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  • Established 1985over 40 years in the Borders
  • 9 full-time electriciansAll 18th Edition qualified
  • SELECT 17074 · ECA 1683735NSI, MCS, OZEV & RECC
  • £10m / £5m insuredEmployers' & public liability
  • Free fixed-price quotesSupplied free, no obligation

Service overview

Charging that suits the supply, the vehicle and the site

An EV charger is a large, sustained load added to an installation that was often designed decades before electric vehicles existed. The install is straightforward; the assessment behind it is what separates a charger that works from one that trips or throttles.

What the service covers

We survey supply capacity, assess earthing arrangements, install and commission home charge points, workplace charging for staff and fleets, and commercial charging bays. Work covers dedicated circuits and protection, load management where capacity is tight, cable routing and containment for wall, post and outbuilding mounting, integration with solar and battery storage, and full electrical certification. We are OZEV approved.

Who it is for

Homeowners charging one or two vehicles, farms and estates charging vehicles and equipment across a holding, employers providing workplace charging, and commercial premises installing customer or fleet bays.

When it is needed

Before the vehicle arrives, ideally, supply assessment and any board work is easier without a car sitting on the drive waiting. Also when adding a second vehicle, when an existing charger trips or delivers less than expected, when installing solar and wanting the charger to use surplus generation, and when a workplace needs multiple points on one supply.

Why professional work matters

Charge points sit at full load for hours at a time. That exposes weak terminations, undersized supplies, poor earthing arrangements and boards already close to capacity. Assessment before installation is what stops the charger becoming the thing that finds every existing weakness in your installation, usually overnight.

The cost of leaving it

What goes wrong when a charger is just bolted on

The charger is rarely the fault. The installation it was added to usually is.

  • Nuisance tripping under load

    A charger drawing full current for hours will find every marginal connection and every board already running near capacity. The symptom is a car that is not charged in the morning.

  • Throttled charging

    Where supply capacity is insufficient and load management is set conservatively, or the circuit was undersized, you get a fraction of the charge rate you paid for, every night, indefinitely.

  • Earthing arrangements ignored

    Outdoor charge points require specific consideration of the earthing arrangement to protect against a supply fault. Getting this wrong is a genuine shock risk on a metal vehicle standing on wet ground.

  • Long runs with undersized cable

    Chargers on a detached garage, a farmyard or the far side of a car park need cable sized for volt drop over the distance. Undersizing here is invisible until the charger underperforms or overheats.

  • Multiple points on one supply

    Workplace and commercial installations frequently add points one at a time with no overall load strategy, until the day several vehicles charge at once and the site's main protection operates.

Our process

How the job runs, start to finish

  1. 01

    Step 1: Supply and site survey

    We check the incoming supply, main fuse rating, board capacity, spare ways and earthing arrangement, and agree the charge point position and cable route.

  2. 02

    Step 2: Specification and fixed-price quote

    Charger type, circuit design, protection, any load management required and the cable route, priced as a written fixed sum. Free quotes supplied.

  3. 03

    Step 3: Installation

    Dedicated circuit installed with correct protection and containment, charger mounted on wall, post or building, and any required earthing arrangements installed.

  4. 04

    Step 4: Testing, commissioning and verification

    Full circuit testing, protective device verification, charger commissioning and a live charge test to confirm the unit delivers the rate specified rather than the rate hoped for.

  5. 05

    Step 5: Certification and handover

    Electrical certification issued, app and connectivity set up where the unit supports it, and a walk-through of operation, isolation and what to do if the unit faults.

Payment by bank transfer (preferred) or card. Deposits on larger jobs only, agreed case by case before we start.

What you get

The difference it makes on your site

OZEV approved installer

Approved for EV charging installation, alongside SELECT (17074) and ECA (1683735) approval and MCS certification via NAPIT for solar and storage.

Capacity assessed before anything is fitted

Supply, board and earthing checked first, so the charger is specified to work at full rate rather than throttled to survive.

Charges at the rate you paid for

Correct circuit sizing and volt drop calculation on long runs mean the unit delivers its rated output, including on farm and car park installations.

Works with solar and storage

Charging can be integrated with solar generation and battery storage installed by the same MCS certified team, so surplus goes into the car rather than the grid.

Scales to multiple points

Workplace and commercial installations designed with an overall load strategy, so adding the next bay does not mean redesigning the supply.

Certified and insured

Full electrical certification, £10m employers' and £5m public liability cover, and RAMS for virtually all jobs on commercial sites.

