Frequently asked questions

An investment in EV charging by your strata will:  

• accelerate the uptake of EVs among apartment residents 
• provide fair and equitable access for tenants to access EV charging at home, where it is estimated that 80% of EV owners will charge their vehicle 
• create a range of exemplar EV ready buildings to help others take action 
• ensure widespread, world-class EV charging coverage in NSW. 

Grant funding will be available for eligible residential strata schemes looking to install electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure. Please refer to the eligibility criteria in the guidelines for further details.

The applicant is the owners corporation of an eligible residential strata scheme and their authorised representative. Please refer to the guidelines and the pre-application checklist to understand the details required from applicants. 

No. The application will need to be completed, submitted, and payment claimed, by a person with delegated financial authority from within the applicant’s organisation.  

Electrical contractors and EV charger suppliers can support applicants in the lead up to their submission by providing commercial quotes for electrical infrastructure upgrades. However, the application itself must only be completed and submitted by the applicant organisation to be eligible for assessment.

The feasibility assessment will involve an independent, NSW government-appointed consultant undertaking a site visit at your building. This is actioned to understand current conditions and assess the options available for EV charging electrical infrastructure. The consultant will produce a report which can then be used to go to market for quotes for this work. The feasibility assessment forms stage 1 of the grants and must be completed prior to a stage 2 application (that is, applying for funding for EV charging infrastructure upgrades). 

If your existing feasibility assessment contains most of the items in the feasibility assessment checklist, please submit your application through stage 1. All existing feasibility assessments will be reviewed by an independent consultant for completeness.

Please email any questions to [email protected]. The Net Zero Transport team aim to respond to enquiries within 3 business days.

If your existing feasibility report does not meet the criteria for assessment you can apply for stage 1 funding to have a subsidised feasibility assessment undertaken at a cost of $2,000 (excluding GST).

Some older buildings were constructed before becoming a registered strata plan. In this case, the original construction date may be available in your building's insurance valuation report. Should you not be able to find the exact year, please provide your best estimate and note this in your application.

NSW Government engaged an external probity advisory firm, O’Connor Marsden & Associates Pty Ltd, to ensure the process is fair to all applicants and that there is no bias in the selection of awarded grants. You may email [email protected] with any questions or queries regarding the fair awarding of the EV ready building grants.  

Yes. The requirement is to have shared (visitor) parking and/or private lot property carparking.

Yes. There is no requirement to include visitor carparking solutions when applying for co-funding.

Yes, as long as it is off street and part of the strata scheme’s property. A stage 1 feasibility assessment will provide you with an assessment of what is required for installation.  

The grants are only available to individual residential strata schemes. You can check your eligibility here: Strata search | NSW Government.

Each scheme within the BMC will need to apply separately for the stage 1 grant and ensure the required approvals are in place from the scheme’s strata committee. 

The building must have no more than 4 chargers currently installed, otherwise the number of chargers may not exceed 10% of the number of parking spaces. This applies to private and shared car spaces.

All applicants must use the NSW Government’s nominated online grant management system (GMS), SmartyGrants, to submit an application and all relevant documentation. 
 
Instructions for how to use the GMS will be provided immediately after logging into the platform. 
 
To be successful, applicants must complete the entire online application which will then be assessed by the NSW Government.

Applications for funding will stay open until the grants funding has been exhausted or otherwise decided by the NSW Government. Special rounds may be called at certain times, or temporary closures of the grants if high levels of applications are received. 

Applications will be assessed on a first-come, first-serve basis until the grants funding has been exhausted or otherwise decided by the NSW Government. We encourage you to submit your application as early as possible.

We are looking to support a range of building typologies such as low rise, high rise, older stock and medium density. We will ensure a range of different buildings are co-funded as part of the grants. This will help develop various examples of EV charging infrastructure installations.

Applications will also be assessed against the eligibility requirements outlined in the guidelines. This includes how each application contributes to the effective geographic coverage of supported buildings across NSW.

Please ensure you read the guidelines on the EV ready buildings grants page before applying. The guidelines include all the essential information required for your application. We may contact applicants to clarify information included in their application. The clarifications need to be resolved within the disclosed timing to ensure the application continues to be assessed.

We will aim to notify applicants of their outcome within 6 weeks of submission.

