Delaware HOA EV Charging

Quick-Reference EV Charging Table

Because DUCIOA contains no EV-charging provision, its general provisions plus the recorded declaration control. DUCIOA's basis in the 2008 Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act does not itself supply an EV-charging right. Pre-DUCIOA applicability under the Unit Property Act must be verified separately for each community.

Section 1: Overview — How EV charging is regulated for HOAs in Delaware

Delaware has written no EV-charging-specific statute that reaches common interest communities. A direct search of the Delaware Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act, or DUCIOA,¹ and recent legislation found no provision granting a unit owner the right to install an EV charging station or limiting an association's authority over such installations. Delaware has enacted several EV-charging laws, but each sits outside association governance. Title 16, Chapter 80 requires a multi-family developer to make at least 5 percent of parking spaces EV charging infrastructure spaces and at least 10 percent EV-capable spaces in new construction.⁶ Title 22, Section 119 requires larger municipalities to run a permitting process for curbside residential charging.⁷ Title 29, Chapter 80 authorizes state agencies to charge fees at their own stations.⁸ None of these voids a restrictive covenant or compels an association to permit charging.

DUCIOA, enacted in 2009 and based on the 2008 Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act, is a modern and comprehensive statute, but the model act contains no EV-charging provision, and Delaware never added one.¹ The controlling practical question turns contractual and physical: where would the station go, and who controls that space? An installation entirely within a unit gets treated differently from one that alters a limited common element such as an assigned parking space, or a general common element, which the association controls.⁵

Nationally, this places Delaware among the states with no EV-charging mandate — a different path from mandate states such as California and Colorado.⁹ The sections below work through the statutory framework, the association's powers, and the dispute channels.

Section 2: The statutory and regulatory framework

2A. EV-charging-specific law in Delaware

A direct search of DUCIOA and recent Delaware legislation found no EV-charging provision governing common interest communities.¹ Delaware's EV statutes reach three other contexts instead. Title 16, Chapter 80 requires developers of newly constructed residential dwellings to install EV infrastructure — for multi-family dwellings, at least 5 percent of the total parking spaces must be electric vehicle charging infrastructure parking spaces and at least 10 percent must be electric vehicle capable parking spaces, applying to single-family building permits issued on or after January 1, 2024 and multi-family site plans on or after January 1, 2025.⁶ That's a construction requirement imposed on developers, not a right conferred on existing unit owners against an association. Title 22, Section 119 requires a municipality with a population of 30,000 or more to adopt a curbside charging permit procedure under which the municipality must approve or deny a permit within 90 days or the permit gets automatically approved, and must require installation by a licensed electrician — this addresses municipal ordinances, not HOA covenants.⁷ And Title 29, Chapter 80 authorizes state agencies to charge use fees at agency-installed equipment.⁸

None of these statutes overrides a recorded declaration, sets a statutory approval timeline for an association, or caps the conditions an association may impose. The consequence follows directly: no statutory override of the declaration, no statutory deadline for association action specific to EV charging, and no statutory ceiling on the conditions an association may attach.

DUCIOA's lineage in the 2008 Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act doesn't itself create an EV-charging right. Only a Delaware-specific enactment would, and none exists. By contrast, the General Assembly did enact a covenant override for solar energy systems, under which a covenant that effectively prohibits or unreasonably restricts a roof-mounted solar system is void and unenforceable.¹⁰ The legislature acted on solar but not on EV charging — proof it legislates in this area when it chooses to, and simply hasn't for EV charging.

2B. How DUCIOA's general provisions bear on EV charging

DUCIOA contains nothing EV-specific, but its general provisions structure the analysis. Under Section 81-211, a unit owner may, on written notice to the association, make improvements or alterations within the owner's own unit that don't impair the structural integrity or mechanical systems or lessen support, but the same section provides that an owner "may not change the appearance of the common elements, or the exterior appearance of a unit or any other portion of the common interest community, without permission of the association."⁵ An EV charger installed wholly inside a unit, such as within a garage defined as part of the unit, falls closer to the first category; one requiring wiring across or attachment to common elements falls into the second and needs association consent.

