EN Before handing over a commercial EV charging station, run a complete charging session on every output you plan to open. Check that drivers can start and finish a session and that the operator sees the correct record. Where a grid import limit applies, check that the site stays within the agreed limit on what it can draw from the grid while vehicles charge together. Hand over the results with a named owner for each open issue.
These handover checks show whether the installed site is ready to provide the charging service you plan to offer. A fleet depot might need to recognise a driver’s contactless access card and record which vehicle charged overnight. A public car park might also need to take a payment and issue a receipt. Agree on the exact checks before the installer, network provider and operator come to site.
1. What to Agree Before Test Day
Ask the site owner, installer and charging network operator to agree on which bays will open, which vehicles or test equipment to bring, and what evidence will count as a pass. Share the charger and bay IDs, software versions and payment or access methods. Where a grid import limit applies, confirm the meter, units and measurement interval. Identify who will witness the tests and who can authorise opening.
Have a qualified electrical professional complete the required electrical inspections and sign-off before functional testing. Use the approved design, the model’s installation instructions and local requirements to define that work. The checks below are for accepting the site as an operating service.
2. EV Charging Station Commissioning Checklist
Quick Site Acceptance Checklist
Use one result per check as a site summary. Select Pass when all required tests for that check pass, Fail when a test misses the agreed criteria, Pending when testing or evidence is incomplete, or N/A when the check is outside the agreed scope. Selections on this page are temporary. Transfer the results to the handover record and log each bay and output separately.
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1. Bay and charger IDs
Pass condition. Every bay and output matches its dashboard record. Public listings match where in scope.
Evidence. Bay-to-output list and a photo or dashboard export.
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2. Charging on every output
Pass condition. Each output delivers energy, records the session and returns to available. Test simultaneous use where offered.
Evidence. Bay, output, time, session ID and energy reading.
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3. Access and payment
Pass condition. Access behaves as agreed. Where card payments are offered, the payment matches the selected bay and expected amount, with no duplicate charge. Any hold is handled as agreed.
Evidence. Redacted session and payment references, charge and hold outcomes.
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4. Grid import limit
Pass condition. The agreed meter meets the limit with vehicles charging together. Test battery fallback separately if the site relies on discharge.
Evidence. Measurement point, meter ID and time-stamped readings.
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5. Network recovery
Pass condition. Sessions behave as agreed offline. Any queued session appears once after reconnecting, with the correct output and energy.
Evidence. Local and dashboard records with times and session IDs.
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6. Fault and support response
Pass condition. The alert identifies the correct bay. The operator can open a ticket and update the bay status where required.
Evidence. Alert, test ticket and status record.
Check the bay and charger IDs
Map each physical bay and output to the correct station and connector in the operator’s dashboard. Where drivers use an app or map, check that the listed location and charger match what they see on site.
Follow the driver’s route from the entrance to the bay. Check that the signs are clear and that drivers can reach the connector and any payment terminal in line with the approved site layout.
Keep the bay-to-charger list with a photo or a dashboard export. If the IDs are swapped, an operator could send support to the wrong bay.
Run a charging session on every output
Use a compatible vehicle or approved test equipment. For driver tests, choose vehicles that represent the site’s expected users. Connect, authorise, check that energy is delivered, then stop and disconnect. Watch the output return to available. Test each output separately, then test any promised simultaneous-use mode.
Keep the bay ID, test time, start and stop result, and session ID or local meter evidence. For sites with a management platform, match the session to the correct output and verify that the dashboard records start, stop and energy delivered.
Test the access and payment methods you will offer
At a fleet depot, try an authorised access card and confirm that a card without access is declined. At a public site, use the payment provider’s approved test setup for each advertised payment method. Where a terminal serves several bays, confirm that the test payment goes to the selected bay. Match the bay and session ID to the payment reference, the amount captured and any required receipt. Check the final amount against the displayed tariff and look for duplicate charges. If the provider uses a temporary card hold (pre-authorisation), verify how it was handled separately.
Test a declined card payment separately from one that is authorised but never starts a charging session. Check the message shown to the driver. If no fee is due, confirm in the payment system that no payment was captured. Use the payment reference to check that any temporary hold was handled as agreed with the payment provider.
Keep the payment reference, outcome and session ID if available. If no session ID was created, record the bay and time against the payment reference. Remove private card and driver details.
Check the grid import limit with vehicles charging together
Where the site uses load management, mark the agreed measurement point on the final electrical drawing and identify the meter. Run a controlled test with enough demand to activate the load control. Compare the meter readings with the grid import limit using the agreed units and measurement interval. Where the controller adjusts to building demand, include an agreed change in building load and watch how the chargers respond.
In this simplified example, the building and chargers are the only electrical loads, and the grid supplies all their power. Building demand rises from 30 to 70 kW while the chargers’ input falls from 40 to 20 kW. Grid import still rises from 70 to 90 kW, above an example 80 kW limit. The building adds more demand than the chargers shed. Judge the result at the agreed site meter.
