The week in a minuteOut with A3, in with fewer forms
Amendment 4 is now the only BS 7671 in force, so the A3 copy holding the van door open can finally retire. England has dropped planning permission for qualifying cross-pavement chargers, and two consultations want to hear from anyone who has lost a job to a landlord saying no. Lunch and learn this week is the 6 mA rule, because it comes up on every job.
Rules and regsWhat changed this week
BS 7671 Amendment 4 is now the only version
In force from 15 October 2026Amendment 4 to the 18th Edition was published on 15 April 2026 and became the only valid version on 15 October 2026. Among its changes, it brings RDC protective devices into EV charging installations.
- Who it affects
- Anyone designing, installing or certifying EV circuits from now on.
- What to do
- Make sure your design notes and paperwork refer to A4:2026, and read the EV changes in full before relying on anyone's summary, including this one.
Source: NICEIC, Amendment 4
Cross-pavement chargers no longer need planning permission in England
In force from 21 October 2026From 21 October, a qualifying cross-pavement solution (a cable in a channel from the house to a car parked on the street) no longer needs planning permission. North Northamptonshire Council's summary says the channel must be installed by, or with the say-so of, the highway authority as part of an approved scheme, and that conservation areas, the grounds of listed buildings and scheduled monuments are left out. The government puts the saving at up to £300 a household.
- Who it affects
- Domestic installers working on terraced streets.
- What to do
- The council is still the gatekeeper; this removes the planning step only. Check the order itself before quoting the exclusions to a customer.
Our take: one form fewer, same council. The quick wins will be in areas that already run a scheme.
Sources: GOV.UK, 21 October 2026 · North Northamptonshire Council
Renters' charge points and covered car parks
Proposal · responses by 16 December 2026Two consultations are open. One asks whether tenants and leaseholders should get an "ability to charge", making it harder for a landlord or freeholder to refuse a charge point. The other asks whether building regulations should require charge points in new and refurbished covered car parks.
- Who it affects
- Anyone quoting flats, rentals or multi-storey work.
- What to do
- Nothing changes yet. If a landlord's no has cost you jobs, this is where to say so.
Sources: GOV.UK, 21 October 2026 · Consultation page
The week in chargingNews from the trade
- Bigger public hubs get an easier ride. The same 21 October package changes permitted development rights so larger, higher-powered public hubs are quicker and cheaper to build. The release gives no size limits, so we will report those once the order is read. GOV.UK
- The renters' and flat owners' grant is still there. It pays 75 % of the cost of buying and fitting a socket, up to £500, and the tenant needs written permission from the landlord or freeholder. Worth a line on any flat quote. GOV.UK
Number of the weekPublic chargers in the UK
124,738
Public EV chargers on Zapmap at the end of September 2026, at 48,298 locations, with 1,061 added in the month. Zapmap now counts chargers rather than devices, so this figure does not line up with older "charge point" counts. Zapmap
Lunch and learnThe 6 mA rule
An EV charger is one of the few things in a house that can leak smooth DC to earth. The car's onboard charger turns AC into DC to fill the battery, and a fault on that side can send a steady DC current to earth rather than the usual alternating one.
An ordinary RCD is built to see AC. A Type AC RCD cannot see DC fault current at all. A Type A sees pulsing DC, but smooth DC above about 6 mA can stop it working properly, so it may not trip when it should. That is called blinding.
So Section 722 asks for two things on every charging point: 30 mA RCD protection, and protection against smooth DC fault current above 6 mA. The two usual ways to get the second part:
- A charger with 6 mA DC detection (RDC-DD) built in, and a Type A RCD or RCBO on the circuit. Most current chargers have it, but not all, so check the data sheet.
- A Type B RCD at the origin of the circuit, where the charger has no DC detection.
Type AC is never acceptable on an EV circuit. And because smooth DC let through by a Type B can blind an RCD further up, anything upstream of a Type B should be Type B too. Amendment 4 adds RDC protective devices as a further option; we will cover those once we have read the full text.
Three quick questions
- Which RCD type cannot see DC fault current at all?
Show the answer
Type AC. - Above what level of smooth DC fault current does Section 722 ask for extra protection?
Show the answer
6 mA. - A charger has RDC-DD built in. What is the lowest RCD type its circuit needs?
Show the answer
Type A.
More in the guide Type A vs Type B RCDs, and the 6 mA DC rule.
From the vanWolverhampton got there first
Long before anyone argued about tethered or untethered, Thomas Parker had an electric car on his drive in Tettenhall, near Wolverhampton; the photograph is dated around 1895. Ten years earlier he had supplied the equipment for Blackpool's tramway, the first electric tramway in the country, and he later worked on electrifying the Metropolitan Railway. No record survives of his volt drop calculations. Wikipedia
Planner tipStart from the map
Map of the site turns a satellite or street map into a plan that is already to scale, so the first cable run you draw is a real length. Open the planner
EV Site Planner assists site design decisions. It does not certify electrical work. Check every rule against the source before acting on it.