Association authority over common elements runs broad. Under Section 81-202, fixtures such as patios and exterior features designed to serve a single unit but located outside its boundaries count as limited common elements, and assigned parking is commonly allocated as a limited common element.¹¹ The association generally controls alterations to both general and limited common elements. Under Section 81-302, the association holds power over the operation and maintenance of common elements and may adopt rules.¹² Section 81-320 authorizes the association to adopt and enforce construction, design, and aesthetic standards, but only if that right is reserved in the declaration, and it requires the association to adopt procedures including "a reasonable time within which the association must act after an application is submitted."⁴

For condominiums created before DUCIOA's September 30, 2009 effective date, the older Unit Property Act may govern — verify the applicable statute for each community.³ The result: DUCIOA neither compels an association to permit EV charging nor prohibits it. Absent an EV provision, the declaration decides.

2C. The role of governing documents, corporate law, and dispute forums

The recorded declaration is the operative rulebook for EV charging when no statute speaks, and architectural or design-review provisions are the usual mechanism for evaluating a request.⁴ The order of precedence runs from DUCIOA's non-variable provisions, to DUCIOA's default provisions as the declaration modifies them, then the declaration, then the bylaws, then the rules.¹³ Where the declaration stays silent, common law contract and property doctrine fills the gap.

Most Delaware associations organize as nonstock corporations, and DUCIOA Section 81-326 ties association governance to Delaware corporate law, which supplies the corporate-formality scaffolding for board action, meetings, and fiduciary duties.¹² It grants no EV-specific authority.

Delaware splits trial jurisdiction between two courts. The Court of Chancery is a court of equity that hears requests for injunctions, declaratory judgments about governing documents, and governance disputes; a statute, 10 Del. C. § 348, requires the Court of Chancery to mediate disputes over enforcement of deed covenants or restrictions where an association and an owner are parties, and to schedule a trial before a Master in Chancery if mediation fails.¹⁴ The Superior Court is the court of general jurisdiction for actions at law, such as claims for money damages. An EV-charging dispute may proceed in either court depending on the remedy sought. Delaware has no intermediate appellate court — appeals from both the Court of Chancery and the Superior Court go directly to the Delaware Supreme Court. The Common Interest Community Ombudsperson, within the Department of Justice under 29 Del. C. § 2544, is available for education and voluntary dispute resolution, but doesn't adjudicate disputes and isn't an attorney for any party.¹⁵

Section 3: What HOAs can and cannot do regarding EV charging

Because Delaware runs a single-framework state, these obligations apply across community types unless the declaration distinguishes them.

A. Installation rights and prohibitions

An association may prohibit or condition an EV-charging installation to the extent its recorded declaration allows, since no Delaware statute grants a unit owner an affirmative right to install charging equipment in a common interest community.¹ No statutory limit constrains such a prohibition — Delaware has no analog to the covenant overrides that exist for EV charging in California and Colorado.⁹ The practical distinction is between prohibiting installation outright and conditioning it: an installation wholly within a unit that doesn't alter common-element appearance is governed by Section 81-211's alteration rules, while any installation touching common elements needs association permission under that same section.⁵

B. Conditions an association may impose

Where the declaration reserves design review, the association may require architectural approval of the method, equipment, and routing under Sections 81-320 and 81-302.⁴ It may require professional or licensed installation and code compliance if the declaration or rules so provide, though no EV-specific statute mandates this in a common interest community. Insurance, indemnification, and an allocation of liability to the owner are matters for the declaration, since no statute imposes an EV insurance requirement. Aesthetic and location standards are permissible if the declaration reserves design authority.⁴ The ceiling on these conditions is contractual, governed by general reasonableness rather than a statutory cap, because Delaware has enacted no EV-charging provision setting one.