The NSW Government strata website provides advice for living in, or buying into, a strata community. Please review the strata meetings page. 

The strata committee can approve the owners corporation’s grant application at a strata committee meeting using the stage 1 grant application motion template.

The meeting minutes are then submitted as evidence of approval when applying for the grant via the online grants management portal. 

If your application is unsuccessful, you will be provided with written feedback and under certain circumstances you may be given the opportunity to reapply.

Applications may be withdrawn by contacting us in writing at [email protected]. Withdrawal of an eligible application will result in the cancellation of the submission. This makes the application ineligible, and no further assessment will take place. You will be able to resubmit an application for the same site.  

On behalf of the applicant, we may cancel an eligible application if:  

• requested by the applicant in writing during the application and assessment process 
• the applicant cannot withdraw their submission during the application and assessment phase due to a fault or malfunction relating to the grants management platform.
   

Any issues relating to the online grants management platform (SmartyGrants) can be addressed by contacting the help desk at [email protected]. The help desk team are available during business hours.

Grant specific questions can be submitted by email to [email protected]. The Net Zero Transport team aim to respond to enquiries within 3 business days.

The strata committee can approve the owners corporation’s grant application at a strata committee meeting using the stage 1 grant application motion template. 

The meeting minutes are then submitted as evidence of approval when applying for the grant via the online grants management portal. 

Please note, meeting agendas or email confirmations from the strata committee will not be accepted as evidence of approval. 

EV chargers are exempt from development approval when installed in car parks (commercial, public or private). 

Some local councils have requirements that specify the number of visitor car parking spaces under development consents.  Before applying for a stage 2 grant, applicants should consult their local council to determine if an existing car space, that will be used only for electric vehicle charging, breaches any conditions of an existing development consent. 

The Department of Planning have prepared a factsheet to assist you in understanding any development requirements for EV charging installation.

No. if you are applying for a new feasibility assessment, our office will assign one of our independent consultants to your building. 

We are unable to advise generally on the contents of specific policies as an individual strata scheme has an associated insurance policy. We recommend owners corporations contact their insurer or insurance broker to determine any implications to the policy from the installation of EV charging infrastructure. 

No. However, to apply for stage 2, you must have successfully completed the stage 1 grant process.

Applications for stage 1 of the EV ready buildings program have closed. The NSW Government expects to invite successful stage 1 applicants to apply for stage 2 on Thursday 15 August 2024.

Stage 2 applications will be assessed on a first-in, first-assessed basis until funding has been exhausted. Delays in completing stage 1 activities may affect a stage 2 application.

Applicant stage 1 activities include signing and returning funding deeds, paying invoices and responding to requests for information.

If you have received an unsuccessful Route 2 review of your existing feasibility assessment, you may have your original feasibility report updated to address the identified issues in the report or undertake a new feasibility assessment at a cost of $2000 ex-GST.  

If you have chosen to undertake a new feasibility assessment the Stage 2 application may open before you have received your new feasibility assessment. You will be able to participate in Stage 2 when your new feasibility assessment is received.

All stage 2 grant applications must provide evidence of Owners Corporation support in the form of meeting minutes. Applicants must ensure the appropriate approvals are in place to: 

• apply for the Stage 2 grant; 
• authorise execution of the funding agreement if successful;  
• approve funds for the Stage 2 grant and accept the preferred quote(s); and  
• allow for any alterations to common property. 

NSW Government has produced a draft meeting motion template that can be used by Stage 2 applicants to demonstrate approval.  

You can find more on holding Strata Meetings on the Housing and Construction NSW Government webpage.

The EV charging solution proposed for co-funding in Stage 2 must be in broad alignment with the options identified in the Stage 1 feasibility report. NSW Government expects that in certain cases the specific approach to installing infrastructure may change following detailed investigation of the site’s electrical infrastructure by a licensed electrician.

Your feasibility report provides cost estimates for different EV charging options so buildings can find the most suitable approach. NSW Government expects that the quotes from licensed electricians may vary from the estimated costs in the feasibility report.  NSW Government will review Stage 2 applications on their own merit in line with the funding guidelines, and with reference to the feasibility report.

