EV Charging Fire Safety in Strata Buildings | EV Fire Solutions

Electric cars in the basement. E-bikes and e-scooters charging in apartments and on balconies. Mobility scooters plugged in overnight in ground-floor units. In a single strata building, lithium-ion batteries are now charging in dozens of places at once — and much of that risk lands on the owners corporation.

Lithium-ion fires behave differently to the fires most building fire plans were designed around. They can ignite without warning, burn extremely hot, produce dense toxic smoke, and reignite hours after they appear to be out. In a shared building, that's not just one resident's problem — it's a common-property and duty-of-care issue.

Where the risk sits in a strata building

Most lithium-ion incidents trace back to a handful of predictable places:

• Basement and car park EV charging — vehicles left on charge unattended for hours, often overnight.
• Apartment and balcony charging — e-bikes and e-scooters charged next to exits and living spaces.
• Bike stores and common rooms — multiple batteries charging together with little ventilation.
• Ground-floor and accessible units — mobility scooters charging near residents who may not be able to evacuate quickly.

What the owners corporation is responsible for

Bodies corporate have a general obligation to manage foreseeable risks on common property and to keep shared areas safe for residents and visitors. As charging moves into basements, car parks and shared bike stores, lithium-ion fire risk becomes a common-property risk to be identified and managed — the same way you'd manage any other emerging hazard in the building.

In practice that means knowing where charging happens, setting sensible rules through by-laws, and making sure the right response equipment is actually on hand where a fire is most likely to start.

A practical plan for your building

1. Map the charging. Walk the building and note every place a lithium-ion battery is regularly charged — car park, bike store, common rooms, accessible units.
2. Set clear by-laws. Cover where charging is and isn't allowed, unattended overnight charging, and the condition of e-bike and e-scooter batteries.
3. Equip the high-risk points. Place lithium-ion-rated extinguishers and containment blankets in basements, car parks and shared charging areas — not just a standard extinguisher in the foyer.
4. Brief building managers. Whoever is on site should know a lithium-ion fire can't be treated like an ordinary one, and should know exactly where the equipment is.

The right equipment for common areas

Standard fire equipment isn't built for a battery in thermal runaway. Purpose-built gear gives building managers a genuine rapid response: a lithium-ion-rated extinguisher to knock the fire down, and a containment blanket to smother it and hold the heat in while it burns out — protecting the vehicles, bikes and structure around it.

We help strata committees and building managers spec the right equipment for their layout and place it where it counts. See our strata & body corporate fire safety guide, or request a quote and we'll work through your building with you.