Oregon HOA EV Charging

Quick-Reference EV Charging Table

ORS 100.627 governs condominiums and ORS 94.762 governs planned communities; the two sections are parallel but sit in separate chapters with distinct section numbers, so EV-charging values must be drawn from the correct chapter for each column. Both were enacted by Oregon Laws 2013 c.438 (HB 3301), operative January 1, 2014, and amended by Oregon Laws 2015 c.249; the approval mechanic and the insurance trigger are the parameters most likely to be misread, so pull the current text from oregonlegislature.gov and cite by subsection.

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

Oregon gives owners in both community types an owner-protective statutory right to install an electric vehicle charging station, and it bars an association from prohibiting a compliant installation. The rule sits in two parallel sections: ORS 100.627 for condominiums¹ and ORS 94.762 for planned communities.² Each directs the association to approve a completed application within 60 days unless the delay rests on a reasonable request for additional information. Because Oregon operates two comprehensive community-association statutes rather than a single unified act, condominiums are governed by the Oregon Condominium Act, ORS Chapter 100, and planned communities by the Oregon Planned Community Act, ORS Chapter 94, and each chapter carries its own EV-charging section with its own defined terms.³

The prohibition on bans isn't absolute. An association may still require an application, require the station to meet the community's architectural standards, impose reasonable charges to recover review and permitting costs, require installation by at least a journeyman electrician, require insurance for a non-certified station, and hold the owner responsible for all installation, electricity, maintenance, and removal costs.¹ Oregon adopted these protections through Oregon Laws 2013 chapter 438, making it an early-adopter owner-protective state, in contrast to jurisdictions with no EV-charging statute where the declaration alone controls.⁴ The detailed sections below apply this framework to specific board and manager decisions; the page reflects the sections as amended by Oregon Laws 2015 chapter 249 and current through the 2025 and 2026 legislative sessions.

Section 2: The statutory and regulatory framework

2A. The EV-charging statutes: ORS 100.627 and ORS 94.762

Oregon addresses EV charging in community associations through two parallel sections. ORS 100.627 sits within the Oregon Condominium Act, ORS Chapter 100, and is preceded by legislative findings at ORS 100.626.⁵ ORS 94.762 sits within the Oregon Planned Community Act, ORS Chapter 94, and is preceded by legislative findings at ORS 94.761.⁶ Both sections were enacted by Oregon Laws 2013 chapter 438, House Bill 3301, operative January 1, 2014, and amended by Oregon Laws 2015 chapter 249.⁴ The source-and-history note printed beneath each section confirms this lineage: ORS 100.627 carries "[2013 c.438 §7; 2015 c.249 §6]" and ORS 94.762 carries "[2013 c.438 §3; 2015 c.249 §3]."¹² The provisions don't originate in a 2021 bill. This page reflects the current text and cites each rule by subsection.

The core rule is a prohibition on bans tied to an exclusive-use location. Notwithstanding contrary provisions of a declaration or bylaws, an owner may apply to install a station for personal, noncommercial use, and the association may not prohibit installation or use of a station installed and used in compliance with the section, ORS 100.627(1); ORS 94.762(1).¹² The right attaches to space subject to the owner's exclusive use, not to general common elements open to all.

The approval mechanic is a 60-day approval mandate, not an automatic deemed-approval clock. Each section provides that the association "shall approve a completed application within 60 days" after submission unless the delay is based on a reasonable request for additional information, ORS 100.627(2); ORS 94.762(2).¹² Neither section states that an unanswered application is deemed approved; the remedy for a noncompliant association is a court action to enforce compliance, in which the prevailing party recovers attorney fees and costs, ORS 100.627(9); ORS 94.762(9).¹² This differs from California's model, which under Cal. Civ. Code § 4745(e) provides that "if an application is not denied in writing within 60 days from the date of receipt of the application, the application shall be deemed approved, unless that delay is the result of a reasonable request for additional information."⁷ Oregon has no equivalent deemed-approval sentence. Each section also lists the conditions an association may impose: it may require an application, require the station to meet the community's architectural standards, impose reasonable charges to recover review and permitting costs, and impose reasonable restrictions that don't significantly increase the cost or significantly decrease the efficiency or performance of the station, ORS 100.627(3); ORS 94.762(3).¹²

