A gully for a bin? Requested by Building Control - also question re AV car charger

[Square Feet]

On 22/04/2026 at 09:16, Post and beam said:

East herts are my local authority. I had to spend a grand on a full EV charger install. I dont have an EV car.

But someone who comes to visit you might.

[Russell griffiths]

1 hour ago, Square Feet said:

But someone who comes to visit you might.

I don’t go to my mates house and ask for diesel for the return journey. 
why would I let a visitor plug  their car in. 
im baffled by these ludicrous regs. 

[-rick-]

24 minutes ago, Russell griffiths said:

I don’t go to my mates house and ask for diesel for the return journey. 
why would I let a visitor plug  their car in. 
im baffled by these ludicrous regs. 

 

Understandable but EVs will lead to a mindset shift here over time. Charging at home is much more convenient and half the price of charging mid journey. I would expect an EV driver to pay for the electricity they use but assuming you enjoy the company of the person visiting, them paying you for the electricity is a good deal for everyone. They get to spend more time with you, spend less on recharging and spend less time waiting to charge.

[Mr Punter]

57 minutes ago, Russell griffiths said:

I don’t go to my mates house and ask for diesel for the return journey. 
why would I let a visitor plug  their car in. 

 

Blimey.  Do you charge if they have a drink or want to use your loo?

[-rick-]

1 minute ago, Mr Punter said:

Blimey.  Do you charge if they have a drink or want to use your loo?

 

I think that's a little unfair. Charging an EV could cost £30+ in electricity. That adds up fast if you have regular visitors.

[Oz07]

21 hours ago, sgt_woulds said:

 

They are mandated for all new builds because at some point everyone will be driving electric.  They are rapidly becoming the norm. 

 

When you build a house you have to comply with the rules for those coming after you.   

 

For the same reason, if you update the house electrics (add a circuit or whatever) you have to comply with modern regulations and update other parts of the system as required by the latest rules at the time of installation.   Other wise we'd all be still on rewirable fuses.  "They work well enough, and are cheap, why should I have to change..." Etc, etc, etc 🙂

 

If it is still possible to specify a 'dumb' charger I'd do it while you still can.  From long experience with electronics, the more basic it is, the longer it will last.  Avoid anything that needs a WiFi signal to operate because it will become obsolescent before you blink

What is the purpose of building regs? As in its whole point? 

 

I'd say building safety. 

[sgt_woulds]

13 minutes ago, -rick- said:

 

I think that's a little unfair. Charging an EV could cost £30+ in electricity. That adds up fast if you have regular visitors.

 

 

Nowhere near that amont

 

£10 if they charged from near zero% on day rate for the entire day until full charge.  +/- a quid depending on vehicle.  Extreemly unlikely to cost more - unless you are running a diesel generator to supply your house!

 

 

11 minutes ago, Oz07 said:

What is the purpose of building regs? As in its whole point? 

 

I'd say building safety. 

 

You'd only be 1/3 correct.

 

Building safety, energy performance, and future proofing.  At least ensuring the house is adequate for the forseable future.   

 

 

[sgt_woulds]

24 minutes ago, Mr Punter said:

 

Blimey.  Do you charge if they have a drink or want to use your loo?

 

 

Alchohol costs more than car charging.  Ask them to bring a bottle of wine... 🙂 

[Mr Punter]

48 minutes ago, -rick- said:

 

I think that's a little unfair. Charging an EV could cost £30+ in electricity. That adds up fast if you have regular visitors.

 

With a home charger it will cost less than £1.80 per hour while it is plugged in, so £30 would be difficult to reach unless they turned up in a car with a 120kWh flat battery and hung around for 24 hours.

[Russell griffiths]

5 hours ago, Mr Punter said:

Blimey.  Do you charge if they have a drink or want to use your loo?

 

depends if they want a biscuit, or how many squares of paper they use. 

 

[-rick-]

3 minutes ago, Mr Punter said:

With a home charger it will cost less than £1.80 per hour while it is plugged in, so £30 would be difficult to reach unless they turned up in a car with a 120kWh flat battery and hung around for 24 hours.

