Updated 30 July 2026
RAMS template for an EV charger installation
Fifteen steps for the earthing decision, cable route, testing and handover.
Method statement: EV charger sequence18 steps
- Survey the supply first: earthing arrangement, main fuse rating, tails and main earthing conductor sizes, main bonding, and the spare ways at the board.
- Record the maximum demand calculation and whether load management is needed. A 32 A circuit on a 60 A cut-out needs the sums on paper before the quote goes out.
- Decide the earthing approach for this property before ordering anything. On a PME supply the choice is an earth electrode, a device that disconnects on an open-PEN fault, or a charge point with that protection built in.
- Check whether the distributor has to be told. Ask them, in writing, and keep the reply with the job file.
- Fix the notification route. Registered on a scheme, you certify and the scheme notifies afterwards. Not registered, it goes to building control before you start.
- Walk the cable route. Note the wall construction, anything buried on the line of a trench to a detached garage, and where a ladder can stand level.
- If the run is trenched, work to HSG47: service drawings first, then a cable-avoidance tool and signal generator over the line, trial holes, and hand digging inside the tolerance zone. Plan spoil, edge protection and reinstatement before the spade comes out.
- Agree the mounting position with the customer: height, the tethered lead's reach to the car's port, and whether the cable will cross a path anyone walks on.
- Plan the pedestrian and vehicle interface. The car moves off the drive during the work, and the trailing lead is a trip hazard on handover as well as on the day.
- Isolate at the board, lock off, keep the key, and post a notice at the point of isolation. The occupier is at home, so tell them the supply is off and that nobody re-energises it but you.
- Prove the tester on a known live source, prove dead at the point of work, then prove the tester again.
- Sweep both faces of the wall with a detector before the bit goes in, drill with on-tool extraction and RPE for the masonry dust, and seal the penetration weathertight from outside. Support the run so no weight lands on the charge point's own terminals.
- Terminate at the charge point and at the board to the manufacturer's torque figures. The residual current protection has to cope with smooth DC: either a Type B device, or a Type A where the charge point provides the DC fault detection itself. The manufacturer's instructions say which.
- Dead tests before energising: continuity, insulation resistance and polarity, recorded as you go.
- Energise and complete the live tests, including earth fault loop impedance, RCD operation and the charge point's own commissioning routine against a vehicle or a test adapter.
- Complete and issue the certificate, record the test results, update the board's circuit chart and label the new way and the charge point's isolator.
- Hand over your own statement of compliance, not the manufacturer's: reg 13(2) wants your name, address and signature on it. Keep the technical file so you can supply a copy on request.
- Set the off-peak charging hours with the customer and show them how to change them.
Paste into your own document and edit every line.
What does a reviewer check on a charge point install?
| Question | What the provision says | Where |
|---|---|---|
| QuestionIs a new EV circuit notifiable? | What the provision saysYes. A registered installer notifies through their scheme. Otherwise, tell building control before work starts. | WhereBuilding Regs 2010, reg 12(6A)(a) and Sch 3 item 8 |
| QuestionWhose duty is the open-PEN risk? | What the provision saysReg 9(2)(b) binds the distributor on its network. EAWR reg 4(1) covers the installation side where it is within your control. | WhereESQCR reg 9(2)(b), EAWR reg 4(1) |
| QuestionAre you selling the charge point? | What the provision saysIf you are the seller, the unit must meet regs 5 to 11 and Schedule 1. Rapid units of 50 kW or more are exempt. | WhereSmart Charge Points Regs 2021, regs 4(1) and 3 |
| QuestionWhat has to go with the unit? | What the provision saysIf you are the seller, give the buyer your signed compliance statement and keep the sales register for ten years. Default hours must avoid 8am–11am and 4pm–10pm weekdays. | WhereSmart Charge Points Regs 2021, regs 13, 10 and 14 |
HSE says about three workers are electrocuted each year during building refurbishment. Reg 12(6A) is England-only, but a new circuit is still notifiable in Wales under reg 12(2): Schedule 4 (Wales) lists five electrical jobs and a new circuit is none of them.
Who owns the open-PEN risk?
Your side of it is a design choice: an electrode, a protective device, or protection built into the charge point. Name the one this property got.
What does the method statement leave to you?
The address, the earthing arrangement, the load calculation and the cable route. The Word file beside these steps is the general electrician RAMS and carries the hazard schedule; it has no charge point in it yet. For board work, the £29 consumer unit RAMS is task-specific and editable.