Electric vehicles are now a municipal requirement in many jurisdictions, a client expectation, and a long-term building asset. For architects, the role involves not designing the electrical system but instead coordinating the site layout, ensuring accessibility, and creating spaces that enable MEP teams to provide a safe, code-compliant, and future-ready charging solution. Below is a practical guide that can be utilized throughout schematic and design development to maintain project budgets and code compliance while respecting the architectural vision.
1) Why architects should start early
EV charging impacts plan layout, parking geometry, circulation, canopy and lighting decisions, building electrical routing, and even tenant mix. Early architectural decisions (parking typology, where power risers and electrical rooms sit, covered vs. uncovered stalls) materially affect cost and constructability. Engage your electrical engineer at the schematic stage to evaluate options, e.g., a few high-power DC fast chargers vs. many Level-2 ports, and avoid late change orders. National MEP Engineers and similar firms recommend early coordination to reduce scope creep and costly service upgrades.
2) Know the code headlines
You don’t need to be the code expert, but you should flag the proper rules for the MEP lead:
- NEC, Article 625 (EV supply equipment): governs wiring, overcurrent protection, disconnecting means, listings, and special installation requirements for EVSE (level-2 and level-3). This affects where electrical rooms, service locations, and equipment pads are sited.
- IECC & local “EV-Readiness” provisions: many energy codes (and recent IECC/appendices) require EV-Capable or EV-Ready parking spaces in new construction, typically conduit, capacity, and sometimes panel space reserved for a portion of stalls (percentages and definitions vary by edition and local amendment). Plan conduit pathways early.
- Accessibility (ADA/Access Board guidance): EV charging spaces must allow a safe, unobstructed approach for people with disabilities, provide clear aisle widths, meet vehicle space dimensions, ensure reachable charger locations, and include. Check applicable Access Board/ADA guidance and local interpretations.
Flag these items for your electrical and code consultants; they’ll interpret the specific edition and local amendments.
3) Practical planning items architects should own
These are coordination items that will save time and money when the MEP engineer issues design documents.
- Parking layout & stall orientation: Design stalls so chargers and cord management don’t cross major pedestrian routes. Consider head-in vs. pull-through to reduce cord-reach conflicts.
- Clearances & pedestrian paths: Protect charger pedestals from vehicle overhangs and ensure accessible routes to building entrances where required. Show access aisles and paths on site plans.
- Reserve vertical pathways: Align raceways from parking to electrical rooms; avoid routing through finished tenant spaces. Early riser locations minimize trenching and the need for later, expensive rewiring.
- Electrical room/transformer location: Coordinate architectural envelope and equipment screening; short runs reduce costs and voltage drop. Consider future additional switchgear space for capacity growth.
- Canopy, lighting, and signage: If chargers are under a canopy, coordinate structural loading, lighting levels, and conduit penetrations. Provide visible wayfinding and ADA signage locations.
- Stormwater and grading: For curbside or podium parking, avoid locations where runoff may reach equipment or create maintenance issues.
Include these as requirements in your drawings (or an early EV coordination memo) so MEP can price realistic options.
4) Capacity options and architectural implications
Architects don’t size switchboards, but your choices change the electrical strategy:
- Many Level-2 chargers are distributed across parking, usually cheaper per port but with a higher aggregate load; they need panel capacity or load management. Suitable for residential, workplace, and retail.
- Few DC fast chargers are concentrated, with higher upfront utility service and transformer capacity, possible separate equipment enclosures, and often greater site security and screening requirements. Best for highway, retail, or transit hubs.
- EV-Ready vs EV-Capable vs EVSE installed: “EV-Ready” often means conduit and panel capacity are provided; “EV-Capable” may require a reserved breaker space; “EVSE installed” means the owners pay for chargers up front. The IECC and local codes will define what is needed. Architecturally, EV-Ready spaces keep visual clutter to a minimum while preserving cost flexibility.
Ask your electrical consultant for a “no-regrets” path: provide conduit routes and space now, add chargers later.
5) Accessibility: practical checks
Ensure that at least some accessible EV parking stalls meet the Access Board/ADA guidance:
- Dimension & access aisle: Provide adequate width/length and adjoining access aisles to enable transfer and charger use. Make sure chargers are located so the cord reach and plug location are usable from an accessible side.
- Pedestrian routes: remove obstructions between accessible parking and building entrances; verify slopes and cross slopes near charger locations.
- Signage & lighting: provide readable signage and safe nighttime illumination.
Document these in your architectural accessibility plan so the electrical and civil teams show the charger locations on the permit drawings.
6) A short checklist to put on the plan set
Place these on the SITE or GENERAL NOTES sheet so all disciplines see them.
- Reserved conduit routes from stalls to main electrical room(s).
- Dedicated electrical room clearances and reserved panel-space note.
- Accessibility dimension callouts for at least X% of EV stalls (coordinate with code).
- Potential utility transformer/pad location (show alternate).
- Structural notes for canopy column penetrations and equipment supports.
- Security, lighting, and signage requirements.
7) Phasing, permitting, and budgets
Expect at least three procurement/permitting paths:
- Permit for building with EV-Ready infrastructure only, lower immediate cost, enables staged rollout. (IECC-compliant strategies often take this route.)
- Permit with a first tranche of chargers installed, suitable for workplaces or retail, where immediate capacity is needed.
- Utility upgrade or demand-management solution: sometimes the cheapest alternative to a complete service upgrade. Competent load managers or charging networks can increase ports without upsizing the service. Consider this option early in the cost model.
Make a conservative allowance for trenching, conduit, and a transformer pad in your budget studies.
8) Commissioning, operations, and maintenance
Leave room in O&M and turnover documents for: as-built charger locations, conduit maps, breaker allocations, software/network vendor info (if chargers are networked), and maintenance clearances for pedestals and enclosures. Architects should include maintenance access and replacement sequences in the operations narrative given to building owners.
9) Final design tips (avoid the common mistakes)
- Don’t route conduit through tenant amenity spaces; show a clear path on site and floor plans.
- Don’t assume “one charger = one stall”; cord reach, pedestrian routing, and accessibility may mean reassigning adjacent stalls.
- Don’t forget space for equipment service and ventilation if you opt for concentrated power rooms for DC fast charging.
- Don’t leave accessibility to the installer; document dimensions and reach ranges in the construction documents.
10) Who to involve and when
- Schematic: electrical engineer (prelim load studies), civil (site grading, trenching), structural (canopy, fastener points).
- Design development: code consultant (NEC/IECC local editions), utility liaison (service capacity), accessibility specialist.
- Construction documents: commissioning agent, facilities management (O&M).
NEC Article 625 and recent IECC guidance are the two code pillars your MEP partner will reference when designing the circuits, meter, and overcurrent protection; the Access Board/ADA guidance will determine accessible stall geometry and reach. Flag these early on your coordination matrix.
Closing with a practical next step
If you want a concise deliverable to attach to your schematic set, request an “EV-Coordination Matrix” from your electrical consultant or MEP partner that lists: proposed charger type (Level-2 vs DCFC), reserved conduit runs, accessible stalls and dimensions, preliminary load assumptions, and utility upgrade triggers. That one page saves multiple RFIs and protects architectural intent.
If helpful, National MEP Engineers can produce that EV-Coordination Matrix and a short schematic-stage load study tied to your site pla
n, presented in architect-friendly language so you can keep the owner informed. At the same time, the MEP team handles the technical design.
