Installer guide · 16 min read
Short answer: the Workplace Charging Scheme pays businesses up to 75% of the cost of workplace EV chargers, capped at £500 a socket, for up to 40 sockets, until 31 March 2027. That deadline gives a business a reason to book a site visit now, and the grant asks for a survey before it applies. Once you are on site, the roof and the car park open the solar conversation.
A guide for commercial solar installers and their sales teams, checked against the primary sources listed at the end on 13 November 2026. The grant does not fund solar. For the claim itself, step by step, see our sister site's Workplace Charging Scheme guide for installers.
| What the guidance says | |
|---|---|
| What it pays | Up to 75% of the cost to buy and install chargepoints, VAT included, capped at £500 per socket |
| How many | Up to 40 sockets across all sites per applicant |
| Deadline | 31 March 2027, 11:59pm. OZEV calls this the final year of the scheme |
| Who can apply | Businesses, charities, public sector organisations and small accommodation businesses |
| Where | England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland (not the Channel Islands or Isle of Man) |
| First step | A site survey by an installer, before the customer applies |
| Who claims | An OZEV-authorised installer, who takes the grant off the invoice |
| Does it fund solar? | No. Solar panels are not an eligible cost |
The rate rose from £350 to £500 per socket on 1 April 2026, and it goes by the date the installation is completed, not the date of the application. The old gov.uk start page for the grant still says £350, so you will meet business owners who think it is worth less than it is.
Most cold conversations about commercial solar stall on the same thing: the business has no reason to talk about it this month. The EV charger grant gives it one, for four reasons:
| Reason | Why it gets you a meeting |
|---|---|
| A deadline | The scheme closes on 31 March 2027 and OZEV calls this its final year. The customer has a reason to act this winter, not next year. |
| Money back | Up to 75% of the cost, capped at £500 a socket. It is an easy yes to a meeting because the business is not being asked to spend first. |
| A small first ask | The guidance tells the business to have its site surveyed by an installer before it applies. Your first ask is a survey, not a contract. |
| You see the whole site | To survey chargepoints you look at the car park, the supply, the distribution board and the cable routes. The roof is right above you. |
Lead with the grant and keep it honest. You are offering to check whether their car park qualifies before the money runs out. Solar comes up because you are standing on the site, not because you hid it in the pitch.
The best prospects already have the thing the grant needs, dedicated off-road parking, and a building worth putting panels on. Four groups, each with its own scheme:
| Who | Scheme and amount | Why they fit |
|---|---|---|
| Businesses with staff or fleet parking | Workplace Charging Scheme: 75% up to £500 a socket, up to 40 sockets | The parking must be dedicated, off-road and for staff or fleet. A business cannot claim for customer-only parking. Offices, factories, warehouses and depots with their own car park fit. |
| Charities, public sector bodies and small accommodation businesses | Workplace Charging Scheme, same rates | No restriction on who may use the parking: customers, guests, visitors and staff all count. Hotels, guest houses and community buildings are in. |
| State-funded schools and colleges | Education version: 75% up to £2,000 a socket, 40 sockets across all sites | Four times the business cap per socket, and the parking may be used by anyone. Academy trusts can apply for up to 40 sockets for each institution in the trust. |
| Fleets of vans, HGVs or coaches | Depot Charging Scheme: 60% of chargepoint and civil costs, up to £1 million across all sites | The current window runs from 11 November 2026 to midday on 26 February 2027, with a £38m budget. The fleet needs at least one battery electric van, HGV or coach, now or in future. |
To build the list, the same public data works as for solar: SIC codes for warehousing, manufacturing and logistics on Companies House, the non-domestic EPC register for building size, and aerial imagery for the car park and the roof. Our commercial solar prospecting guide walks through each source. For schools and other public bodies, the public sector solar funding guide covers how that side buys.
Rule these out on the first call, so you never book a survey for a car park the grant will not pay for:
| Problem | What the rules say |
|---|---|
| Customer-only parking at a business | Parking "solely for customer use" is not eligible. Staff or fleet parking is. |
| Chargers already fitted | The customer must get a voucher before anything is installed. Installing first invalidates the grant. |
| Chargers that were required anyway | Not eligible where chargepoints were mandatory, for example under Part S of the Building Regulations in England from 15 June 2022, or a planning condition. |
| Parking not yet built | The parking has to exist. |
| An address that has claimed before | A site that already claimed under the WCS, EVHS or DRS is not eligible. |
| The wrong charger model | Units must be on the approved commercial chargepoint list at the time of installation, and the model name on the claim must match it exactly. |
The business must also own the property or have the landlord's consent, and its chargepoint parking must be designated to it, though the rest of the car park can be shared. A tenant on a shared estate is worth asking about both points early, because the same landlord question decides the solar job.
The angle is one line: the government will pay up to 75% of your workplace EV chargers, up to £500 a socket, but only until 31 March 2027, and it wants a site survey first. Everything else is detail for the visit.
Call opener
"Hi, it's [name] from [company]. Quick one: do your staff or vans park on your own site? There's a government grant that covers up to 75% of workplace EV chargers, up to £500 a socket, and it closes on 31 March 2027. The first step is a site survey, which we do. Would it be worth us having a look at the car park while the grant is still open?"
If they say yes: "While we're there, we'll look at the roof too. If panels make sense, the chargers could run on your own electricity in the daytime. If they don't, we'll tell you."
