UK smart charge point regulations explained

These regulations are the reason every mainstream home charger on sale has an app and a Wi-Fi or mobile connection. They are not a wiring standard, and they say nothing about how the charger is installed. They are about what the product must do once it is on your wall.

What the regulations require

The Electric Vehicles (Smart Charge Points) Regulations 2021 (SI 2021/1467) apply to anyone selling, offering or advertising a private charge point in Great Britain. A compliant charger must:

• Be smart. It can send and receive information and respond by changing its charging rate or time.
• Keep that smartness if you switch supplier. The functionality cannot be tied to one energy company.
• Still charge if the connection is lost. A dropped internet connection must not stop the car charging.
• Default to off-peak hours. The pre-set charging times fall outside peak, defined as 8am to 11am and 4pm to 10pm on weekdays.
• Add a randomised delay of up to 600 seconds. It staggers start times so that thousands of chargers do not switch on at once. The owner can cancel it, and the charger must be capable of a delay up to 1,800 seconds.
• Measure energy accurately. The meter must be accurate to within 10%.
• Be secure. Unique passwords, secure software updates and encrypted communications, based on the ETSI EN 303 645 baseline.

Enforcement is by the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) on behalf of DESNZ and OZEV. The Secretary of State must publish a first review report by June 2027.

What they do not cover

They do not regulate installers, wiring or earthing. That is BS 7671 Section 722, the Building Regulations and the network operator’s rules, covered in our installation guide and PEN fault guide.

They also do not apply to non-smart cables, public or rapid charge points, chargers sold before 30 June 2022, chargers sold in Northern Ireland, or second-hand chargers sold between individuals. Electrical Safety First warns that second-hand chargers may be a serious fire risk and tells people to buy plug-in chargers only from reputable retailers.

What the rules mean for you in practice

Your charger may wait. Left on its defaults, a charger is designed to avoid the weekday peak windows and to start after a short random delay. You can change both in the app. If you are on an off-peak tariff, you will set the schedule yourself anyway, and many chargers hand control to the supplier.

It must still charge offline. That is why a smart charger that loses its connection still delivers power. It does not say which rate you are billed at. On Intelligent Octopus Go, for example, Ohme says an offline charger at plug-in starts a “Max” charge billed at the peak rate; see our offline troubleshooting guide.

Treat the app’s kWh figure as an estimate. The regulations only require measurement to within 10%. This is our reading, and your supplier’s meter remains the one that bills you.

Security is a purchase criterion. The rules require unique passwords and secure updates, but not how long a maker supports a product. Several makers in our data have had connectivity outages, which our reviews note, so factor in a record of updates and support.

What is coming: Energy Smart Appliances regulations

The government consulted from 1 December 2025 to 5 February 2026 on first-phase Energy Smart Appliances (ESA) regulations. They would revoke the 2021 regulations and fold them in six months after being made. Key points from the consultation:

• minor changes are expected in Q4 2026, which is a government expectation rather than a fact;
• more significant changes arrive from 31 December 2027, including Class B meter accuracy under the Measuring Instruments Regulations, the ETSI EN 303 645 baseline and protection against physical damage;
• off-peak defaults are retained;
• users could override the randomised delay only for each charging event, not permanently; and
• OPSS would continue to enforce.

An interim response followed on 17 September 2026, dealing among other things with equivalence for EN 18031-3:2024. A search of legislation.gov.uk titles on 10 October 2026 found no Energy Smart Appliances instrument, so the regulations appear not to have been made yet; this is an inference from a title search. Until they are, the 2021 rules apply unchanged. Nothing changes for buyers today.

BS 7671 and the other rules in the background

The wiring side has moved too. BS 7671:2018+A4:2026 was published on 15 April 2026, and the previous version is withdrawn on 15 October 2026. Nothing in A4 changes what a standard home install looks like. The IET Code of Practice for EV charging equipment installation (5th edition, 2023) covers the Smart Charge Points Regulations alongside Part S and fire safety, and the EV Consumer Code requires members to fit only smart chargers that meet the 2021 regulations.

What this means when you buy

Check three things. First, that the product page says it complies with the Smart Charge Points Regulations 2021. Second, that the seller is a reputable retailer or installer, because the duty falls on the seller. Third, that you understand the defaults, so the charger does what you expect in the first week. Our best home EV chargers roundup compares chargers on the features that matter.