The risks of owner-installed EV chargers in Florida condos

Short answer

Florida law lets a condo owner install an EV charger in their own assigned parking space, at their own cost and with their own insurance. Charger by charger, that creates a patchwork the association still lives with: separate circuits run through common areas, insurance the board cannot easily verify, electrical capacity used up first-come, first-served, and equipment left behind when units sell. If an owner’s coverage falls short, the cost of damage to the building can land on the association. A single, professionally managed charging program puts one accountable, insured operator in charge instead.

What owners can and cannot install

Under section 718.113(8), Florida Statutes, a condo board may not prohibit an owner from installing a charger in the owner’s own limited common element or exclusively assigned parking space. The owner pays for installation, electricity (separately metered), maintenance, repair, removal, and hazard and liability insurance. The law also gives the owner an implied easement across the common elements to run power to that space.

That right is narrow. It does not let an owner put a charger in shared parking, visitor spaces or other common areas. Chargers on the common elements are the board’s decision under section 718.113(9), and the board can set how they are installed, operated and paid for.

Why a patchwork of owner chargers does not scale

Every charger is its own project. Each one needs its own dedicated circuit, often from the owner’s unit panel or meter, run through walls, ceilings and garage structure that belong to everyone.
Electrical capacity runs out. A building’s electrical service is finite. Early installations use it up first-come, first-served, without coordination or load management, so later owners, or a shared program, can face expensive service upgrades.
Mixed equipment and installers. Different brands, installers and workmanship make inspection, maintenance and repairs harder for the association to oversee.
Administration grows with every unit. Approvals, contractor licenses, permits, separate meters, insurance certificates and renewals all land on the manager, one charger at a time.
Chargers outlive owners. When a unit sells, responsibility for the charger passes to the next owner, who may not want it, insure it or maintain it.

The insurance and liability risk

A Level 2 charger draws high power for hours at a time, usually in a shared garage, next to neighbors’ cars and the building’s structure. If a charger or its wiring fails, the damage may not stay in one parking space. Insurers that cover condominiums are paying closer attention and some now ask associations about EV chargers when writing or renewing coverage.

Florida law puts insurance for an owner’s charger on the owner, and lets the association require a certificate of insurance naming the association as an additional insured, plus reimbursement of any premium increase. In practice, that protection has gaps:

The owner’s condo policy may not reach the garage. An HO-6 policy is written mainly for the inside of the unit, the owner’s belongings and personal liability. Common areas such as parking garages are generally insured by the association (section 718.111(11)). Whether a given owner’s policy covers a charger in a parking space depends on that policy; boards should not assume it does.
Some insurers will not name the association. Owners report that some carriers decline to add the association as an additional insured for a charger. Without that endorsement, the association may have no direct claim on the owner’s policy.
Proof lapses. A certificate shows coverage only on the day it is issued. Policies are cancelled or change at renewal, and units are sold. Few associations track every renewal.
Unlicensed or unpermitted work. Do-it-yourself installations raise fire risk and can complicate any claim.
Who absorbs the loss. If an owner’s coverage falls short, damage to the common elements and other units may be claimed on the association’s master policy, with its deductible and future premiums, while the association tries to recover from the owner. Recovery is not guaranteed.

The car itself is generally insured under the driver’s auto policy. The association’s exposure is the building, the common elements and neighbors’ property.

A safer approach: one managed charging program

One engineered installation sized to the building’s electrical capacity by a licensed contractor, instead of many separate circuits.
Shared chargers in common or visitor spaces, so residents without an assigned space can charge too, and fewer owners need their own installation.
One accountable operator for billing, monitoring, driver support and coordinating repairs.
Drivers pay per session, so non-EV owners do not subsidize charging.
One certificate of insurance for the board to review, instead of one per charger.

A checklist for boards

Adopt a written EV charging policy that applies every condition section 718.113(8) allows, with a standard application form.
Require a licensed, registered electrical contractor and a permit for every owner installation.
Require a certificate of insurance naming the association as an additional insured, and track it every year.
Ask each owner for written confirmation from their insurer that the charger and its location are covered.
Ask the association’s insurance agent how the master policy treats EV chargers and whether premiums will change.
Get an electrical capacity assessment before capacity is used up one charger at a time.
Consider a shared, professionally managed program, and have the association attorney review any vendor agreement.

Owners keep their legal right to install a charger in their own assigned space. These steps do not take that right away; they apply the protections Florida law gives the association.

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Updated November 2026. This guide is general information about Florida rules, not legal advice. Laws change and every community's governing documents are different, so confirm details with your association's attorney.