2B. Condominiums: how ORS Chapter 100 bears on EV charging

Within the condominium framework, ORS 100.627 gives a unit owner the right to install a station in a space assigned to the unit for parking or storage, or in a limited common element with the written approval of each unit owner to whom use of that limited common element is reserved, ORS 100.627(1)(a).¹ The station must be installed by a person holding at least a journeyman electrician license as defined in ORS 479.530, ORS 100.627(4).¹ The unit owner bears all costs associated with installation and use, including the cost of electricity and the cost of damage to general common elements, limited common elements, and areas subject to the exclusive use of other unit owners, ORS 100.627(5)(a).¹ For a station that isn't a certified electrical product, the unit owner must maintain a homeowner liability insurance policy of not less than $1 million covering the station and must name the association as an additional insured; a hard-wired pedestal or similar station must be a certified electrical product, ORS 100.627(8).¹ If the association reasonably determines that cumulative charging use requires additional infrastructure improvements, it may assess the cost against each unit that has installed or will install a station, ORS 100.627(6).¹

The exclusive-use requirement interacts directly with the association's authority over common elements. Under the Oregon Condominium Act, a general common element is one all unit owners may use on a nonexclusive basis, while a limited common element, for example assigned parking, is reserved to fewer than all units.⁸ ORS 100.627 doesn't compel an association to permit installation in a general common element open to all; the statutory right runs to space assigned to the unit or to a limited common element with the required consent. The association retains its architectural and design-review authority under Chapter 100 and the declaration, which ORS 100.627(3)(b) expressly preserves.¹ Where the declaration conflicts with ORS 100.627 on EV charging, the statute controls, because subsection (1) applies "notwithstanding contrary provisions of a declaration or bylaws."¹

2C. Planned communities: ORS Chapter 94, plus CC&Rs and corporate law

For planned communities, ORS 94.762 gives an owner the right to install a station in a parking space, on a lot, or in any other area subject to the owner's exclusive use, ORS 94.762(1)(a).² The approval, restriction, installer, cost, and insurance parameters mirror the condominium section: 60-day approval of a completed application, ORS 94.762(2); permitted conditions including architectural standards and reasonable review charges, ORS 94.762(3); journeyman electrician installation, ORS 94.762(4), ORS 479.530; owner responsibility for all installation, electricity, maintenance, and damage costs, ORS 94.762(5); and the $1 million insurance requirement for a non-certified station with the association named as additional insured, ORS 94.762(8).² Oregon planned communities are statutorily governed; this isn't a CC&R-only track.

The association retains authority over the lot, common property, and exterior modifications under Chapter 94 and the declaration, subject to the EV-charging carve-out. ORS 94.630, the powers provision, expressly makes the association's general authority "subject to" ORS 94.762, which signals that the EV section overrides inconsistent association action.⁹ The order of precedence runs from the statute's non-variable provisions, to statutory defaults as modified by the declaration, to the declaration, then the bylaws, then the rules. For associations organized as nonprofit corporations, the Oregon Nonprofit Corporation Act, ORS Chapter 65, supplies corporate-formality scaffolding such as meetings, voting, and recordkeeping, but it confers no EV-specific authority; where Chapter 94 and Chapter 65 conflict, Chapter 94 controls.¹⁰ Common-law contract and property doctrine fills gaps only where both the statute and the declaration are silent.

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

A. Installation rights and prohibitions

An association may not prohibit installation or use of a compliant station. For condominiums, "an association of unit owners may not prohibit installation or use of a charging station installed and used in compliance with the requirements of this section," ORS 100.627(1)(b); for planned communities, the same rule binds a homeowners association, ORS 94.762(1)(b).¹² This is a statutory mandate applying to both community types. The right is limited to exclusive-use space: a unit-assigned parking or storage space or a consented limited common element for condominiums, ORS 100.627(1)(a), and a parking space, lot, or other exclusive-use area for planned communities, ORS 94.762(1)(a); it doesn't reach general common elements open to all owners. The line between a permitted reasonable restriction and a prohibited effective ban is drawn by statute: a restriction is permitted only if it doesn't significantly increase the cost or significantly decrease the efficiency or performance of the station, ORS 100.627(3)(d); ORS 94.762(3)(d).¹²

B. Conditions an association may impose

An association may require an application, require the station to meet architectural standards, and impose reasonable charges to recover review and permitting costs, ORS 100.627(3); ORS 94.762(3).¹² These are permitted association options for both types. Installation must be by a person holding at least a journeyman electrician license under ORS 479.530, a statutory mandate for both types, ORS 100.627(4); ORS 94.762(4).¹² For a station that isn't a certified electrical product, the owner must maintain a homeowner liability policy of not less than $1 million covering the station and name the association as an additional insured; a hard-wired pedestal must itself be a certified electrical product, ORS 100.627(8); ORS 94.762(8).¹² The association shall approve a completed application within 60 days, and a reasonable request for additional information is the only stated basis for delay; the statute doesn't deem an unanswered application approved, ORS 100.627(2); ORS 94.762(2).¹²

