Telling the Network Operator About a Home EV Charger

Every home EV charger in the UK has to be declared to the company that runs the local electricity network. In most cases the charger is fitted first and the network operator is told within 28 days, but for some homes the operator must be contacted and must give permission before anything is installed. Which route applies depends mainly on one number: whether the maximum demand of the property, counting the new charger, stays at or below 60 amps per phase¹.

The company involved is your distribution network operator, or DNO. It is not your electricity supplier, and it does not sell you electricity. It owns the cables and equipment that deliver power to your street, and it needs to know about your charger so it can keep the local network safe and adequate as more homes add electric cars and heat pumps². In Northern Ireland the process is different and runs through NIE Networks, with an application submitted before installation rather than a notification afterwards³.

This page sets out who does what, when the notification happens, what the operator checks, what happens if your supply needs upgrading, and what the whole arrangement means for a household trying to rely less on outside infrastructure.

Who runs the cables: your distribution network operator

The distribution network operator is the company responsible for maintaining the physical electricity supply to your home. DNOs own and operate the network of towers, pylons and cables that bring electricity from the national transmission network to homes and businesses². They do not sell electricity to consumers: that is done by the electricity retailers whose name appears on your bill². When your installer talks about notifying "the network", this is the company they mean.

Finding out which DNO covers your address is straightforward. The Energy Networks Association, the industry body that represents the network companies, provides a postcode lookup tool covering all the electricity distribution network operator companies². The Energy Ombudsman points to the same route for anyone trying to identify their network provider before making a complaint⁷. If you are unsure whether your property is connected, or how to get it connected, the National Energy System Operator advises contacting your local DNO directly⁸.

The distinction matters because households routinely contact their supplier about network matters and get nowhere. Power cuts, connection issues in your area, and anything to do with the physical supply are the network operator's responsibility, and Ofgem directs customers to contact their network operator for exactly those issues⁹. For a charge point installation, the DNO is the body your installer deals with, and its records of what is connected at your property are what later applications, for a heat pump or a battery, will be checked against.

The usual path: linking up and telling the network

Most home charge points in Great Britain go through a process the industry calls connect and notify. The charger is installed, and the network operator is told afterwards. The deadline is consistent across the sources: the installer should submit the notification within 28 days of the charger being installed¹⁰. UK Power Networks, one of the largest DNOs, describes it plainly: all the installer needs to do is notify the network of the installation within 28 days, using the operator's Smart Connect portal⁶. Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks states the same rule: once the charger is installed, the installer should submit the notification within 28 days¹⁰.

Who sends it is equally clear. Only installers can notify the network on behalf of customers⁶. The installer's role is confirmed by the IET's Code of Practice for EV charging equipment installation, which requires that the appropriate network operator has been notified of the installation within one calendar month¹. But the responsibility for it having been done does not disappear with the installer. Government guidance on registering energy devices states that it is the energy device owner's responsibility to ensure the DNO has received the notification, and, for devices that require prior authorisation, that authorisation has been granted before the work is carried out¹².

There is also a central email route. The IET's guidance on EV charging installations records that where the maximum demand of the whole customer connection is less than 13.8 kVA, the Energy Networks Association must be notified by email within one month of installation, at EV-notifications@energynetworks.org⁵. In practice your installer will use whichever channel your local DNO specifies, but the deadline and the address give you a way to check that the notification has actually happened.

Why 60A per phase determines which route applies

The single number that decides whether a charger can be fitted and notified afterwards, or needs the operator's permission first, is 60 amps per phase. Installations where the maximum demand of the premises, including the new load, is 60A per phase or less, and where the adequacy of the connection is known, qualify for post-installation notification¹. Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks describes the same test as its Connect and Notify route: if the total demand of the property is 60 amps or less and there are no safety concerns, the installer does not need to apply in advance¹⁰. The proposed addition must be assessed by the installer as within the existing rating of the supply equipment, and the maximum demand must be at or below 60A¹¹.

The threshold is about the whole property, not the charger alone. A 7 kW charger draws around 30 amps on a single-phase supply by itself, so a home with an existing demand near or above 60A will not fit under the limit on the charger's rating alone. Where the existing maximum demand of a premises is already above 60A, a connect-and-notify installation of a new charge point or heat pump is still permitted, but only under conditions: there must be no issues with the existing connection, and the new device must have a curtailment scheme that limits the overall property demand to 60A or less whenever the device is active¹. That is what load management in a smart charger is doing when it is used for connection purposes, and it is why some installations pair the charger with sensors at the supply.

Installer guidance describes the same split from the equipment side¹³. Small-scale, low-impact chargers, typically up to 3.68 kW single-phase, can proceed under connect and notify, while larger systems, or those exceeding certain power thresholds such as above 13.8 kW single-phase, may require an apply-to-connect application first⁴. The 3.68 kW figure and the 13.8 kW figure are two ends of the same picture: the smaller the charger relative to the property's capacity, the more likely the simple route applies.

