Does the owners' association have to approve a wallbox for my electric car?

You have an electric car and need a charging point at your parking space, but the owners' association keeps stalling. I explain when you have a statutory right to one, who bears the cost, and how I enforce that right on your behalf.

You have bought an electric car, or you are thinking about it. Now you need somewhere to charge it at your parking space in the underground car park or on the shared grounds. The owners’ meeting drags its feet, keeps putting the matter off, or simply refuses. Cases like this now reach my firm in Kirchseeon and Rosenheim on a regular basis. The number of applications for a charging point within owners’ associations is growing noticeably. Let me say this at the outset: the law is almost always on your side.

This is Part 2 of my series on privileged structural alterations in residential property. It stands on its own, even if you have not read Part 1.

In brief

Yes: under § 20 para. 2 sentence 1 no. 2 WEG, you as a residential property owner have a legal right against the association. You can demand a reasonable structural alteration for charging your electric vehicle — the wallbox is one of the privileged measures. The owners’ meeting cannot refuse the “whether”. It does, however, decide by resolution on the “how”, that is, on the location, the technology and the way the installation is carried out. As a rule, you bear the cost yourself. The exception: the association resolves, by a qualified majority, to carry out the measure jointly and to share the cost.

How I can help you

• I check whether your project falls under the privileged right in § 20 para. 2 WEG
• I draft a legally sound application to the property manager and the owners’ meeting
• I negotiate with the property manager over technical requirements (load management, cable routing, metering)
• I enforce your right where the association remains inactive or imposes unlawful conditions
• I bring a claim for a substitute resolution or challenge an unlawful refusal resolution

The right: what exactly you are entitled to

§ 20 para. 2 sentence 1 no. 2 WEG gives you a genuine right — not merely a favour granted by the association. The condition is that the measure is “reasonable”. In practice, that means: there must be a connection between your parking space and the planned charging point. The way it is carried out must also stay within what is technically and structurally sensible. Where a simpler solution would do, the right does not extend to an oversized or needlessly elaborate execution.

An important point in practice: the right relates to an existing parking space. If you have no parking space of your own, or no exclusive right of use over one, you must resolve that question first. Without a link to a parking space, the right to a wallbox comes to nothing.

The “how”: the association decides on the execution

Under § 20 para. 2 sentence 2 WEG, the association must resolve, within the bounds of proper administration, how it will carry out the measure. In concrete terms: the owners’ meeting cannot block the project as such. But it may have a say in how the charging point is connected. It has a hand, for example, in choosing which electrician gets the job, whether a shared load management system for several wallboxes makes sense, where the cables run, and which fire-safety requirements apply in the underground car park. If, however, the meeting withholds its consent across the board, or delays the decision for months without a proper reason, it oversteps its discretion.

The limit is set by § 20 para. 4 WEG. Even the privileged right does not entitle you to reshape the residential complex in fundamental ways. Other owners must also not be placed at an unfair disadvantage without their consent. In practice, this rarely concerns a single wallbox; it more often arises with larger overhauls of the entire electrical infrastructure.

Costs: who pays for the wallbox

Here § 21 WEG applies. The rule is clear: if the measure is permitted to you individually, you as the applying owner bear the cost alone — installation, electrical connection, and any metering that is required (§ 21 para. 1 WEG). The same goes for the later maintenance and repair of your own installation.

The position is different where the association resolves on a shared charging infrastructure for several or all of the parking spaces. That requires a majority of more than two thirds of the votes cast and half of all co-ownership shares. In that case, under § 21 para. 2 WEG, all owners bear the cost as a rule, in proportion to their co-ownership shares, provided the cost is not disproportionate. So for you as a single applicant, it can be worthwhile to press actively at the meeting for a shared solution, rather than merely pushing through your own wallbox.

