UK Smart Charge Points Regulations 2021: what a home wallbox must do
A new private home wallbox sold in Great Britain must be smart. The Electric Vehicles (Smart Charge Points) Regulations 2021 require that, with a short list of exceptions. The unit has to talk to a network, shift when it draws power, default away from weekday peak hours unless you override it, and keep charging if the Wi-Fi drops.
The law applies to England, Scotland and Wales. GOV.UK is explicit that it does not apply to charge points sold in Northern Ireland. It is also not an install-price rule, a grant rule, or a ChargerFit SLA.
What is in scope
The regulations cover private charge points sold for domestic or workplace use in Great Britain, and smart cables that themselves count as a charge point. They apply to anyone selling, offering, hiring, lending or giving such a unit in the course of business. Warranty exchanges after 30 June 2022 are in scope even if the original sale was earlier.
They do not cover public charge points, non-smart charging cables, or rapid units of 50 kW and above. They do not cover sales before 30 June 2022, sales that are never intended for use in Great Britain, or second-hand sales between private individuals. Security requirements in Schedule 1 started later, on 30 December 2022.
Most current rows are 7.0–7.4 kW. Two current rows are listed at 22 kW: NexBlue Edge and Easee Charge. Both taglines say they are for three-phase supplies. See 7 kW vs 22 kW. Those are still private wallboxes, not 50 kW rapids, so the sale of a new unit of that type in Great Britain is the sort of product the regulations address.
Smart functionality is four things, not an app badge
OPSS guidance says a charge point has smart functionality only if it meets all four tests. It must send and receive information over a communications network. It must respond by changing the rate or the time electricity flows. It must be capable of demand side response, including response DSR where a third party controls the unit for the grid. It must have at least one user interface, on the unit or made available to the owner.
An app is an acceptable interface. Every current row in our catalogue is marked app (41 of 41). Eight named units are not the whole app list. The owner may still choose not to download the app. The regulations keep that choice. First-time pairing on the visit: setting up the charger app on install day.
The unit must also keep its smart functionality if you switch electricity supplier. You might need a different app or new schedule settings. You must not need a new wallbox. Extra features above the legal minimum, such as the octopus-compatible tariff-API rows in our catalogue data, can change when you switch supplier. The minimum smart functions cannot disappear. See smart energy tariffs.
If the communications link dies, the charger must still be able to charge the car. The regulations do not prescribe the fallback mode beyond that.
Default hours and the weekday peaks
For these regulations, peak hours are 8am to 11am and 4pm to 10pm on weekdays. Weekends are not peak. A unit sold without a demand side response agreement must come with pre-set default charging hours outside those peaks. On first use you must be able to accept those hours, remove them, or set different ones. After that you must still be able to change or remove them, or set hours if none are in effect.
You can override the default and charge during a weekday evening. The charger must refuse that override only where it would risk someone’s health or safety. The same safety brake applies to overriding DSR or the randomised delay.
Sellers can skip the pre-set off-peak hours if the unit is sold with a DSR agreement, is set up to meet that agreement, and the statement of compliance records it. Time-of-use tariffs can count as that kind of agreement. You must still be able to override DSR and charge when you choose.
The randomised delay
A crowd of wallboxes starting at the same minute can spike the grid. Regulation 11 therefore requires a default random delay of up to 600 seconds (ten minutes) each time charging would start or the rate would change. The delay is picked to the nearest second and must differ each time. The unit must also be capable of a longer random delay of up to 1800 seconds (thirty minutes) if that maximum is raised remotely.
You can cancel the delay. It must not run if an equivalent random delay has already been applied, or if the unit is providing response DSR. OPSS says it does not currently intend to enforce the default ten-minute delay when the unit is responding to behind-the-meter solar, a behind-the-meter battery, or a signal to stay within the property’s supply limit.
That last point matters for surplus-PV and load-balancing rows. Zappi, Zappi Glow, and Hypervolt Home 3 are not the whole solar list — 30 of 41 current catalogue rows are marked solar. Load balancing is a flag on 37 of 41 rows, not four names. Neither flag is a substitute for the smart-functionality tests above. See EV chargers and solar and load balancing on a UK domestic supply.
Measurement, security, and the paperwork that comes with the box
The charger must measure or calculate the electricity imported or exported and how long the session lasted, and let the owner see that information. OPSS guidance says you should be able to view the preceding 12 months. Figures must be accurate to within 10%, without a systematic bias. The unit must also be able to measure or calculate electrical power every second and send those values over the network if it is used for response DSR.
From 30 December 2022, new sales must meet Schedule 1 security requirements, written to align with ETSI EN 303 645: unique passwords, software updates, and related device-security outcomes. The Office for Product Safety and Standards enforces the regulations.
When the unit is sold it must come with a statement of compliance. A technical file must exist and be available to the buyer on request. Sellers must keep a register of sales. Ask the installer or the seller for the statement if it is not in the box. That file is about the product. It is not your BS 7671 installation certificate.
Smart rules are not the OZEV grant list
OZEV’s eligible chargepoint model list (updated 5 August 2026) decides which SKUs can be used with chargepoint grants. The Smart Charge Points Regulations decide what may be sold as a new private charge point in Great Britain. A unit can sit in our catalogue and still fail an exact OZEV SKU match. Andersen A2 is the current example: we list it, and we do not mark it residential-eligible because the 5 August 2026 list names other Andersen SKUs, not “A2”.
We do not claim every catalogue row has a published statement of compliance on this site. A typical install price and an RRP are not quoted here. Quotes are itemised by the electrician.
OCPP is not what the regulations mean by supplier interoperability. A short list of OCPP and non-OCPP units is not the whole catalogue. On the current snapshot, 30 of 41 current rows are marked OCPP. Losing OCPP is not the same as losing the legal minimum smart functions.
What this means when you get a quote
Tell the installer you want a new private wallbox that can be sold in Great Britain, then pick a catalogue model that fits the house. Solar surplus charging is a product feature, not a regulation checkbox — three names are not the whole solar list; see EV chargers and solar panels. Tariff sync is a catalogue flag, not a legal requirement — an Ohme-only list is not the whole tariff list; see smart energy tariffs.
ChargerFit is not a marketplace and does not take a deposit, hold money in escrow, or promise quotes in 24 hours. We pass the enquiry to opted-in OZEV-authorised electricians. How the matching path works is separate from what the wallbox itself must do.
If you want the on-site sequence once someone is booked, read what actually happens on install day. Installers who want the other side of the product can start at for installers.