In detail

Charger types, supplies and installation variations

Home, workplace and commercial charging are three different design problems sharing one piece of hardware.

Home charging

A single-phase 7kW charge point on a dedicated circuit covers overnight charging for almost every household. The design questions are supply capacity against the rest of the house, earthing arrangement for an outdoor unit, cable route to the parking position, and whether load management is needed to protect the main fuse where a heat pump or electric shower is also in play.

Workplace charging

Multiple points on one supply need a load management strategy so simultaneous charging does not exceed capacity. Access control, usage recording and billing features vary by manufacturer, and we specify against how you intend to run the bays: staff-only, fleet, or shared with visitors.

Commercial and public bays

Higher-rated three-phase units, post-mounted installations, protection from vehicle impact, weatherproofing, cable routing across car parks and coordination with lighting and CCTV. Supply capacity is usually the deciding factor, and power factor correction can sometimes release the capacity needed without a supply upgrade.

Earthing arrangements and protection

Outdoor charge points require careful treatment of the earthing arrangement, using either a suitable earth electrode or a charger with integrated open-PEN detection. This is assessed at survey and is not an optional extra; the correct approach depends on your supply type.

Farm, estate and long-run installations

Chargers at a distance from the board, outbuildings, farmyards, staff parking, need steel wire armoured cable sized for volt drop and mechanical protection along the route. On a holding with three-phase supply, higher-rated charging is often available without a supply upgrade.

Integration with solar and battery storage

Where solar is installed, chargers with surplus-matching capability divert generation into the vehicle instead of exporting it. Combined with battery storage and a time-of-use tariff, the same design can charge overnight at low rates and top up from the array during the day. We install all three, so the strategy is designed once rather than bolted together by three contractors.

Accredited for this work

  • SELECT17074
  • ECA1683735
  • NSI Approved (Fire)NSI-000082/FS/S
  • BAFESP203 Registered
  • MCS via NAPITNEP-66400
  • OZEV ApprovedEV chargers
  • RECCRegistered
  • SMAS WorksafeSSIP approved

Before you call

EV Charging Installation: your questions answered

How much does EV charger installation cost?

It depends on the charger, the cable run and whether any supply or board work is required. We survey first and issue a written fixed price, so any board work or load management is priced up front rather than discovered on the day.

How soon can you quote?

Free quotes supplied. Multi-point workplace and commercial schemes take longer where load assessment and design are needed.

How long does installation take?

A straightforward home installation is usually completed within a day. Long cable runs, board upgrades and multi-bay commercial installations follow the programme issued with the quote.

Are you OZEV approved?

Yes, we are an OZEV approved installer, and we are also SELECT (17074) and ECA (1683735) approved with MCS certification via NAPIT (NEP-66400) for solar and storage.

Will my supply take a charger?

That is exactly what the survey establishes. Where capacity is tight, load management usually allows a charger to be installed safely without a supply upgrade, and we will tell you if it genuinely cannot.

Can I charge from my solar panels?

Yes, with a charger that supports surplus matching. As we install solar, storage and charging, the whole arrangement can be designed and commissioned together.

How long does a charge point last?

Charge points are warranted by the manufacturer, with terms confirmed at quotation, and typically serve for many years. Outdoor units in exposed Borders locations benefit from periodic inspection of the enclosure and terminations.

What guarantee applies?

Manufacturer warranty on the unit, stated at quotation. We do not issue a formal written workmanship guarantee, but we always return to put right anything we have done incorrectly.

Do you cover faults and emergencies?

Call-outs are available, and out-of-hours calls are answered for existing customers at approximately 1.5 times the standard hourly rate.

Which areas do you cover?

The Scottish Borders and North Northumberland from our Coldstream base, including Duns, Kelso, Eyemouth, Greenlaw, Chirnside, Jedburgh, Wooler and Berwick-upon-Tweed.

Related services

EV Charging Installation near you

Working from Unit 4 Home Pl, Coldstream TD12 4DT across the Scottish Borders and North Northumberland.

See the full list of service areas, read about the company, or return to the homepage.

Get a price

Charge at full rate.Get the supply checked first.

Book a survey and you will get a written fixed price covering the charger, the circuit and any board work, with nothing discovered halfway through.

01890 882981
  • Established 1985 | over 40 years' experience
  • SELECT 17074 · ECA 1683735 · SMAS Worksafe SSIP
  • £10m employers' and £5m public liability cover
  • Free quotes supplied

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Related electrical services and areas we cover

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