C. Cost, metering, and maintenance allocation

The owner is responsible for all costs of installation and use, including the cost of electricity and the cost of damage to common elements or common property and to areas subject to the exclusive use of other owners resulting from installation, use, maintenance, repair, removal, or replacement, ORS 100.627(5); ORS 94.762(5).¹² This allocation is a statutory mandate for both types. If the association reasonably determines that cumulative charging use requires additional infrastructure improvements to supply sufficient electricity, it may assess the cost against each unit or lot that has installed or will install a station, ORS 100.627(6); ORS 94.762(6), a permitted association option for both types.¹² On the utility side, an owner charging a personal vehicle on the owner's own service is charging for personal, noncommercial use under the statute's own terms, ORS 100.627(1)(a); ORS 94.762(1)(a); the sections don't address resale of utility service, and boards shouldn't assume a resale theory without separate legal basis.¹²

D. Where the station may be installed and removal obligations

For condominiums, the station may go in a space assigned to the unit for vehicle parking or storage, or in a limited common element with the written approval of each unit owner to whom that element is reserved, ORS 100.627(1)(a); the exclusive-use requirement means the right doesn't extend to general common elements, and alterations to general common elements remain under association control per the declaration and Chapter 100.¹⁸ For planned communities, the relevant location is the owner's lot, driveway, parking space, or other exclusive-use area, ORS 94.762(1)(a).² For both types, the station is deemed the owner's personal property unless the owner and association negotiate otherwise, and the owner must remove the station and restore the premises before transferring ownership unless the buyer accepts ownership and the related responsibilities; the owner must also disclose the station to a prospective buyer, ORS 100.627(7), (5)(b); ORS 94.762(7), (5)(b).¹²

Section 4: Recent legislative and judicial activity

A. Recent bills

B. Recent appellate rulings

No Oregon appellate opinion in the past 36 months, July 2023 through July 2026, and none at any time, addresses ORS 100.627, ORS 94.762, or EV charging in a community association. A review of the Oregon Court of Appeals and Oregon Supreme Court published opinions, the statutory annotations for both sections, and independent case databases returned no case interpreting or applying either EV-charging section, and no in-window appellate decision squarely addressing owner installation of equipment on common elements, limited common elements, or lots under Chapter 100 or Chapter 94.¹⁶ Because both sections include a prevailing-party attorney-fee provision, any enforcement dispute that reached the appellate level would be reportable; none has. Trial-level disputes proceed through Oregon Circuit Courts, with appeals to the Oregon Court of Appeals and discretionary review by the Oregon Supreme Court. There's no dedicated administrative forum for EV-charging disputes; the Oregon Real Estate Agency administers condominium filings under Chapter 100 but doesn't adjudicate ongoing HOA or EV-charging disputes, and no state regulator exists for planned communities.¹⁷

C. Active legislative debates

No bill in the 2025 regular session or the 2026 short session proposed amending the EV-charging sections or creating new EV rights or restrictions for Oregon associations. Related HOA measures in recent sessions addressed construction-defect litigation, HB 3746, 2025, and manufactured dwellings and ADUs in planned communities, HB 3144, 2025; none touched EV charging.¹⁸

Section 5: National positioning and related coverage

Oregon sits in the first of three national tiers on EV charging. The first tier comprises states with EV-charging-station mandates that void or limit HOA prohibitions, such as California, Civil Code § 4745, and Colorado, C.R.S. § 38-33.3-106.8; the second comprises states that address charging more narrowly within a condominium or HOA act; and the third comprises states with no EV-charging-specific statute, where the declaration controls.⁷¹⁹ Oregon belongs in the first tier as an early-adopter owner-protective state, having enacted parallel condominium and planned-community provisions in 2013, before most peer states acted. Its approval mechanic differs from California's: Oregon directs the association to approve a completed application within 60 days and routes noncompliance to a court action with prevailing-party fees, rather than deeming an unanswered application automatically approved.⁷ The two states have also diverged on insurance: California's SB 770 removed the requirement that a homeowner name the HOA as an additional insured, effective January 1, 2026, while Oregon's ORS 100.627(8) and 94.762(8) continue to require the association be named as an additional insured for a non-certified station.²⁰ For a multi-state operator entering Oregon, the practical implication is direct: owners hold a statutory installation right in exclusive-use space, so a blanket ban in the declaration is unenforceable. Because this area moves quickly, Oregon's two sections should be re-checked each quarter.

