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EV charger on outside of wooden detached outbuilding

Alan B

Hi

I am being asked to quote for installing a domestic EV charger on the outside of a detached outbuilding that's constructed of wood. the charger is constructed of plastic.

The building is 20 or 30m from the house is 20 or so meters from the house so no risk of fire spreading to a dwelling.

The SWA from house to DB in the building is protected by an MCB and my plan is to use a metal DB in the building with RCBO's for each circuit which will help reduce the risk of fire to some extent.

Looking through BS7671 and guidance note 4 I can't find any rules requiring me to mount the charger on a non flammable surface but not sure I am comfortable with it.

The charger won't get hot under normal conditions but given it's carrying quite a lot of current presumably there is a chance that a fault could cause fire.

I am wondering if there are rules I have missed, if others would take any precautions and what they are.

I have looked at fibre cement board which could be a solution for internal mounting but I think the charger would be better outside and I don't see the customer accepting fibre cement board being visible outside.

Parents
  • 0

    seconded - there are no high power parts in the charger - it is just a contactor and some electronics to turn it on and off as required.

    Unless the charger instructions say 'do not mount on flammable surface' then it is safe to assume you can, and it will be fine.

    Now, how is the earthing being organised ?

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  • 0

    seconded - there are no high power parts in the charger - it is just a contactor and some electronics to turn it on and off as required.

    Unless the charger instructions say 'do not mount on flammable surface' then it is safe to assume you can, and it will be fine.

    Now, how is the earthing being organised ?

Children
  • 0 in reply to mapj1

    Thanks for confirming I am ok for fire risk. Regarding earthing. I ran out of time to check earthing during the visit as the customer had to go out. I suspect that currently the TNCS earth is extended to the garage. Which is ok for the charger as it's got open pen detection, I didn't see any sockets or any other accessory close to the front of the building for use outside or any extraneous conductive parts entering the building. There is a good chance I missed something and may therefore may need to convert it to a TT island. It's not a big deal and I carry earth rods etc on the van.

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