C. Cost, metering, and maintenance allocation

The declaration allocates installation cost, electricity cost, and metering; no statute assigns them for EV charging, though installation cost falls on the owner as the party making the improvement under Section 81-211.⁵ Maintenance, repair, and damage responsibility work the same way, per the declaration. On the utility side, the Delaware Public Service Commission regulates utilities, and Delaware has determined that an entity that supplies electricity to the public exclusively to charge plug-in electric vehicles isn't defined as a public utility — so an owner charging a personal vehicle on a private meter generally isn't reselling utility service, though the specific facts should be verified.¹⁶

D. Where the station may be installed, and how disputes are resolved

Location determines control. An installation within a unit, including an attached garage defined as part of the unit, is a separate interest the owner may alter subject to Section 81-211's structural and appearance limits.⁵ An installation in assigned parking typically sits on a limited common element, and one in shared parking sits on a general common element; in both cases, the association generally controls alterations under DUCIOA.¹¹ If a dispute arises, it proceeds to the Court of Chancery for equitable relief such as an injunction or declaratory judgment, or to the Superior Court for money damages, with appeals going directly to the Delaware Supreme Court. The Common Interest Community Ombudsperson is available for education and voluntary alternative dispute resolution, and 10 Del. C. § 348 requires the Court of Chancery to mediate deed-covenant enforcement disputes between an association and an owner.¹⁴

Section 4: Recent legislative and judicial activity

A. Recent bills

A search of the Delaware General Assembly for the past 24 months found no bill that would create or amend EV-charging rules specifically for community associations, and no bill amending DUCIOA, Title 25, Chapter 81, to add an EV-charging provision.² Delaware's enacted EV-charging measures predate this window and address new construction, municipalities, and state agencies rather than association governing documents.⁶ With no qualifying bill to report, this subsection carries no card or operational-impact table.

B. Recent rulings

A search of the Delaware Supreme Court, Court of Chancery, and Superior Court found no decision in the past 36 months addressing EV charging in a common interest community. Delaware trial courts have continued to decide covenant-enforcement and architectural-authority disputes under the general framework in which a recorded declaration controls owner alterations, but no reported decision in the window applies that framework to an EV charging station.⁵ With no qualifying EV-charging ruling to report, this subsection carries no card or operational-impact table.

C. Active legislative debates

No active proposal specifically creating EV-charging rights or restrictions for Delaware common interest communities has turned up as of the verification date. Legislative attention on association issues in the most recent session centered on other topics.

Section 5: National positioning and related coverage

On EV charging, Delaware sits in the category of states with no EV-charging-specific statute for common interest communities, where the recorded declaration controls. That places it apart from mandate states such as California, whose Civil Code Section 4745(a) makes any governing-document provision that "either effectively prohibits or unreasonably restricts the installation or use of an electric vehicle charging station within an owner's unit or in a designated parking space" void and unenforceable, and Colorado, whose C.R.S. Section 38-33.3-106.8(2)(a) bars an association from prohibiting a unit owner from installing a Level 1 or Level 2 charging system in a unit for the owner's own use.⁹ Delaware has a modern, UCIOA-based statute, but that pedigree doesn't by itself confer EV rights — only a Delaware-specific enactment would, and none exists. For a multi-state operator entering Delaware, the practical implication is that Delaware boards retain contractual discretion over EV requests that a California or Colorado board wouldn't, so due diligence should read each declaration rather than assume a statutory right to charge. This remains a fast-moving area, and Delaware's status is worth rechecking every quarter.

HOA Weekly's Delaware EV Charging coverage updates quarterly as the General Assembly and the courts act, and we re-verify the threshold question — whether an EV-charging statute exists — each cycle. Federal incentives may affect installation economics, but no federal law mandates HOA EV charging access. The Section 30C alternative fuel refueling property credit is currently scheduled to expire for property placed in service after June 30, 2026, and the NEVI infrastructure program resumed under revised federal guidance in August 2025 after a funding freeze earlier that year.¹⁷

