A commercial charger installation runs in six stages: survey, design and load confirmation, permits, installation, commissioning, and handover. Each stage takes documents in and hands documents out. Commercial jobs rarely stall on the tools — they stall when a stage starts without the previous stage’s output: unconfirmed capacity, an unsigned scope, hardware arriving before the permit.
Key Takeaways
- Six stages, each defined by its documents: survey record, load summary, permit, test records, settings record, handover pack.
- Load confirmation at 125% of set current is the stage everything else stands on — close it before permits and orders.
- Permits run on the jurisdiction’s clock; the installer’s skill is a complete pack filed once.
- Handover is a pack, not a walk-round: records, settings, manuals and the maintenance route, signed for.
The Six Stages, by Their Paper
| Stage | Takes in | Hands over |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Survey | The client’s bay count, user group and site access | A survey record: panel position, runs, bay layout, constraints found |
| 2. Design & load confirmation | The survey record and the utility’s position on capacity | A load summary and a hardware schedule the client signs |
| 3. Permits | The design pack | A filed, then issued, permit — the jurisdiction’s step, on its clock |
| 4. Installation | The issued permit and hardware delivered against it | Installed units with the job’s test records |
| 5. Commissioning | Installed units and the client’s network and access decisions | A settings record: ratings as set, access live, a witnessed charge |
| 6. Handover | Every record from stages 1–5 | The handover pack, user training and a signed acceptance |
Stage Two Is Where the Job Is Won or Lost
The load summary is the document the whole sequence stands on. EV charging is a continuous load under the NEC, sized at 125%: a 40 A charger is designed as a 50 A load, a 48 A charger as 60 A. Add the units at their set currents and compare the total with the capacity the site has confirmed — by the utility or the site’s records, not the building’s size. If the total does not fit, the design changes here, on paper: fewer units, lower set currents, or a service upgrade entering the scope as its own line. Discovering the same fact at stage four costs a redesign, a permit correction and the client’s confidence. Site selection feeds this stage: bays near the electrical room shorten runs.
Permits and Handover: the Two Ends
Stage three belongs to the jurisdiction. What must be filed, drawn or stamped is the permitting authority’s call, and the installer’s skill is a complete pack submitted once — the operator-side approvals around a site are mapped in our guide to charging station permits and approvals. Stage six is the mirror image: the client receives the survey record, the load summary, the permit sign-off, the test records, the settings record, the manuals for the exact models fitted, and the maintenance route from there — the routine our commercial maintenance checklist describes. A handover that is only a walk-round leaves every later question — a tripped unit, a new facilities manager — with nowhere to land.
Hardware That Fits the Sequence
Order hardware against permit milestones, not against hope. The EV-AC03201T dual-connector AC station (up to 43 kW shared across two Type 2 connectors, OCPP 1.6J, RFID, IP54) covers multi-bay AC from one supply point; the EV-ACT3204PE (22 kW three-phase, RFID and app, IP66) is the wallbox pattern for workplace bays; the EV-RHDC30K-L adds compact DC at 22 kW where dwell times are short, with its connector variant confirmed in writing for the job. The full set is on the commercial EV charging page; scheduling and model files run through the distributor program or contact us. The money side of each stage is broken down in our commercial installation cost guide; this article is the sequence, that one is the bill.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does the whole process take?
The installation stages are the short part. The calendar is set by the two stages the installer does not control — the utility’s capacity answer and the permit office — which is why both are started early, not discovered late.
Who owns the permit stage — installer or client?
Usually the installer prepares and files the pack as the contractor of record, and the client supplies site documents and signatures. Practice varies by jurisdiction and by contract, so write the split into the scope at stage two.
What happens if load confirmation fails at stage two?
The design absorbs it while it is still paper: fewer units, lower set currents, shared-supply hardware, or a service upgrade quoted as a separate scope. Every one of those is a normal outcome — the failure is only in finding out after installation starts.
Related Reading
- How Much Does It Cost to Install a Commercial EV Charging Station?
- How to Get an EV Charging Station License: Permits and Approvals
- Where to Install an EV Charging Station: Site Selection Guide
- How to Plan a Workplace EV Charging Program
