anything:

• The committee responds after the three-month window has closed. That response has no legal effect.

• The committee responds within the window, but the objection is vague, aesthetic, or unsupported by evidence. Because the legislation requires objections to be both timely and reasonable, a defective response inside the window can still leave you with deemed approval.

Keep every date. The notice you sent, any acknowledgment of receipt, and the date the committee's response arrived. This paper trail is what turns "I think we're past the deadline" into a documented fact.

If the Refusal Is Genuinely Valid: Three Ways Forward

Not every refusal is baseless. If the committee has raised a real capacity or documentation issue, escalation usually isn't the fastest path, fixing the problem is.

Resubmit with evidence. Commission an independent electrical assessment. A written report from a qualified engineer confirming your installation fits within the building's capacity removes the committee's strongest objection before any formal process starts. If the issue was an incomplete proposal, a licensed electrician can prepare a compliant design for resubmission. Most disputes end here.

Apply for mediation through NSW Fair Trading. Free for most strata disputes, faster than a tribunal hearing, and less adversarial — the working relationship with the committee stays intact if it resolves. A mediator's assessment of a weak legal position often shifts a committee that previously refused.

Lodge an application with NCAT. Where resubmission and mediation don't resolve it, NCAT can order the committee to issue a no-objection notice. This is a binding order — the committee can't ignore it. Legal representation isn't required, though advice is worth getting if the dispute involves complex technical claims. If you disagree with an NCAT decision, appeals generally need to be lodged within 28 days of notification — 14 days for residential matters.

What NCAT Weighs and What It Dismisses

NCAT gives weight to objective, expert-backed evidence: an engineer's report showing the switchboard genuinely can't take the load without a disproportionately expensive upgrade is the kind of evidence that supports a legitimate refusal.

What doesn't carry weight: general anxiety about setting a precedent, safety concerns with no assessment behind them, insurance objections already disproven by the industry's own insurers, and aesthetic preferences, prohibited outright except in heritage buildings.

While Any of This Is Playing Out

You can't proceed with installation during mediation or an NCAT process unless you already have a deemed approval. In the meantime:

Get an independent electrical assessment done regardless of where the dispute sits. It tells you whether the committee's capacity concern has any merit, and it becomes evidence either way. Keep every notice, response, and email. And talk to other EV owners in your building: a coordinated, building-wide request changes the conversation with a committee far more effectively than a single resident pushing alone.

Where This Leaves Apartment Owners

NSW's strata legislation now prevents an owners corporation from unreasonably withholding approval for EV charging infrastructure. The legal environment is more favourable to apartment owners than it has ever been, and a committee refusal that doesn't meet the legal standard has a limited shelf life once challenged.

A refusal is a hurdle to work through, with a defined process for doing so, not a final answer.

VeCharge installs EV chargers in strata buildings across Sydney and helps residents understand what their building's electrical infrastructure can actually support — documentation that carries weight in a committee dispute. Get in touch at info@vecharge.com or call 1300 315 688. More on our strata approach at vecharge.com/strata.