Situations requiring the operator to be informed in advance

Some situations require contact before installation regardless of the amps arithmetic. The IET's guidance states that where the maximum demand of the whole customer connection exceeds 13.8 kVA, the DNO must be contacted prior to connection⁵. Beyond that headline figure, the network operators have agreed a list of circumstances in which customers or installers must contact the appropriate network operator directly¹:

• The installer's maximum demand calculations indicate a property's demand is greater than the known supply capacity
• There are safety concerns over the cut-out, the cut-out fuse or other existing equipment
• There is uncertainty over the supply's capacity or adequacy
• An upgrade is certain to be required
• The property has a looped supply
• The property has an unmetered supply

Two of these come up often with older homes. A looped supply is one where a single cable serves two properties, and it is a common obstacle: installing a home EV charger typically requires a fuse upgrade to 80 to 100 amps, which often cannot be done on a looped supply without overloading the shared cable¹⁴. NIE Networks makes the same point for Northern Ireland: if you need more power, for example to install a 7 kW car charger, you must notify your DNO, and on a looped supply the work needed is more involved¹⁴.

The fuse itself is the other common trigger. Older properties may have a 60A main fuse, which may not safely handle the extra power an EV charger needs¹⁵. Where the main fuse is below 80 amps, the fuse may need to be upgraded to 80A to support the charger, and the installer will check this³. A fuse upgrade is work only the network operator can do, since the fuse belongs to the operator's equipment at the cut-out, not to the household.

Operator assessments and their likely results

Once a notification or application reaches the network operator, the question is always the same: can the existing supply safely carry the new load, and can the local network absorb it. NIE Networks describes its review as checking the capacity available at the premises and determining whether the existing electricity supply can safely accommodate the increased loading, and it uses the information in the application to assess and monitor the local network¹⁶. The stated purpose is to avoid power cuts and keep the supply safe and steady, and the operator may need to upgrade cables or equipment if lots of properties on the same circuit are adding equipment like heat pumps or electric cars¹⁶.

For applications that go through the apply-to-connect route, the industry has been moving towards speed. The Energy Networks Association's low-carbon technology strategy records that automated checks, based on local DNO thresholds, will offer installers immediate application decisions¹⁷. Where an automated decision is not available, the application goes to an engineer's assessment.

The outcomes fall into two. If the assessment shows the existing supply can cope with the new equipment, the customer and installer are notified and the new equipment can be installed safely¹⁸. If it shows the supply cannot cope, the customer is told the equipment cannot be installed as proposed, and the operator advises how to proceed, which usually means an upgrade¹⁸. What the operator cannot do is simply block the installation. Network operators are obliged to facilitate the installation and connection of new loads to the power network as part of their licence condition, and industry guidance states directly that they will not refuse an EV charge point or heat pump¹. The process is about making the connection safe and adequate, not about rationing it.

Supply upgrades: when they are needed and what they cost

An upgrade becomes necessary when the charger, or the charger together with other low-carbon technologies, pushes a home's electricity demand above the available supply¹⁵. NIE Networks states that if that happens, an upgrade may be required, and it will assess the work and provide costs before proceeding³. The trigger is usually the fuse or the service cable: a 60A fuse upgraded to 80A is the common case in older properties³, and a looped supply may need to be separated into two independent supplies before the fuse can be raised at all¹⁴.

On cost, the position is that the network operator quotes for the work rather than publishing a fixed price. NIE Networks offers two ways to find out what connection work costs: a budget quote tool, which provides a provisional cost for a new connection but cannot cost complex work such as housing developments, and the Statement of Charges, which sets out typical costs for the main items of expenditure, excluding VAT, for a new or modified connection¹⁹. For a detailed cost proposal of a connection or alteration you will definitely proceed with, you submit an application through a Connections account¹⁹. If your address is not in the quote tool, NIE advises checking back, as the data is updated regularly¹⁹.

For context on how the rules treat connection infrastructure elsewhere in the UK, Scottish Government policy for non-residential buildings undergoing major renovation caps the cost of recharging and ducting infrastructure at 7% of the total major renovation cost²⁰. That cap applies to non-residential building works, not to a domestic supply upgrade, but it shows the principle: the cost of enabling charging is treated as a bounded, defined part of a wider project rather than an open-ended obligation.

How NIE Networks handles it in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland runs its own process, and it is an application rather than a notification. NIE Networks is the DNO for Northern Ireland, and its EV charger and heat pump connection process begins with the customer choosing the equipment to install, then nominating an installer who carries out checks at the property and submits the application, managing the whole application on the customer's behalf²¹. The installer's responsibility to inform NIE Networks is met by submitting an online application³, and all applications must be submitted through the ENA's Connect Direct website²¹.

