Summary

Domestic EV charger pricing is a single-charger, single-circuit job — see ev charger installation pricing guide for that scope. Workplace and commercial multi-bay installations are a different job entirely: multiple charge points sharing one electrical supply, a DNO application process that can take weeks rather than being a same-day notification, and — critically — dynamic load management (DLM) hardware that continuously balances demand across all the bays so the site never exceeds its available supply capacity. Pricing this correctly means separating what scales per bay (the charger unit itself, its spur cabling) from what's shared infrastructure (the DLM controller, the main feeder, the DNO application, the sub-board), since shared infrastructure cost per bay drops sharply as the scheme gets bigger.

The commercial driver for load management is straightforward: without it, a site with (say) an 8-bay ambition but only headroom for 4 chargers running simultaneously at full power would either need a very expensive DNO supply upgrade, or accept that chargers randomly fail to deliver full power when several vehicles plug in at once. A DLM controller monitors real-time demand — usually via CT clamps on the incoming supply — and throttles individual charge points dynamically so the total site load never exceeds the available capacity, letting a business install more charge points than a "dumb" installation of the same supply could support.

The OZEV Workplace Charging Scheme materially changes the customer conversation on cost. It pays £350 per socket installed, up to a maximum of 40 sockets per applicant — a significant offset on a multi-bay scheme, and one that should be quoted as a net-cost reduction to the customer, not folded into your sell price. As with the domestic OZEV scheme, always check current eligibility and amounts before quoting, and note that the installer or the applicant business (not you as the electrician, typically) applies for the grant — confirm current process requirements before committing a customer to a job on the assumption the grant will land.

Key Facts

Charger and hardware costs

Civils, cabling and containment

DNO and compliance

Grants and scheme size

Quick Reference Table

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Scheme size Typical hardware DLM required? Typical total (ex-VAT, before grant) Approx. total after WCS grant
4-bay, single-phase, near DB 4 x 7kW AC Optional at this scale £8,000-£12,000 £6,600-£10,600
4-bay, longer run / 3-phase 4 x 7kW or 22kW AC Recommended £11,000-£16,000 £9,600-£14,600
10-bay, 3-phase, DLM 10 x 7kW AC + DLM Yes £15,000-£22,000 £11,500-£18,500
10-bay with new DNO supply application 10 x 7kW AC + DLM Yes £18,000-£28,000 £14,500-£24,500
20-bay, 3-phase, DLM, significant civils 20 x 7kW AC + DLM Yes £28,000-£42,000 £21,000-£35,000
20-bay with DNO reinforcement 20 x 7kW AC + DLM Yes £35,000-£55,000+ £28,000-£48,000+

These are indicative ranges — always survey the specific site (existing supply capacity, cable run distances, parking surface type, and whether a DNO reinforcement is needed) before quoting a fixed price.

Detailed Guidance

The survey: what determines whether this is a straightforward or expensive job

  1. Existing supply capacity and headroom. A site with a modern three-phase supply and spare capacity is a materially cheaper job than one needing a DNO-led reinforcement. Get an up-to-date maximum demand figure from the site's existing supply and compare it against the proposed charging load before quoting.
  2. Number of bays and whether they're phased. A business installing 4 bays now with ducting/capacity left for 6 more later changes the civils and containment spec significantly — always ask about phased expansion plans, since over-sizing ducting and the DLM controller's monitored capacity at the outset is far cheaper than a second mobilisation later.
  3. Car park surface and cable route. Tarmac or block-paved surfaces requiring trenching and reinstatement cost meaningfully more than a site with existing ducting, an adjacent plant room, or a route that can run on surface-clipped containment along a boundary wall.
  4. Whether load management is essential or precautionary. At small scale (4 bays on a supply with genuine spare capacity for all 4 to run simultaneously at full power) DLM may be a value-add rather than a strict requirement. At 10+ bays sharing anything less than a very large supply, DLM is close to mandatory to avoid either nuisance tripping or a very expensive supply upgrade.
  5. Single-phase vs three-phase. Workplace schemes above a handful of bays are almost always three-phase, both for the supply itself and often for the chargers (22kW three-phase units charge faster, useful for fleet/turnaround use cases, but cost more per unit and need a three-phase supply at each bay).

DNO applications for commercial multi-bay supply

A single domestic 7kW charger is typically installed under a G98 connect-and-notify process — the installer proceeds and notifies afterward. A commercial multi-bay scheme, particularly one adding meaningful new demand or requiring three-phase capacity increase, is more likely to need a G99 application requiring the DNO's prior approval before work proceeds. This can take several weeks and, in some cases, requires network reinforcement paid for by the customer at the DNO's quoted cost. Build the DNO timeline into the customer's expectations early — it is the most common cause of a workplace EV scheme's actual completion date slipping well past the site survey date, and should never be quoted as a fixed-fee line until the DNO has actually responded with a capacity assessment. See ev charger installation pricing guide for the G98/G99 distinction in more detail at domestic scale.