Buildings may be required to complete further investigatory works to confirm the feasibility of options proposed in the Stage 1 reports.  Costs incurred for switchboard data logging, Distributed Network Service Provider (DNSP) connection enquiries and other electrical survey work will be considered eligible expenditure under Stage 2, as outlined on page 22 of the guidelines.  

The works must be directly relevant to the installation of the chosen EV charging option outlined in the feasibility report and must have been commissioned and paid for after the delivery of the feasibility report.  

Only successful Stage 2 grantees will be able to receive NSW Government co-funding for these services.

Applications will be assessed individually against the criteria outlined in the NSW EV ready buildings grants guidelines. 

If an application does not meet eligibility criteria, it will not be considered further in the assessment process. Should an application be missing information, the office may ask the applicant for clarifying information prior to assessing the application. 

Submitting an eligible application does not guarantee the application will be successful. The NSW Government expects to invite successful stage 1 applicants to apply for stage 2 on Thursday 15 August 2024. Stage 2 funding will be allocated on a first-in, first-served basis until funding is exhausted.

Details of the grant payment breakdowns are on page 25 of the grant funding guidelines. The successful Owners Corporation will receive funding at three milestones:  

• Milestone 1 - 10% when the grant application is approved, and the funding agreement is signed. 
• Milestone 2 - 85% when the works have been completed. 
• Milestone 3 - 5% on provision of survey and usage data 12 months post project completion. 

Applicants should ensure there is capacity within the scheme’s finances to fund payments to complete the works in advance of the milestone 2 payment. Evidence of the scheme’s financial capacity or plan to meet expected project costs will be required with your Stage 2 application.

Stage 2 applicants must propose an EV charging solution recommended in the Stage 1 feasibility report.

Stage 2 of EV ready buildings grant supports shared level 2 (7-22 kW) chargers and/or backbone infrastructure to support Level 2 (7-22 kW) charging.

Applications proposing infrastructure to support level 1 charging are not eligible for co-funding. The Department will audit completed installations to ensure works are supporting Level 2 charging. 

Eligible expenditure under Stage 2 of the program is outlined on page 22 of the funding guidelines.

Electrical and/or communications infrastructure installed to support Level 2 charging at individual car spaces will be considered eligible expenditure under the ‘electrical infrastructure upgrades’ category, provided its dominant purpose is facilitating level 2 (7-22 kW) EV charging.

Co-funding can only be used for costs related to the completion of an apartment building feasibility assessment, installation of EV charging infrastructure, and load management/billing software subscriptions. Please refer to the eligible expenditure section of the guidelines in the EV ready buildings grants guidelines for further details.

If you have any questions on your report, they can be submitted to [email protected]. The Net Zero Transport team aim to respond to enquiries within 3 business days.

The NSW Government and the applicant will both contribute to the cost of the feasibility assessment. 

The applicant will receive an invoice from the independent consultant who will be conducting the assessment. The invoice will require a $2,000 payment (ex. GST) prior to the assessment being undertaken. All remaining costs for the assessment will be funded by the NSW Government.

We will host an information session after the program has launched, which will be recorded and made available online until the grant close date. Future webinars are also planned to help applicants make their building EV ready. 

Sign up to our EV mailing list to be the first to know about future information sessions and program updates at the bottom of this webpage. 

Following the information session, additional questions can be directed to [email protected].

Please email [email protected] for assistance. We will attempt to respond to enquiries within 3 business days. 

Any questions that are general in nature and would assist all applicants may be added to this page with any identifying information removed.

To better understand your site and how you can select an appropriate EV charging infrastructure approach, we recommend you look at our EV ready buildings guidance materials for strata schemes.

This includes information on how to prepare for installing EV charging and how to manage the process. You will also find a range of templates and tools to assist you.

We have legal obligations under the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (NSW) in relation to the collection, storage, access, use and disclosure of personal information. 

If your personal information is going to be collected, we will provide you with a privacy statement at the time of collection detailing how this information will be managed in accordance with privacy law.

Information of a confidential nature provided as part of, or in connection with any application, will be treated as commercial-in-confidence information and only disclosed with the consent of the applicant. 

However, commercial-in-confidence information may be disclosed:

• to the minister/the minister’s office 
• to department staff 
• to relevant parties for auditing and review purposes 
• where authorised or required by law to be disclosed.