Small Commercial EV Charging Installation.

Multi-Bay EV Charging for Small Commercial Sites in Inner Brisbane

If you own or manage a small office building, mixed-use development, or commercial carpark in Newstead, Teneriffe, Bowen Hills or the surrounding suburbs, the pressure to provide EV charging for staff, tenants, or customers is growing fast. This page covers what the work actually involves, what it costs, and how to work out whether it's the right fit for your site.

What the Work Actually Involves

Small commercial EV charging installation is meaningfully different from a single residential charger. A typical job across our inner Brisbane coverage area includes:

• Site assessment - inspecting the existing switchboard capacity, metering arrangement, cable runs, and carpark layout before any quoting happens
• Dedicated circuit installation - running new cabling from the switchboard to each charging bay, sized correctly for the charger output (typically 7kW or 22kW per bay for AC charging)
• Charger mounting - bolting wall-mounted or pedestal-mounted units to the appropriate surface (brick, concrete tilt-panel, timber framing in older Newstead warehouses)
• Load management setup - where multiple bays share a single connection, a dynamic load management (DLM) controller is often installed so the available power is shared intelligently rather than tripping the main breaker
• Metering and access control - some commercial clients want RFID card access or app-based activation so charging can be restricted to authorised vehicles or billed back to individual tenants
• Switchboard work - adding new circuit breakers, RCDs, and any surge protection required under AS/NZS 3000 wiring rules
• Conduit and cable management - surface-mounted conduit or in-slab conduit (for new builds) to keep wiring protected and tidy

We cover sites from two bays up to around eight bays. Larger sites with three-phase supplies and high-power DC fast charging are a different scope and we'll tell you that clearly upfront rather than take on work outside our wheelhouse.

Signs Your Site is Ready for This

You probably need a commercial installation rather than a simple home charger if:

• You manage more than one car space and want more than one charging point
• Your tenants, staff, or customers have started asking about charging availability
• You're renovating or fitting out a commercial tenancy and want to include EV infrastructure from the start (the cheapest time to run conduit is always during a fit-out)
• A strata or body corporate has approved charging infrastructure for a mixed-use building's commercial bays
• You want to use charging as a drawcard for attracting tenants or long-stay customers

What It Costs in Brisbane

Small commercial jobs in the inner Brisbane area typically land between $3,500 and $12,000 for a two-to-four bay installation, depending on several factors. Our standard residential charger installs run $1,800 to $4,500, so a commercial job sits above that range.

The main price drivers:

• Number of bays - more bays mean more cable, more circuit protection, more charger units
• Distance from switchboard to bays - a ground-floor carpark directly below the switchboard room is far cheaper than a rooftop carpark requiring a long cable run through multiple floors
• Three-phase vs single-phase supply - most small commercial premises in Newstead and Bowen Hills have three-phase power, which gives you more options but occasionally requires switchboard work if capacity is marginal
• Load management requirements - a DLM controller adds cost but is often essential if you're adding three or more chargers to a site with a modest supply capacity
• Access and surface type - core drilling through concrete slabs or running conduit across a carpark ceiling costs more than a straightforward wall run

What's Typically Included in Our Quote

• Site visit and load assessment
• All conduit, cable, circuit breakers, and RCDs for the agreed scope
• Charger supply and installation (we can specify a unit or work with one you've already procured)
• Certificate of Test and compliance documentation under Queensland electrical safety requirements

What May Cost Extra

• Switchboard upgrades if the existing board can't accommodate the new load (we'll identify this at assessment)
• Trenching or in-slab conduit if the site requires it
• Network connectivity setup if you want app-based monitoring or billing integration
• Any remediation of non-compliant existing wiring discovered during the job

Is This the Right Service for Your Property?

A small commercial installation suits you if the site is owner-occupied or you have clear authority from the building owner or strata committee. If you're a tenant, you'll need written permission from the landlord before we can start - that's not a bureaucratic hurdle, it's a legal requirement under Queensland's electrical safety framework.

If your site is a larger mixed-use development with more than eight bays, or you need DC fast charging at 50kW or above, that's a different scope and we'll point you in the right direction without wasting your time.

Qualifications and Safety - a Straight Answer

All electrical work we carry out is performed by a licensed electrical contractor holding a current Queensland electrical contractor licence. Every installation is tested, certified, and documented. EV charger installations on commercial sites must comply with AS/NZS 3000, the relevant equipment standards, and Queensland Electrical Safety Act requirements. We provide the Certificate of Test on completion - your insurer may ask for it, and you should keep it.

If an existing installation on your site was done without certification, an inspection and compliance check is the right first step before adding more chargers.

If you're working out scope and budget for your site, a quick conversation is usually more useful than a long email chain. We're familiar with the building types, switchboard setups, and carpark layouts common across Newstead, Teneriffe, and Bowen Hills - so the first call tends to move quickly.