Dynamic load management hardware and how it changes the electrical design

A DLM system monitors the site's real-time total demand — typically via CT clamps clipped around the incoming supply's live conductors — and communicates with the charge points (either through a dedicated controller box, or through master/slave networking built into the chargers themselves) to throttle individual charging currents dynamically, keeping total demand within the supply's rated capacity. This changes both the design and the pricing conversation:

Per-bay vs shared-infrastructure pricing structure

Build the quote in two clearly separated blocks so the customer understands where the money goes and so the price scales correctly if bay count changes during the sales conversation:

Shared infrastructure (largely fixed regardless of bay count within a reasonable range):

Per-bay costs (scale roughly linearly with the number of charge points):

Worked example: 10-bay workplace installation with dynamic load management

Site: a business car park, existing three-phase supply with some spare capacity but requiring a G99 application, tarmac surface requiring some trenching, chargers positioned around the car park perimeter roughly 8m apart on average from a central feed point.

Line item Cost (ex-VAT)
10 x 7kW AC untethered smart charge points £7,500
Dynamic load management controller (10-bay capacity) £1,800
CT clamp set at main incomer £220
Main 3-phase feeder cable + containment, DB to car park (30m) £1,350
Per-bay spur cabling + containment (10 bays, ~8m average run) £2,400
Trenching/reinstatement, tarmac car park (40m) £2,200
Sub-distribution board (MCCBs/RCBOs, enclosure) £1,200
DNO application (G99) £750
Testing, certification, commissioning £450
Total (ex-VAT, before grant) £17,870
OZEV Workplace Charging Scheme grant (10 x £350) -£3,500
Net cost to customer £14,370

This total reflects material and installation cost with a working margin already applied to each line at typical commercial electrical contracting rates — present the grant as a separate deduction on the quote so the customer sees both the full job value and their actual net cost clearly, rather than pre-netting it into a single lower headline figure.

Hidden costs and margin risks specific to workplace schemes

The lines most commonly missed at quoting stage, in rough order of how often they get missed: (1) DNO reinforcement cost — never confirmed until the DNO actually assesses the application, so any quote issued before that response should carry the DNO cost as a clearly stated provisional sum; (2) surface reinstatement standard — car park owners/landlords may specify a particular reinstatement finish (matching existing tarmac, line-marking replacement) that costs more than a basic patch; (3) out-of-hours working — many workplace car parks can only have cabling/trenching done outside business hours or at weekends, which should be priced as a labour premium, not absorbed; (4) future-proofing ducting — quoting only for the immediate bay count when the customer has stated expansion plans creates an expensive redo later; always price spare ducting/capacity as an option; (5) DLM controller compatibility — mixing charger brands on one site can limit which DLM systems will work; confirm compatibility before specifying, since a mismatched system can mean re-purchasing hardware mid-project.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do all workplace EV schemes need dynamic load management?

Not strictly at very small scale if the existing supply has genuine spare capacity for every bay to run at full power simultaneously without breaching the site's agreed maximum demand — but this is uncommon much above 4-6 bays on a typical commercial supply. Above that, DLM is the standard, cost-effective way to install more charge points than the raw supply capacity would otherwise support, and is increasingly treated as expected practice rather than an optional extra by DNOs and specifiers.

How long does the DNO application process typically take for a multi-bay scheme?

It varies significantly by DNO and by whether reinforcement is required — a straightforward G99 application with spare capacity can sometimes clear in a few weeks, while one requiring network reinforcement can take considerably longer and involve a separate DNO-quoted cost. current typical timescales with the specific DNO covering the site before committing a customer to a completion date, as this is the most variable part of the whole project timeline.

Can the OZEV Workplace Charging Scheme grant be claimed for all 20 or 40 bays on a large scheme?

The scheme caps at £350 per socket up to a maximum of 40 sockets per applicant — check current OZEV eligibility criteria and confirm who is applying (the business, sometimes via the installer) before quoting the grant as a guaranteed reduction, since eligibility and process details are periodically updated. Treat the grant figure on any quote as indicative pending the customer's own successful application, not as a certainty you can guarantee.

Is a 22kW three-phase charger worth the extra cost over 7kW for a workplace scheme?

It depends on turnaround requirements. For an all-day workplace parking scenario where vehicles are plugged in for 7-8 hours, 7kW is usually more than sufficient to fully charge most vehicles and is materially cheaper per unit and per metre of associated three-phase-per-bay cabling. 22kW becomes worthwhile where vehicles turn over during the day (fleet use, visitor parking, shorter dwell times) and need a faster charge in a shorter window — discuss the actual usage pattern with the customer rather than defaulting to the higher-power option.

Regulations & Standards