New Ministerial Building Standard for the installation of electric vehicle charging stations and related amendments to Planning, Development and Infrastructure (General) Regulations 2017

On 18 June 2026, the Minister for Planning published Ministerial Building Standard MBS 013 ‘Installation of electric vehicle charging stations’ (the Standard), being a new Ministerial Building Standard specifically addressing requirements for electric vehicle charging stations (EVC Stations).

Pursuant to section 80 of the Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016 (PDI Act), Ministerial Building Standards form part of the Building Rules against which applications for building consent must be assessed. 

The Standard applies to covered or underground EVC Stations installed in new or existing standalone Class 7a buildings (carparks), including Class 7a buildings that form part of Class 2 (apartments) and to Class 9 buildings (buildings of a public nature).

The Standard specifies:

1. the location of EVC Stations within a building e.g. at ground level where possible;
2. that signage must be installed indicating, amongst other things, that available fire hose reels should not be used to fight fire in the event of an electric vehicle fire;
3. that a master electrical isolation switch that isolates power to the EVC Station must be installed; and
4. that steel bollards must be installed to protect EVC Stations from collision.

The provisions of the Standard are applicable from 1 July 2026.  The Standard can be read in full here.

Related changes to the Planning, Development and Infrastructure (General) Regulations 2017

Amendments to the Planning, Development and Infrastructure (General) Regulations 2017 also came into operation on 1 July 2026. 

Clause 22 of schedule 4 of the Regulations now provides that the construction, alteration, repair or maintenance of an EVC Station is excluded from the definition of “development” in the PDI Act, other than –

1. in respect of a local heritage place; 
2. on adjacent land to a State heritage place or local heritage place; 
3. in an area that is underground or covered and does not relate to a Class 1 building (houses); or
4. a charging station that features advertising that is not “permitted advertising”.

For these purposes, “permitted advertising” means advertising that:

1. is no greater than 0.2 m² in size;
2. is not illuminated; and 
3. is for the purposes of identifying the charging station as such or providing other information directly related to the charging station.

With electric vehicles becoming increasingly popular, these changes are seemingly intended to reduce regulatory barriers to the installation of EVC Stations while maintaining appropriate planning oversight for installations in heritage-sensitive locations and covered or underground areas.

For more specific information on any of the material contained in this article please contact Nicholas Munday on +61 8 8217 1381 or nmunday@normans.com.au or Lydia Hart on +61 8 8210 1233 or lhart@normans.com.au.