Covered Car Parks & EV Fire Safety (UK): Practical Design and Operations Checklist
UK guidance frames EV fire safety in covered car parks using the ERIC hierarchy (Eliminate → Reduce → Isolate → Control), and stresses that dutyholders must demonstrate compliance with relevant legislation via competent design and risk assessment.
1) Who this guidance is for (and what it is not)
This post is for UK car park stakeholders who are planning, operating, or upgrading covered car parks where EVs may park or charge: car park owners/operators, facilities teams, designers/engineers, dutyholders under the Fire Safety Order, and chargepoint installers.
2) What makes EV incidents different in covered car parks
Most empirical evidence to date suggests EV fires are not more likely than internal combustion engine vehicle (ICEV) fires, but the guidance highlights several EV-specific risk characteristics that matter in enclosed/covered environments.
Key EV-specific challenges (practitioner view)
- Re-ignition Battery involvement can lead to re-ignition hours or days later via thermal runaway dynamics.
- Gas venting Venting may contribute to jet flames or vapour cloud explosion risk in confined spaces if conditions align.
- Firefighting complexity Battery-involved fires can require different techniques/equipment, take longer, and may not be fully suppressible until fuel is consumed.
- Toxicity & contamination Battery materials/smoke can be more toxic; contaminated run-off becomes an environmental management issue.
Practical implication: in covered car parks, your plan should prioritise early detection, limiting spread, smoke management, safe isolation, and controlled run-off—alongside clear operational procedures and fire service coordination.
3) The ERIC framework: a disciplined way to choose mitigations
The guidance ranks mitigation measures using ERIC: Eliminate (remove the hazard), Reduce (lower likelihood or consequence), Isolate (separate to prevent escalation), and Control (systems/procedures to manage residual risk).
| ERIC level | What it means in a car park context | Examples (typical) |
|---|---|---|
| Eliminate | Remove the highest-risk exposure pathways where feasible. | Policy decisions on where/when EV charging is permitted; avoid high-consequence locations where elimination is justified by risk. |
| Reduce | Lower probability or severity through better equipment selection and layout. | Select appropriate EVCPs; incorporate protective features; improve detection and maintenance. |
| Isolate | Prevent escalation by separation/compartmentation and clear access routes. | Spacing between vehicles where practicable; structural fire resistance; isolation switches and zoning. |
| Control | Active and procedural controls to manage an incident and support response. | Water-based suppression to limit spread; smoke management; fire service information; staff procedures; run-off containment. |
4) Covered car park EV fire safety: design & operations checklist
Use the checklist below as a structured starting point for a competent fire risk assessment and design review—especially when retrofitting EV charging into an existing multi-storey or enclosed facility.
| Area | What “good” looks like | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Governance |
|
Ensures the site can demonstrate compliance decisions are evidence-based and maintained over time. |
| Detection |
|
Earlier intervention reduces spread and smoke loading in enclosed environments. |
| Suppression |
|
Even when not extinguishing the battery event, suppression can limit propagation to adjacent vehicles/structure and support firefighting. |
| Smoke management |
|
Smoke is typically the dominant life-safety constraint in covered car parks. |
| Structural resilience |
|
Limits progressive collapse risk and reduces disruption/cost of recovery after an event. |
| Layout & separation |
|
Reduces probability of rapid horizontal spread to adjacent vehicles. |
| Operations & training |
|
Consistent actions in the first minutes can materially change outcomes; unsafe intervention must be avoided. |
5) EV chargepoint (EVCP) installation essentials in covered car parks
In covered car parks, EVCP selection and installation quality are risk-critical. The guidance points to selecting suitable chargepoints and ensuring installation meets relevant electrical standards used in UK practice.
Core installation controls
- Install to recognised standards: the guidance references installation aligned with standards including BS EN 61851-1 and BS 7671 (IET Wiring Regulations), and the IET Code of Practice for EV charging installations.
- Use protective features where available: examples include overcurrent protection and other protective capabilities built into approved chargepoints.
- Design for isolation: define isolation points/switches and ensure they’re documented for responders and maintainers.
- Plan EVCP placement intentionally: avoid creating congestion points; keep charging bays compatible with evacuation and fire service operations.
Best practice: treat EVCP deployment as a combined electrical + fire engineering change, not “just an electrical add-on”.
6) Fire service readiness: the single most under-implemented control
Covered car park incidents are time-compressed and information-dependent. The guidance calls for practical responder enablement, including an information box and clear site procedures.
What to provide (minimum practical set)
- Fire brigade information box: as-built charging system documentation, EVCP locations, and isolation switch locations.
- Staff management procedure: documented actions for staff expected to respond (raise alarm, call fire service, isolate systems if safe, manage evacuation, protect access routes).
- Extinguisher provision: portable extinguishers specified and placed to relevant British Standards, consistent with your site policy and training level.
7) Water run-off & environmental controls: plan it, don’t improvise it
EV battery involvement can increase toxicity/contamination concerns, and in covered car parks the site may need to manage firefighting water run-off. This is often missed during retrofit projects focused only on electrical scope.
Practical actions to consider
- Run-off provision: ensure the design accounts for run-off of firefighting water (collection, routing, and (where relevant) containment).
- Interface with suppression: if sprinklers or other water-based systems are present/added, confirm drainage capacity and downstream handling.
- Environmental plan: define who is called, how isolation/containment is triggered, and how contaminated water is treated/disposed of.
If your car park is underground or constrained, run-off planning should be treated as a first-order design input—not a commissioning afterthought.
8) FAQ
Are EV fires “more common” than petrol/diesel fires?
The guidance’s literature review notes that most available empirical evidence suggests EV fires are less likely than hybrid and petrol/diesel vehicle fires, while also emphasising that risk should be monitored as EVs age and adoption broadens.
Will sprinklers extinguish an EV battery fire?
Water-based suppression is primarily framed as a way to limit spread to adjacent vehicles/buildings and reduce structural damage; it may not extinguish the battery-involved event because the battery location and vehicle body can prevent water from reaching the source effectively.
What’s the fastest “high-impact” improvement for an existing MSCP?
In practice: a competent ERIC-based risk assessment plus fire service enablement (site information, isolation mapping, procedures) and a hard look at smoke management, because those measures directly affect life safety and operational response in enclosed environments.
9) Sources
- Covered car parks: fire safety guidance for electric vehicles (PDF) — UK government-published guidance (Issue: July 2023).
If you want, I can extend this post with a UK-specific “retrofit pathway” section (RIBA Stage 0–4 style), plus a one-page downloadable checklist formatted for car park operators and installer project packs.