Footnotes

1. Del. Code Ann. tit. 25, ch. 81 (Delaware Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act), Subchapter I, General Provisions (effective September 30, 2009); no EV-charging provision appears in the chapter. ↩
2. Delaware General Assembly, legislation search (legis.delaware.gov); no bill in the past 24 months creates or amends EV-charging rules for common interest communities or amends Title 25, Chapter 81 to add an EV provision. ↩
3. Del. Code Ann. tit. 25, § 81-116 and § 81-119 (applicability to new and preexisting communities; Unit Property Act, ch. 22, governs certain pre-September 30, 2009 condominiums). ↩
4. Del. Code Ann. tit. 25, § 81-320 (Rules; construction, design criteria, and aesthetic standards permitted if reserved in the declaration under § 81-302(a)(16), with procedures including a reasonable time to act on applications). ↩
5. Del. Code Ann. tit. 25, § 81-211 (Alterations of units; owner may alter within the unit on notice but "may not change the appearance of the common elements, or the exterior appearance of a unit or any other portion of the common interest community, without permission of the association"). ↩
6. Del. Code Ann. tit. 16, ch. 80, §§ 8004-8005 (Residential Dwelling Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure; multi-family developers must make at least 5% of parking spaces EV charging infrastructure spaces and at least 10% EV-capable spaces). ↩
7. Del. Code Ann. tit. 22, § 119 (Residential installation of electric vehicle charging station; municipalities of 30,000 or more must adopt a curbside permitting ordinance requiring installation by a licensed electrician and decision within the ordinance's timeframe). ↩
8. Del. Code Ann. tit. 29, ch. 80, subch. II, § 8062 (state agencies may charge a use fee for EV charging on state-owned or -leased property not exceeding the combined costs of electricity and maintenance), as summarized by the U.S. DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center. ↩
9. Cal. Civ. Code § 4745(a) (governing-document provision that "either effectively prohibits or unreasonably restricts the installation or use of an electric vehicle charging station within an owner's unit or in a designated parking space...is void and unenforceable"); Colo. Rev. Stat. § 38-33.3-106.8(2)(a) (association shall not "Prohibit a unit owner from using, or installing at the unit owner's expense for the unit owner's own use, a level 1 or level 2 electric vehicle charging system on or in a unit"), available at https://codes.findlaw.com/co/title-38-property-real-and-personal/co-rev-st-sect-38-33-3-106-8/. ↩
10. Del. Code Ann. tit. 25, § 318 (Restrictive covenants; a covenant that effectively prohibits or unreasonably restricts a roof-mounted solar energy system is void and unenforceable, subject to reasonable restrictions) — a solar covenant override, with no EV-charging equivalent enacted. ↩
11. Del. Code Ann. tit. 25, § 81-202 (Unit boundaries; exterior fixtures designed to serve a single unit but located outside its boundaries are limited common elements) and § 81-208 (Limited common elements). ↩
12. Del. Code Ann. tit. 25, § 81-302 (Powers of unit owners' association, including rulemaking under § 81-320 and management of common elements) and § 81-326 (Delaware corporations). ↩
13. Del. Code Ann. tit. 25, § 81-104 (Variation by agreement; effect of DUCIOA provisions may not be varied except as expressly permitted) and § 81-203(c) (in a conflict, the declaration prevails over the bylaws). ↩
14. Del. Code Ann. tit. 10, § 348 (Court of Chancery must mediate disputes involving enforcement of deed covenants or restrictions where an association and an owner are parties; if mediation fails, the Court schedules a trial before a Master in Chancery). ↩
15. Del. Code Ann. tit. 29, § 2544 (Common Interest Community Ombudsperson; powers and duties limited to education, information, complaint intake, and voluntary alternative dispute resolution; the Ombudsperson "may not act as or appear to act as an attorney" and does not adjudicate). ↩
16. Delaware Public Service Commission Order 19-0377, as summarized by the U.S. DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center: "An entity that owns, operates, controls, or manages a facility that supplies electricity to the public exclusively to charge plug-in electric vehicles is not defined as a public utility." ↩
17. IRS, Alternative Fuel Vehicle Refueling Property Credit (26 U.S.C. § 30C; Pub. L. 119-21, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, changed the termination date to property placed in service after June 30, 2026); NEVI Formula Program guidance, U.S. DOT/FHWA (revised interim guidance issued August 11, 2025 after the February 2025 freeze), https://afdc.energy.gov/laws/12744. ↩