How to permit a home EV charger in San Diego
Inside city limits, a home EV charger is a Simple Permit: applied for online, with no plans submitted for review, and one inspection. Historic homes and multifamily buildings are the exceptions.
Every neighborhood inside city limits, including La Jolla, Pacific Beach, Point Loma, Clairemont, North Park, Rancho Bernardo and Carmel Valley.
Checked against the office's own website on October 12, 2026.
San Diego at a glance
- Permit office
- City of San Diego Development Services Department
- How to apply
- Online, as a Simple No Plan permit
- What a house submits
- None for a single-family home, duplex or townhouse
- Inspection
- $264.25 per charger; someone opens the panel for the inspector
- Fee
- $264.25 inspection per charger (May 2026)
Step by step in San Diego
Check it qualifies
Chargers for a single-family home, duplex or townhouse qualify for Simple Permits. A designated historic resource or a home in a historic district doesn't, and needs the regular permit route with plans.
Fill in the circuit card
For a private garage, the load calculation goes on the city's circuit card, which stays on site for the inspector.
Apply online and pay
Apply through the city's online portal as a Simple No Plan permit. Information Bulletin 187 lists the inspection fee at $264.25 per charger, with no plan check fee.
Install the charger
Keep the charger maker's installation instructions on site.
Pass the inspection
Give access to all the equipment, including the panel feeding the charger. Inspectors aren't allowed to open energized equipment, so someone responsible has to be there to open it.
What can change the process in San Diego
Condos and apartments
Anything other than a single-family home, duplex or townhouse needs plans before the permit: a site or floor plan, accessibility plans and electrical plans signed by an electrical engineer or a C-10 contractor. The plan check fee is $353.13 per charger.
Doing it yourself
An owner doing the work files the city's owner-builder form, DS-3042.
Let us handle the permit
Our C-10 licensed, in-house team files the permit, books the inspection and meets the inspector, and the permit is part of the fixed price. Read about EV charger installation in San Diego.
Sources: City of San Diego Information Bulletin 187. Rules and fees change; the office's own pages have the final word.
Ready to charge at home?
Send a photo of your panel and where the car parks. We quote a fixed price and carry out the installation ourselves.
Prefer to talk? Call (619) 202-8501.