Right to Install EV Charging Station or Not

Electric and many hybrid cars require electric charging. Florida’s legislature wanted to make sure that condominium unit owners would have rights similar to those of house owners to install electric charging meters. In 2018, the Legislature amended the Condominium Act, adding eight (8) to section 113 of the Act to prohibit condominium associations from banning electrical vehicle charging stations in assigned parking areas.

Condominium owners do not have carte blanche authority to install charging meters but must follow the rules set forth in the statute. The statute prohibits associations from banning installation of an electric vehicle charging station within the boundaries of the unit owners' limited common element or exclusive designated parking area. But the statute also states that installation is subject to the following conditions:

1. The installation may not cause irreparable damage to the condominium property;
2. Electricity for the charging station must be separately metered or metered by an embedded meter and payable by the unit owner installing the charging station or by the unit owner’s successor;
3. Cost of installation, operation, maintenance, and repair’s responsibility of the unit owner, and the unit owner is also responsible for the cost of hazard and liability insurance. The association can enforce payment of these costs as a lien for assessments.
4. If the unit owner or the owner’s successor decides that there is no longer a need for the electric vehicle charging station, that person is responsible for the cost of removing the charging station and the association may enforce payment as a lien for assessments.
5. The statute provides that the association may require the unit owner to: 1. comply with bona fide safety requirements, applicable building codes were other recognized safety standards for protection of persons and property; 2. comply with reasonable architectural standards adopted by the association that govern the dimensions, placement or appearance of the charging station as long as the standards do not prohibit installation or substantially increase the cost; 3. engage the services of a licensed and registered firm familiar with installation or removal and core requirements of electric vehicle charging station; 4. provide certificate of insurance naming the association as an additional insured on the owner’s insurance policy; 5. reimburse the association its actual cost of any increased insurance premium attributable to the electric vehicle charging station

There are a lot of condominium owners that think the statute gives them unlimited right to install a charging station anywhere they want. The statute clearly limits installation, but when an owner wants a charging station, the owner really wants one and might not take no for an answer.

One of the first problems that an owner has to overcome is limitation of right to install a charging station to what is effectively a limited common element. If a parking space is not assigned as a limited common element in a particular condominium or for exclusive use, the statute doesn’t apply.

The statute also does not eliminate the association’s right to review and approve plans and to ensure safety. Sometimes a unit owner will simply move ahead with installation thinking the owner has that right by statute. That was the case in one recent arbitration proceeding in which the arbitrator for the Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes ordered the unit owner to remove a charging station installed in the owner’s parking space because the owner did not obtain association approval, as required by its rules. The owner likely has to also pay the association’s attorney fees.

The statute can be used to stop installation because it does not mandate associations cooperation. In another arbitration case, the arbitrator ordered the association to approve an owner’s application as long as the local building department issued a permit, because the association had acted unreasonably, arbitrarily, and in bad faith blocking installation for over 18 months without a formal denial.

The most recent case addressing charging stations is Pereschino v Station Square Condo. Assoc. decided by the Second District Court of Appeal on August 14, 2026. Persechino installed a charging station for a Tesla without association authorization. The station was not separately metered, was wired to the association’s breaker box, and limited use of the breaker box by other owners. The association sued for an injunction.

Persechino argued the statute included the only limits on the installation. The association argued installation of a charging station was a material alteration requiring approval by 75% of unit owners just like any other material alteration.

The association won. Persechino was ordered to disconnect and file appropriate application for approval, including obtaining the vote of other owners required for a material alteration. This confirms associations can adopt reasonable rules addressing charging stations, and also that when the station materially alters the property, applicable requirements for approval of material alterations must be met.

Electric charging stations are protected by statute, but the protection is not unlimited. Condominium owners desiring a charging station should make sure they follow all the rules.