Once NIE receives the application, it assesses the new equipment and the existing electricity supply²¹. If the assessment shows the existing supply can cope, the customer and installer are notified and the equipment can be installed safely; if it cannot cope, the customer is told the equipment cannot be installed and NIE advises how to proceed²¹. As in Great Britain, the review looks at whether the existing supply can safely accommodate the increased loading, and at the wider local network¹⁶. The fuse question is the same: older properties may have a 60A fuse, and where the main fuse is below 80 amps it may need upgrading to 80A to support the charger³.

NIE Networks can be contacted on 03457 643 643, with WhatsApp support available from 7.30am to 11.30pm, seven days a week including public and bank holidays³. Its connections team handles upgrades to existing supplies and new supplies, as well as generation connections²². For commercial installs, or help with the application process, NIE directs installers to contact it by email³.

Notifying generation: panels, storage and parallel running

The notification your charger needs is part of a wider system that covers other energy devices too. If you are installing a battery storage system alongside solar PV, you will also need a DNO application, through the same process as for solar panels, and the installer can complete it²³. Solar installers must contact the Distribution Network Operator via one of the same two routes, connect and notify or apply to connect²³. Welsh Government guidance on behind-the-meter energy systems makes the same distinction by size: small systems usually only need the electricity network operator to be notified²⁴.

For generation, the deadline mirrors the charger rule. Under the G98 connection procedure, you must notify the DNO of the generation installation within 28 days of commissioning²⁵. So a household combining solar panels, a battery and an EV charger is making, in effect, one set of declarations to one company, and the order matters: the DNO's picture of your maximum demand determines whether each subsequent device qualifies for the simple route or triggers a load check.

This is also where the charger and the wider system interact. A battery can shift when the charger draws from the grid, and solar can supply part of the charge directly, but none of it changes the notification requirement: the DNO still needs to know what is connected. What a well-declared system can do is keep the property's maximum demand within its supply capacity, which is what keeps you on the simpler notification routes as you add equipment.

The G98 and G99 standards explained

The two engineering standards behind these routes are G98 and G99. G98 is the simpler procedure, and its notification deadline is explicit: you must notify the DNO of the generation installation within 28 days of commissioning²⁵. The IET's guidance on EV charging installations frames the same threshold in kVA: where the maximum demand of the whole customer connection is less than 13.8 kVA, the ENA must be notified by email within one month of installation, and where the MD exceeds 13.8 kVA, the DNO must be contacted prior to connection⁵.

G99 is the heavier procedure, and the reason for it is stated in building regulations guidance: the DNO needs to check whether the grid is able to take the extra electricity load before the system is up and running²³. The same document records the two routes for heat pumps, which apply equally to chargers: notify before installation via apply to connect, or within 28 days once the installation is complete via connect and notify, with the notification completed by the installer²³.

The standards exist because the network is a shared physical system with real limits. The IET's Code of Practice requires that the appropriate network operator has been notified of a dedicated EV charging installation within one calendar month¹, which aligns with the 28-day deadlines used across the DNOs' own guidance¹⁰. Separately, building control has its own notification: an EV charger installation is notifiable work under building regulations, and while the installer may be the one who notifies the building control body, that should not be assumed²⁶. That notification is distinct from the DNO notification, and a complete installation needs both.

Implications for your home's energy self sufficiency

A home charge point is often presented as a step towards energy independence, and for daily running it is: the car is fuelled from your own supply, overnight, at home. But the connection notification is a reminder of what the independence actually rests on. The charger draws through the DNO's cable and cut-out fuse, the operator's records determine what you can connect and when, and an upgrade, if your supply needs one, is work only the operator can do, at a price the operator quotes¹⁹. The declaration itself is a dependence: your charger is on the network's books, and the network's assessment of your street's capacity shapes what you and your neighbours can install next.

The limits are physical and shared. EV chargers and other low-carbon technologies can push a home's demand above the available supply¹⁵, and where many properties on one circuit add equipment, the operator may need to upgrade cables or equipment to keep everything working¹⁶. That is the trade: the more a street electrifies, the more the shared network has to be reinforced, and the notification process is how that reinforcement gets triggered before problems appear rather than after.

Reliability remains the network's to deliver. A power cut is a network event, and the operator may owe you compensation for it²², with an extra £40 if a payment due to you is missed²¹. The network operator is responsible for the pipes and wires that move energy, and it is the contact for power cuts and connection issues in your area²⁶. A charger does not change that relationship; it deepens it, because the household now depends on the connection for transport as well as for light and heat. Keeping the declaration record straight, and knowing your supply's rating and your DNO's identity, is part of managing that dependence well.