If the site relies on battery discharge to stay within its grid import limit, have the commissioning team use the approved procedure to test what happens when the battery cannot discharge. Record the readings at the agreed meter, how the chargers respond and how normal operation resumes. Mark this battery test N/A if the site does not rely on discharge. The grid import check still applies wherever it is in scope.
Keep the meter ID, a time-stamped trace and the battery operating mode if storage is part of the test. If the vehicles draw too little power to activate the load control, mark the check Pending and arrange a retest.
EVB project example from Germany
EVB’s published German charging and battery storage project lists five DC chargers rated up to 360 kW each, alongside battery storage. At a site with this layout, test each output first, then run a separate concurrent test at the agreed site meter. The 80 kW example above is hypothetical.
Verify what happens when the network drops
If the chargers rely on a connection to the management platform, agree to a controlled interruption of that link before opening. Check separately what happens to an active session and whether a new driver can start one. Restore the connection and compare any locally stored session with what appears in the management platform. Offline access and payment depend on the equipment, software and settings. See EVB’s guide to charging without internet for the behaviour to agree with the operator.
Keep the expected and observed results for each test, including how an outage appears to the operator.
Confirm support can act on a fault
Use a safe alert test agreed with the supplier. Ask the operator to identify the affected bay, find the correct service contact and raise a test ticket. Check that the operator can mark the bay unavailable and that the updated status reaches any public app or map in scope. Make sure drivers can find the support number on site.
Keep the alert, the test ticket and the support contacts in the handover pack.
3. What the Operator Should Receive
Give the operator one folder with the current records and a short walkthrough. Include the following items where they apply.
- Final drawings, the bay and charger register, and required electrical approvals.
- Software versions, controller settings, operating limits and a secure way to transfer access.
- Test results, session or payment references, and evidence for the power and recovery checks.
- Warranty details, support contacts and the issue list with owners and retest dates.
Before sign-off, have the receiving operator use their own authorised account to locate a bay in the dashboard, export a test session and open a test support ticket. Include this demonstration in the handover record.
Example of a Single Acceptance Record
- Scope — Bay A, output 1, fleet access-card session.
- Pass condition — The authorised access card starts a session. The session closes and the dashboard shows the correct bay, time and energy delivered.
- Record on site — Result, time, session ID, evidence file, witness and any retest date.
Copy this line for each test
Bay and output ____ · Test ____ · Expected result ____ · Actual result ____ · Evidence reference ____ · Owner and retest date ____ · Release decision, signer and date ____
How to Decide Which Bays Can Open
Assign a person to fix each issue and a person to sign off the retest. Use the agreed acceptance criteria to decide which bays or services can open.
Scroll the table to see the decision and evidence.
| What the test shows | Opening decision | Evidence to keep |
|---|---|---|
| The chargers reduce their output, but the agreed meter still shows demand above the grid import limit under the test criteria. | Keep the affected bays closed. Resolve the cause and retest under the agreed load conditions. | Site meter trace, controller record, retest owner and date. |
| A charging session ends, but the expected card charge or required receipt is missing. | Keep affected bays closed if that payment method is required. Where an alternative is permitted, test it and update signs and listings before a restricted opening. | Session and payment references with private details removed. Record any approved restriction. |
| An offline session appears once in the dashboard after reconnection, with the correct energy and output. | Pass this recovery check if delayed upload is the agreed behaviour. | Local record and matching dashboard record. |
Planning a Commercial Charging Project?
For a commercial charging project with EVB, share the charger models, bay count, network provider, access or payment methods, and any agreed grid import limit. These details help define the handover tests.
4. Frequently Asked Questions
Is commissioning the same as the electrical inspection?
The electrical inspection covers the installation and its safety requirements. The commissioning checks in this guide show whether the site can provide the agreed charging service. Keep both records in the handover pack.
Can some bays open before the rest of the site?
Where the project permits a phased opening, the operator can release a tested group of bays. Check any shared controls and public listings for the opening phase, and keep unapproved bays unavailable.
What happens if the battery cannot discharge?
If the site relies on battery discharge to stay within its grid import limit, follow the agreed fallback. It may reduce or pause charging. Before restoring normal charging, check why the fallback started, confirm at the agreed meter that the site can take the extra demand within the limit, and follow the site’s restart procedure.
5. References
Sources checked November 6, 2026.
- Joint Office of Energy and Transportation guidance on reliable charging
- Open Charge Alliance guidance on improving uptime monitoring with OCPP
- ChargeX best practices for public charging payments
- Welsh Government guidance on charging infrastructure and load management
- National Highways guidance on handover and operation
- Adyen guidance on pre-authorisation and capture at payment terminals
- UK Energy Networks Association guidance on testing site import and export limits
