---
source_file: Guide 13.pdf
doc_ref: GUIDE 13
title: EV Charging and Fire Safety in Covered Car Parks
type: guide
currency: Current as of July 2026
disclaimer: General information, not legal advice
publisher: Priority First (priorityfirst.co.uk)
ERRATUM_IN_PUBLISHED_PDF: |
  Page 2 of the live PDF contains an unremoved internal editorial instruction:
  "...guidance on fire safety for electric vehicles in covered car parks
  [interim guidance first published July 2023, updated February 2024 — verify
  current version before publication]."
  Second instance of this pattern (see also Guide 12). Fix the PDF and confirm
  the current OZEV guidance version before any article cites it.
---

# EV Charging and Fire Safety in Covered Car Parks

**Standfirst:** Chargepoints are arriving in residential and mixed-use car parks faster than most fire strategies anticipated. EV fires are rare, but they behave differently — and the fire risk assessment comes before the installation, not after.

The risk is not that electric vehicles catch fire more often — evidence suggests they do not. It is that when they do, the incident is different in kind.

## 01 · Why EV fires are a distinct risk

Lithium-ion battery fires involve thermal runaway: a damaged or faulty cell heats uncontrollably, ignites neighbouring cells, and can burn intensely for hours. Three characteristics drive the planning:

- **Duration — reignition.** Reignition is possible long after the fire appears to be out.
- **Response — hard to extinguish.** Harder to put out than a conventional vehicle fire, and they produce significant toxic vapour.
- **Setting — enclosed space.** In a covered car park beneath residential floors, the consequences of getting the planning wrong are serious.

> The Office for Zero Emission Vehicles has published guidance on fire safety for electric vehicles in covered car parks [⚠️ UNREMOVED EDITORIAL NOTE IN LIVE PDF: "interim guidance first published July 2023, updated February 2024 — verify current version before publication"].

## 02 · What government guidance asks for

The themes are consistent across versions, and they run in sequence — assessment, then design, then procedure:

- **Assess first** — Review the fire risk assessment before installing chargepoints, and treat the installation as a material change to the building.
- **Location** — Site chargepoints near ventilation and access points, and away from escape routes, structural elements of concern and any single means of escape.
- **Detection & suppression** — Consider sprinkler provision, thermal detection or camera coverage of charging bays, and how the fire service would access and fight a battery fire.
- **Manual isolation** — A clearly marked, accessible means of cutting power to chargepoints in an emergency.
- **Planned response** — Staff and residents should know how to report a charging incident, and the building team should know the isolation and escalation procedure cold.

**Sequencing:** Fire risk assessment first. Location and isolation designed in. Response procedures written and trained before the first vehicle plugs in. Retrofitting safety after installation costs more and protects less.

## 03 · Questions for landlords and managers

1. Has the fire risk assessment been reviewed since chargepoints were installed — or before they are?
2. Does the fire strategy reflect the car park's current use, including any commercial parking or car club vehicles?
3. Who maintains the chargepoints, and is there an inspection record?
4. Do night teams and concierge know where the isolation switches are?
5. Have insurers been notified of the installation? Some policies carry specific conditions.

**Pull quote:** The chargepoints are the easy part. The sequencing is what protects the building.