 

Depends on the charger. Basic 16A one sure, £1.80 may bit on the high side for that, but plenty of chargers getting installed are the 7kw type.

 

Someone local popping round for a coffee isn't going to need to charge their car. The people who will need to charge are those who have just travelled 150 miles to visit for at least many hours, quite possibly overnight. Big charges like that do add up.

[Mr Punter]

55 minutes ago, -rick- said:

Depends on the charger. Basic 16A one sure, £1.80 may bit on the high side for that, but plenty of chargers getting installed are the 7kw type.

 

The £1.80 per hour was for a 7kW charger, based on standard tariff electric at 25p per kWh.

[sgt_woulds]

All of this is amusing pub banter (including the tabloid clickbait costs) but the rules are the rules.  An EV charger is in building regs.  A bin gulley is not.

[-rick-]

12 minutes ago, Mr Punter said:

 

The £1.80 per hour was for a 7kW charger, based on standard tariff electric at 25p per kWh.

 

Ok, sorry, my mental maths was off. Still, different people are on different rates. Some people may pay a lot more during the day for electricity, some people have pretty low incomes (pensioners). So as a general rule I don't think EV owners should expect or accept free charging from their hosts.

[sgt_woulds]

No, but it shouldn't be used as a strawman argument against fitting a charger to a new-build property in line with building regulations

[sgt_woulds]

Why can't they accept if offered?!  

[-rick-]

25 minutes ago, sgt_woulds said:

No, but it shouldn't be used as a strawman argument against fitting a charger to a new-build property in line with building regulations

 

No of course. Definitely support them being there as having a destination charger makes some journeys with an EV much easier. So it should be there for guests or future owners even if the current home owner themselves doesn't currently have an EV.

[-rick-]

25 minutes ago, sgt_woulds said:

Why can't they accept if offered?!  

 

Not a hard rule to me but should be the default unless either the host has massive solar and the energy is close to free or is sufficiently well off that the cost is inconsequential. I don't really have a problem with a short charge costing almost nothing, that's no different a offering a guest a drink, but if you show up somewhere with a low battery I don't think you should accept a full recharge without paying.

 

With EV chargers being mandated they will be increasingly installed in places where the owner doesn't use them and therfore may not be aware of what a significant charge costs or necessarily be on the right tariff to use them cheaply.

[Post and beam]

On 22/04/2026 at 14:56, sgt_woulds said:

When you build a house you have to comply with the rules for those coming after you

   A future owner of my house might want a pool, should i install one now 

just in case. FFS!    Solar panels are very popular, green and likely to become mandatory soon. Should i also install some 

[Post and beam]

'To comply with the rules'  is an answer but its not THE answer. Why is it a rule?    I think it is reasonable to require  installation of the cabling to a point on an outside wall.     In contrast it is nonsense to mandate that i spend a grand of my hard earned for the potential benefit of someone else.

[Square Feet]

7 hours ago, -rick- said:

 

I think that's a little unfair. Charging an EV could cost £30+ in electricity. That adds up fast if you have regular visitors.

My van has a 40kwh battery. If I was your friend and stayed over it would cost 40x7p = £2.80 to go from completely empty to completely full on overnight rates. I'm very unlikely to arrive with a completely empty battery, so I'd probably only need a quid or so worth of juice.  If you've got spare solar then it's free.  

Edited 30 minutes ago by Square Feet

[-rick-]

8 minutes ago, Square Feet said:

My van has a 40kwh battery. If I was your friend and stayed over it would cost 40x7p = £2.80 to go from completely empty to completely full on overnight rates. I'm very unlikely to arrive with a completely empty battery, so I'd probably only need a quid or so worth of juice.  If you've got spare solar then it's free.  

 

Sure. I made a general statement, doesn't mean there aren't exceptions. Most people don't have 7p rates at night, bigger batteries in cars is increasingly common now the price of the batteries has plummeted, charging during the day on some tarriffs can be more than 30p/kwh. I admit that £30 is probably high but £20 is very much realistic for a charge from 20% for someone with a 80kwh vehicle.