New regulations create a complex but effective regime to authorize Electric Vehicle Charging Station installations Well, okay, it’s not shockingly complicated, but it is a tad complex.
Effective May 1, 2018, new amendments to Ont. Reg. 48/01 (the general regulation under the Condominium Act, 1998) came into force that introduced a new regime relating to the installation by a condominium corporation of electric vehicle charging stations (EVCS), which requires corporations to follow this process: First, the board must conduct an assessment of the costs of the installation of the EVCS. Second, implied but not expressly stated is that the board must also conduct some sort of assessment in order to reach an opinion about whether or not the owners would regard the installation as “causing a material reduction or elimination of their use or enjoyment of the units that they own or the common elements or assets.” Third, provided the EVCS is to be situated, in whole or in part, on the property or an asset of the corporation (i.e., virtually anywhere a condominium is likely to want make the installation), and depending on the outcome of those two assessments, the new regulations exempt corporations from compliance with section 97 of the Act (the section that ordinarily tells the corporation what procedures to following when modifying assets or common elements) if either:
In the first case, the corporation is to send a notice to the owners describing the installation, its cost (and the manner in which the board proposes it will be paid), a statement affirming the board’s opinion regarding the owners’ likely view of the installation, along with whatever other information the corporation’s by-laws might require. 60 days after the notice is sent, the corporation can proceed with the change. In the second case, it must send out the above notice, adding information about the owners’ right to requisition a meeting. The owners then have 60 days in which to requisition a meeting to vote on the proposed installation, and if (i) no requisition is filed within 60 days of the notice, (ii) a requisition is filed within 60 days of the notice, but the meeting fails for lack of quorum, or (iii) a requisition is filed within 60 days of the notice, the meeting has quorum, but the owners do not vote against the installation, then the installation can proceed. Of course, if a requisition is filed within 60 days of the notice, the meeting has quorum, and the owners do vote against the installation, then it can’t.
In any other case, section 97 will apply. This appears to include the case where the board is reasonably satisfied that the owners would not regard the installation as an interference with their enjoyment of the property but the cost is greater than 10% of the current year’s annual operating budget but. Although the regulations don’t expressly say so, this situation appears to require compliance the provisions of section 97 pertaining to substantial changes (requiring approval by owners of 2/3 of the units). For what happens when an owner wants to install an EVCS, see: A Shockingly Complicated Set of Changes (II).
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