How do you provide accessible EV charging under PAS 1899?

Accessible charging needs usable equipment and a usable parking environment. PAS 1899:2022 covers both [S1]. Ask your designer to assess the whole journey, from finding the bay to paying and returning the cable. Specify the evidence you want before ordering, and check planning conditions and equality duties with your advisers. Checked October 2026.

Last checked 17 October 2026

What does PAS 1899 mean for accessible EV charging?

Treat accessibility as part of your site brief before choosing hardware. PAS means Publicly Available Specification. PAS 1899:2022 sets requirements and recommendations for public charging, including equipment and its surroundings. It also assigns responsibilities to those procuring the installation [S1].

Ask the designer to identify the edition used and provide a clause-by-clause response for your proposed layout. Request a drawing showing the parking position, usable space, charger, protective barriers and pedestrian route. Do not accept a product brochure as the entire site assessment.

Keep the scope clear. A promise that equipment is suitable for an accessible installation does not establish that your finished parking bay will be usable. BSI has separate assessment routes for chargers and charging bays [S4]. Ask which route the evidence covers and which remaining items belong to your civil works contractor.

How should you design an accessible EV charging station?

Start with the driver’s journey. Designability’s guidance draws on research with disabled people and informed the national standard [S2]. Use it to organise a site walk with your designer and people who experience access barriers. A convenient cable route for the installer may still leave an awkward journey for the customer.

Ask participants to describe how they would arrive, get out, reach the controls, pay and leave. Include a passenger who needs space beside the vehicle. Repeat the exercise with the charger cable in use and with the neighbouring space occupied. Record the problems and assign each change to someone before approving the design.

The following is a suggested review sheet, rather than a substitute for the specification:

Give the reviewer your actual operating conditions. Include delivery routes, outdoor furniture and seasonal displays in the drawing. Ask how the layout can remain usable when those activities are happening.

How much space do disabled EV charging bays need?

Do not start by copying a single bay width from an online summary. DfT describes accessibility considerations including gradients, reach distances, additional space and distances from dropped kerbs [S3]. The designer needs to assess these together for your location.

Ask for dimensions on the drawing and for the design team to explain how the whole arrangement satisfies its specified criteria. Request a written explanation of any departures. This guide does not give a universal bay dimension because the relationship between equipment, vehicle position and surrounding access matters.

Before allocating spaces, compare the layout with your site survey. If a larger accessible arrangement changes how customers circulate, assess that with the parking manager. Agree how you will handle a blocked access aisle without asking a disabled driver to negotiate with another customer. Include that procedure in staff training.

What should accessible EV charging signs and information say?

Write signs around the decisions a visitor must make: where to park, whether payment for parking is separate, how to start charging and where to get help. Ask users to test the wording on the proposed sign before printing it. Keep enforcement instructions consistent with the customer information on your website.

For advance information, publish photographs of the actual installation and describe restrictions plainly. Useful details to collect include the surface, approach route, cable arrangement and whether assistance is available during your advertised hours. These are suggested disclosure items, supported by the standard’s attention to information and the surrounding environment [S1].

Review the public charging checklist separately. Do not use an accessibility sign to imply that every other operating requirement has been assessed.

How should you specify EV charging accessibility in a contract?

The specification describes its implementation as voluntary and says compliance does not remove legal obligations [S1]. Ask your solicitor to check equality duties, planning conditions and contract requirements for your site. BSI has published an implementation review; ask your designer to check for relevant revisions when procurement starts [S5].

For the tender, request an accessibility evidence schedule with named owners for the hardware, civil works, signage and operating procedures. Set an acceptance demonstration before final handover. Have the contractor record any unfinished items, the proposed remedy and who approves completion.

Budget for that work when comparing charger costs. Ask for accessibility items to be separately described so you can compare the scope across offers. Include the future inspection of routes and equipment in your maintenance arrangements.

What should you do next?

Prepare photographs, a parking plan and a list of access concerns. Then get matched with an installer that covers your area and request a design-led site assessment.

Piggy Pineapple Ltd operates this referral service. We refer enquiries to installer partners and may be paid a fee. Our owner holds shares in at least one partner. Before sharing your details, we name the proposed partner and disclose whether our owner holds shares in it. Read how we work.