Terms and conditions for an EV charger installer

An EV charger installation is sold on a remote survey and a headline price, then meets the real world: an earthing arrangement that needs a rod, a consumer unit at capacity, a network operator that will not approve the load, and a cable run twice as long as the photographs suggested. Your terms decide who pays for all of that. I draft them for a fixed fee of £995, delivered in five working days.

Who this is for

Electrical contractors and installation businesses in England and Wales fitting domestic charge points, landlord and multi-dwelling installations, and workplace or fleet charging. Most installers sell to homeowners, who are consumers with rights they cannot sign away, and to businesses such as employers, developers and property managers. One set of terms can serve both if it is drafted with that split in mind.

What matters in an EV charger installer's terms

The remote survey and what the price assumes

Almost every domestic quote is produced from a questionnaire and photographs, and almost every dispute starts there. Your terms should list the assumptions the price is built on: the cable route and its length, a free way of the consumer unit, an accessible meter position, no penetration of a finished floor, no trenching and no scaffold. Where the on-site position differs, the terms should give you the right to re-quote or withdraw before any work begins, rather than leaving your installer standing in a driveway negotiating with a customer who has already been given a figure.

Network approval, earthing and available capacity

You cannot promise a working charge point when the supply, the earthing arrangement and the network operator all have a say. The terms should make clear that the installation is subject to the operator's approval and to the supply being adequate, that a load-managed or lower-rated unit may be the outcome, and that an earth rod, a consumer unit replacement or a main fuse upgrade is chargeable work outside the quoted price. They should also give both sides a clean exit, with a stated refund position, if approval is refused or delayed rather than leaving you holding a deposit and a customer expecting a date.

Grants, funding and the advertised price

Where you claim funding on the customer's behalf and deduct it from the invoice, your terms must say what happens if the claim is rejected because the property, the vehicle or the evidence does not qualify: the customer pays the difference, and you should be able to invoice it. Advertising matters too. Under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 a headline price shown to consumers must include all mandatory charges, so a 'fully installed' figure that quietly excludes items every job needs is a risk in itself, quite apart from the argument it causes at handover.

Homeowners, the fourteen days and starting early

A domestic installation agreed by phone, email or at the customer's home falls within the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, so the customer has fourteen days to cancel. Installers lose money here constantly: the unit is ordered, the slot is booked, and the customer changes their mind. Work carried out in that period is only payable if the customer expressly asked for it, and where the cancellation information was never given the period can extend by up to twelve months. Your terms and your order confirmation have to deal with this together.

The unit, the app and who guarantees what

The charge point is goods and the installation is a service, and the Consumer Rights Act 2015 treats them differently: goods must be of satisfactory quality with a short-term right to reject within thirty days, while the installation must be carried out with reasonable care and skill. Your terms should separate your workmanship guarantee from the manufacturer's hardware warranty, and say plainly that connectivity, the app, firmware updates, tariff integration and any back office account are the manufacturer's or provider's responsibility. A charger that loses its wi-fi is not a defective installation, but a customer will call you first.

Workplace, fleet and landlord installations

Commercial jobs bring groundworks, bay marking, trenching and reinstatement, and they need a different payment structure. Fixing charge points and ducting to the land makes retention of title close to worthless, so the protection has to sit in staged payments and interest. For business customers the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 gives you statutory interest and fixed compensation. Where the work is construction work between businesses, the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 brings adjudication and payment notice rules, and bans pay-when-paid, so your payment clause must be written to sit with it rather than against it.

What it costs

Customer or supplier terms and conditions, £995. One set of terms, customer-facing or supplier-facing, drafted around your business. Five working days.

Review of your existing terms, £495. You already have terms and want to know how much of a problem they are. Returned marked up with my amendments and an explanation of the changes. Three working days.

Buying online forms the engagement on payment. The scope is what the terms and conditions drafting page describes, you accept the Terms of Service at checkout, and I email you within four working hours to get started. If you would rather ask something first, email me.

What you get

• A full set of terms drafted around your business, not a template with your name inserted
• A covering note in plain English explaining every commercial choice I made and why, so you can defend the terms in a negotiation without ringing me
• Liability, payment, termination and IP provisions set at a level that will survive a procurement review
• Consumer-facing wording drafted to be enforceable where you sell to consumers
• Guidance on how to incorporate the terms properly, which is where most businesses actually fail
• One round of amendments after you have read them

What is not included

• Negotiating your terms with individual customers
• Sector-specific regulatory compliance beyond the contract terms themselves
• Website privacy notice and cookie compliance, which I quote separately
• Terms governed by the law of another country

Questions I am often asked

Can I charge for an aborted visit when the site is not as described?

You can, provided the terms set out the survey assumptions, state the abortive visit charge and bring it to the customer's attention before the order is placed. A charge that appears for the first time on the invoice is the sort of default charge that a consumer can challenge as unfair, so it needs to be visible at the point of booking.

Who is responsible for getting the landlord's or freeholder's permission?

The customer should be, and the terms should say so in terms, along with parking rights, access to the meter position and any permission needed to cross communal land. Your clause should also let you postpone or cancel without penalty if permission has not been obtained by the installation date.

Do I need to mention certification in my terms?

It helps. Certain electrical work must be certified or notified under the Building Regulations, and your terms should say what certificate the customer will receive, when, and that it follows payment of the final invoice. It also gives you a clear answer when a customer asks for paperwork months later for a house sale.

Related guidance and services

• Terms and conditions drafting, £995, the service this page describes
• Contract review, £495
• Ask Caesar, £495 a month
• Terms and conditions for an electrician

This page is general guidance for businesses in England and Wales, not advice on your own circumstances. Last reviewed: September 2026. Email geoffrey@caesar.co.uk.