Subject: EV charger grant for [company] closes 31 March 2027
Hi [first name],
The Workplace Charging Scheme pays up to 75% of the cost of EV chargers for staff and fleet parking, capped at £500 a socket, for up to 40 sockets. It is in its final year and closes on 31 March 2027.
The grant asks for a site survey before you apply. Would a short visit to check your car park be useful? We can look at whether the roof suits solar at the same time, so you see both in one go.
[Your name]
Keep cold calls and emails to businesses within the rules: our guides to cold calling for commercial solar and cold email for commercial solar cover scripts, follow-ups and compliance. Do not promise a business it will get the grant: the business applies, and only a successful application gets a voucher.
The charger survey puts you in front of the person who decides on the building, with a reason to look at the supply, the distribution board and the roof. Use the visit to ask the solar questions you would ask anyway: annual electricity use, the bills or half-hourly data, who owns the roof, and how long the lease runs. Our guide on qualifying commercial solar leads has the full list.
Keep the two quotes separate. The grant covers chargepoint costs only, and nothing in the scheme guidance says pairing chargers with solar changes eligibility or adds funding. Show the charger price after grant on one page and the solar case on another, each with its own numbers. A customer who feels the grant was used to dress up the solar price will not sign either. For funding the solar half, see our guide to commercial solar finance for installers.
Only an OZEV-authorised installer can claim the Workplace Charging Scheme. To be authorised you need membership of a Competent Person Scheme or the ECA for commercial work (ECA commercial and industrial, NAPIT non-domestic, NICEIC Approved Contractor or SELECT commercial), then you apply to OZEV online. Only installations after the date you are authorised count, and you lose the status if you have not submitted a claim in the past 2 years.
The customer applies, gets a voucher code within 5 working days if successful, and gives it to you. You fit an approved commercial chargepoint, take the grant off the invoice and claim within 180 days of the voucher being issued. The claim steps, photos, DNO notification and payment times are in the Workplace Charging Scheme guide for installers on Solar Surveys UK. To send to your customer, the business owner's version is the Workplace Charging Scheme guide on Commercial Solar Surveys.
Not authorised for chargers? You can still use the deadline as a reason to call, and bring in an authorised electrical partner for the charger work while you quote the solar.
If you would rather spend your time on surveys than on finding businesses with roofs and car parks, TNW Marketing books pre-qualified commercial solar site meetings with the decision-maker, paid per attended appointment. You only pay for appointments that are actually attended, and any that aren't viable we replace.
See available projectsThe Workplace Charging Scheme (WCS), run by the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV). It covers up to 75% of the total cost to buy and install EV chargepoints, including VAT, capped at £500 per socket and 40 sockets across all sites per applicant. It is open to businesses, charities, public sector organisations and small accommodation businesses in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland until 31 March 2027.
Lead with the money and the deadline, not the technology. The Workplace Charging Scheme covers up to 75% of the cost, capped at £500 a socket, and closes on 31 March 2027, so the first ask is a site survey, which the grant itself tells the business to get before it applies. Target businesses with their own staff or fleet parking, rule out customer-only car parks early, and explain the steps: the business fills in the application itself, then hands you the voucher. If you install solar too, quote the chargers and the panels separately.
Up to £500 per socket for an installation completed on or after 1 April 2026, rising from £350. An installation completed before 1 April 2026 is worth up to £350 per socket, whenever the business applied. The old gov.uk start page for the grant still says £350; the current guidance says £500.
No. The eligible costs are the chargepoint unit, electrical components, civil works, installation labour, hardware, the site survey when it leads to an installation, VAT and a smart meter or current clamp fitted at the same time. Anything not on that list is ineligible, and solar panels are not on it. None of the scheme guidance mentions solar, so price the chargers and the solar separately and let each stand on its own sums.
No. The business fills in the application itself, and installers must not fill in the form on its behalf. Authorised installers, and businesses they or their directors have an interest in, must not apply for OZEV home and workplace grants for themselves either. Your part is the survey, the installation and the claim.
Apply to OZEV through its online form with your company details, bank details and your Competent Person Scheme name and number or your ECA membership number. For commercial chargepoints OZEV accepts ECA commercial and industrial membership, NAPIT non-domestic, NICEIC Approved Contractor and SELECT commercial. Only installations after you are authorised are eligible, and you keep the status by submitting at least one claim every 2 years.
31 March 2027, at 11:59pm. OZEV says the scheme has been extended for a final year to that date, and Budget 2026 did not announce an extension. The government can end or change it, aiming to give 4 weeks' notice. A voucher lasts 180 days and the work must be finished and claimed within it, so a business that waits until spring may run out of time.
No. The staff and fleets grant, and the commercial landlord chargepoint grant, closed to applications on 31 March 2026. The last day for installers to claim was 26 May 2026. The Workplace Charging Scheme and the Depot Charging Scheme are the routes for business chargers now.
Yes. The 100% first-year allowance on new charge-point equipment runs to 31 March 2027 for Corporation Tax and 5 April 2027 for Income Tax. The guidance does not say how the WCS grant interacts with the allowance, so tell the customer to check the figures with their accountant.
More questions? Read the TNW Marketing FAQ or contact the team.
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Read on 13 November 2026. This page summarises published guidance; it is not tax or legal advice.