Fire department wants restrictions on EV parking and charging in big buildings

The NSW Fire and Rescue office has intervened in a crucial debate about Australian building standards, saying that it does not approve of electric vehicles being charged, or even parked, in enclosed parking areas in buildings.

In a position paper on the new National Building Standards released last week, the FRNSW says EV parking and charging – “as a minimum” – should  occur only in the open air, and if it needs to be internal it should be close to exits, and not close to lifts, doors or other critical infrastructure.

It recommends that any internal EV parking and charging be protected by only the very latest automatic fire sprinkler systems, fire hydrants and enhanced smoke detection, and provided with automatic or remote emergency charging stations.

The department says its position is effectively an endorsement of the position taken previously by the Australasian Fire and Emergency Services Council, and it says that while it recognises that EV fires are very rare, or “low frequency”, they have potentially high consequences.

“The potential consequence of an EV fire may result in rapid unconfined fire spread through the car park and /or bustling, causing large property losses and likely threat to life safety,” it writes.

“FRNSW does not recommend EV parking and/or charging to any building not protected by an AS 2118 fire sprinkler system, including a building protected by an FPAA101D or FPAA101H fire sprinkler system which have lesser performance,” it writes.

It says these lower performance sprinkler systems (the two FPA standards) are not appropriate for an EV with a lithium-ion battery in a state of thermal runaway.

“Any request for consultation or referral to FRNSW relating to any new building that intends to incorporate EV parking and/or charging, should adequately identify the hazards and risks and demonstrate how they are being address within the design.”

The EV industry is concerned that this is a case of over-reach, and while the FRNSW position is yet to be formally incorporated into new building standards, they effectively already are because developers are being told that approval will not be forthcoming without them. The industry says the costs to smaller apartment buildings could be prohibitive.

FRNSW says building surveyors and certifiers are being urged to take its warnings into account when assessing building applications.

In a LinkedIn post last week, Electric Vehicle Council’s head of policy and infrastructure Ross de Rango said the new FRNSW position comes as the Australian Institute of Building Surveyors is also seeking regulatory change to prevent electricians from installing EV chargers without sign off from a building surveyor.

“The evidence does not support either of these positions, and they’ll both drive significant increases in the cost of housing if they get up,” de Rango wrote. “The EVC’s ask in this area is simple: Let’s have evidence-based regulation.”

Fred Tuckwell, the chair of the Owners Corporation Network and a member of the EV Ready Buildings Expert Reference Group, said he supported the EVC position.

“The facts are that electric vehicles are 10 to 20 time less likely to catch fire compared with petrol and diesel powered vehicles, and no one is asking for changes to the way they are garaged or fuelled!”

(The Driven will be publishing more articles on this important subject. Any thoughts or insights, please email news@thedriven.io).