The process: how I enforce your right

1. Drafting the application: I put a concrete application to the property manager, sufficiently specific in technical terms. Vague announcements are not enough and give the association room to stall.
2. Demanding a resolution: The property manager must place the application on the agenda of the next owners’ meeting. If they remain inactive, I call on them to do so and, if need be, enforce it through the courts.
3. In the event of refusal or unlawful conditions: If the meeting passes an unlawful refusal, I consider a challenge under § 44 WEG. The same applies where conditions go beyond the “how” and, in effect, prevent the “whether”. Here every day counts: I must bring the challenge within one month of the resolution being passed, and set out my grounds within two months (§ 45 WEG).
4. In the event of inaction: If the necessary resolution is not passed at all, I bring a claim for a substitute resolution under § 44 WEG on your behalf. The court then passes the resolution that the association withheld.

A typical case from practice

A client with an underground parking space and an exclusive right of use applies for a wallbox. The property manager does put the item on the agenda. But the meeting adjourns the decision twice “on account of unresolved technical questions”, without ever naming them. After the second adjournment, I write to the property manager calling for a resolution within a reasonable period. At the same time, I submit a technical concept that answers the open questions in concrete terms: load management, meter location, qualified electrical contractor. In cases like this, court proceedings can often be avoided. The association is then simply left with no proper basis for any further delay.

Common mistakes

• Applications that are too vague: Anyone who merely announces that they “would like a wallbox” hands the meeting a pretext to adjourn. You should set out the technology and execution in concrete terms from the start.
• Missing deadlines: Where an unlawful refusal resolution is passed, the one-month deadline for a challenge slips by faster than you might think. Wait first and act later, and you may lose your right to go to court altogether.
• Installing on your own initiative without a resolution: Even where the right exists, it does not replace the resolution on the “how”. Anyone who has a wallbox installed without a vote risks demands that it be removed.
• Ignoring the parking-space question: Without a secure link to a parking space (an exclusive right of use or a clear allocation), there is no basis for the right to a wallbox at that particular spot.

Frequently asked questions

Can the owners’ association refuse my wallbox outright?

No. As to the “whether” of a charging point, § 20 para. 2 sentence 1 no. 2 WEG gives you a right that the association cannot refuse without good reason. It can only have a say in how the installation is actually carried out.

Do I have to accept a particular wallbox brand or a particular electrician that the association imposes?

Within the bounds of proper administration, the association may set proper requirements for the execution, for instance as to safety standards or compatibility with a shared load management system. Requirements that are improper or disproportionately restrictive are not covered where they effectively prevent the measure from being carried out.

What happens if several owners want a wallbox at the same time?

In that case a shared resolution on a uniform charging infrastructure with load management is often worthwhile. That is especially so where the existing power supply would otherwise not be sufficient for several charging points. With a majority of more than two thirds of the votes and half of the shares, the cost can then be spread across all owners under § 21 para. 2 WEG.

Do I also bear the electricity cost for charging on my own?

Yes. Day-to-day charging concerns not the structural measure itself but individual consumption. In practice, a separate meter or a billing system for the particular wallbox is usually set up for this purpose. That way, consumption can be attributed to the actual user.

Does the right also apply to tenants?

The right under § 20 para. 2 WEG lies with residential property owners as against their association. Tenants have no right of their own against the owners’ association. They can, however, press their landlord to act: the landlord is a residential property owner and can make the application.

Your next step

If your owners’ association is dragging out your wallbox application or refusing it, you should not sit and wait for months. The same applies where it attaches conditions that go beyond the mere “how”. The short deadlines for a challenge, in particular, are a reason to act quickly. In an initial consultation I review your specific case. Where appropriate, I draft the necessary application or claim and see you through the owners’ meeting. You can find out more about my work in residential property and real estate law at /en/topics/real-estate-law. The next part of the series looks at burglary protection as a further privileged structural alteration under § 20 para. 2 WEG.

This article provides general information and is no substitute for legal advice in an individual case. Last updated: 2026-08-25.

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