HOA Weekly's Oregon EV Charging coverage updates quarterly as the legislature and courts act, and ORS 100.627 and ORS 94.762 are re-verified against current text each cycle. Federal incentives may affect installation economics, but no federal law mandates HOA EV charging access; per the IRS Form 8911 instructions, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, P.L. 119-21, enacted July 4, 2025, "changed the termination date for the section 30C alternative fuel vehicle refueling property credit from December 31, 2032, to June 30, 2026," and 26 U.S.C. § 30C(i) now provides that the credit "shall not apply to any property placed in service after June 30, 2026."²¹²² The NEVI charging program's status has shifted through 2025 and 2026 after a federal funding pause and subsequent litigation.²³

Footnotes

1. ORS 100.627, Electric vehicle charging stations (Oregon Condominium Act, ORS Ch. 100), current text via oregonlegislature.gov ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩
2. ORS 94.762, Electric vehicle charging stations (Oregon Planned Community Act, ORS Ch. 94), current text via oregonlegislature.gov ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩
3. ORS Chapter 100 (Condominiums) and ORS Chapter 94 (Real Property Development / Planned Communities), oregonlegislature.gov ↩
4. Enrolled House Bill 3301 (2013 Regular Session), Relating to electric vehicle charging stations (Oregon Laws 2013 c.438); source-and-history notes "[2013 c.438; 2015 c.249]" printed beneath ORS 100.627 and ORS 94.762 ↩ ↩
5. ORS 100.626, Legislative findings regarding electric vehicle charging stations, oregonlegislature.gov ↩
6. ORS 94.761, Legislative findings regarding electric vehicle charging stations, oregonlegislature.gov ↩
7. California Civil Code § 4745(e) (deemed-approval mechanic), cross-verification of California model for contrast ↩ ↩ ↩
8. ORS 100.005 (definitions of general and limited common elements) and ORS 100.540 (use and maintenance of common elements), oregonlegislature.gov ↩ ↩
9. ORS 94.630, Powers of association (authority made "subject to" ORS 94.762), oregonlegislature.gov ↩
10. ORS 94.625 (formation of homeowners association as nonprofit under ORS Ch. 65) and ORS 94.770 (conflict with ORS Ch. 65; Planned Community Act controls), oregonlegislature.gov ↩
11. Enrolled House Bill 3301 (2013), Oregon Laws 2013 c.438; amended by Oregon Laws 2015 c.249 ↩
12. Miller Nash LLP, "Oregon HB 3746: Redefining Construction Defect Timelines for HOAs and Condos" ↩
13. Barker Martin, "Oregon House Bill 3746: What Community Associations Need to Know" ↩
14. HB 3746 (2025 Regular Session), enrolled bill and staff measure summary, Oregon Legislative Information System (OLIS) ↩
15. Davis Wright Tremaine, "Navigating HB 3746 A: New Repose Periods, Moisture Testing, and HOA Rules in Oregon" (context on Oregon condominium construction decline) ↩
16. Oregon Judicial Department, Oregon Court of Appeals published opinions portal (no opinion found addressing ORS 100.627, ORS 94.762, or EV charging); statutory annotation pages for both sections show no interpreting case law ↩
17. Oregon Real Estate Agency, Condominium Form of Ownership (filing and registration role under ORS Ch. 100; not a dispute-adjudication forum) ↩
18. CWD Group, "Oregon HOA Statutes and Laws Update" (summary of 2025 session HOA measures HB 3746 and HB 3144) ↩
19. Colorado Revised Statutes § 38-33.3-106.8, Unreasonable restrictions on electric vehicle charging systems (cross-verification for national positioning) ↩
20. California Senate Judiciary Committee analysis of SB 770 (Allen) (removal of additional-insured requirement effective January 1, 2026) ↩
21. IRS, Instructions for Form 8911 (12/2025), Alternative Fuel Vehicle Refueling Property Credit (Section 30C termination date changed to June 30, 2026 by P.L. 119-21) ↩
22. 26 U.S.C. § 30C(i), Alternative fuel vehicle refueling property credit — Termination (U.S. House Office of the Law Revision Counsel) ↩
23. U.S. DOT/FHWA National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program, Alternative Fuels Data Center (program status) ↩