The standards that govern V2L — a clause-indexed map
Most sites say “we mention BS 7671.” This is the map underneath: each V2L feature, the exact standard and clause that governs it, and how confident we are in that citation. Standards are referenced by clause number only — never reproduced.
Some details below depend on sources still being verified against the published standard, so we mark them Not confirmed rather than guess:
- What (if anything) BS 7671 Amendment 4:2026 changed for §722 / V2X / V2H / V2L / PME / open-PEN, and the “Chapter 57” number for the new stationary-battery chapter. (safety-critical — not treated as settled until verified)
- BS EN IEC 60947-6-1:2026 UK adoption (IEC parent exists; no UK BSI adoption page located).
- ENA G98 / G99 Issue 2 exact clause/section locators (pending the official PDFs).
- BS 7430:2026 precise clause numbering (2026 edition < 1 month old at last check).
Feature → standard → clause
| V2L feature | Primary standard + clause | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| EV charge-point earthing / open-PEN on a PME (TN-C-S) supply | BS 7671:2018+A4:2026 §722.411.4.1 — PME prohibition + protective-measure routes | Confidence: Inference |
| Island-mode / backup source feeding the home | BS 7671:2018+A4:2026 §551 (esp. 551.4.3.2.1, 551.7) | Confidence: Inference |
| Floating V2L output → controlled re-earthing (indoors) | BS 7671:2018+A4:2026 §54 (542/544), separation §413 / §418.3 | Confidence: Inference |
| TT island earth electrode (resistance Ra) | BS 7430:2026 with BS 7671 542.2.2 / 542.2.4 | Confidence: Inference |
| RCD type selection (Type A/F/B, smooth DC) | BS 7671:2018+A4:2026 §722.531 | Confidence: Inference |
| Changeover / transfer switching (anti-paralleling) | Switchgear & transfer-switching standards (BS EN 60947 / 60669) 60947-6-1 (ATS), 60947-4-1 (contactors), 60947-3 (isolators) | Confidence: Inference |
| DNO notification (grid-parallel V2G/V2H) | ENA EREC G98 / G99 (and G100) G98 / G99 Issue 2; G100 export limitation | Confidence: Inference |
| Connector (Type 2 AC / CCS DC) | BS EN IEC 62196 series -2 (Type 2 AC), -3:2022 (DC/CCS) | Confidence: Inference |
| Bidirectional comms (true V2G/V2H, not plain V2L) | BS EN ISO 15118 series (key part -20:2022) -20:2022 (bidirectional power transfer) | Confidence: Inference |
| Inverter / power-converter safety | BS EN 62109 series -1 / -2 | Confidence: Inference |
| Notifiable work / legal sign-off | Approved Document P (Building Regulations, England) Reg 12(6A) (England) + devolved equivalents | Confidence: Verified |
| Companion home battery (BESS) fire safety | PAS 63100:2024 PAS 63100:2024 | Confidence: Inference |
| Testing, verification & certification | IET Guidance Notes (GN1–GN8) + On-Site Guide GN3 + BS 7671 Part 6 | Confidence: Inference |
The standards library
Each card below is an internal reference distilled to plain English and clause numbers. Where a public deep-dive exists, it is linked; every card states the edition it was checked against and inherits its confidence flags.
Requirements for Electrical Installations (IET Wiring Regulations, 18th Edition)
BS 7671:2018+A4:2026
Governs every fixed-wiring aspect of a V2L home-backup arrangement: the PME/open-PEN earthing question, island-mode earthing, RCD selection, isolation and changeover. A car's standalone V2L socket sits outside §722 until its output is wired into the consumer unit.
Edition: 18th Edition incorporating Amendment 4, published 15 April 2026 (the “Orange Book”). A3:2024 remains valid until 15 October 2026. · Last checked 2026-06-14 · official source
IET Code of Practice for Electric Vehicle Charging Equipment Installation
IET Code of Practice for EV Charging Equipment Installation, 5th Edition (2023)
The 5th edition substantially expands bidirectional / “vehicle as storage” use cases, including island-mode operation — the core V2L home-backup scenario.
Edition: 5th Edition, 2023 (aligned to BS 7671:2018+A2:2022 and ENA EREC G12/4). · Last checked 2026-06-14 · official source
Electrical installations — Protection against fire of battery energy storage systems for use in dwellings — Specification
PAS 63100:2024
The standard for any companion fixed home battery sitting alongside a V2L backup — location, fire detection, stored-energy limits, impact protection near vehicles. The vehicle-as-source side stays under BS 7671.
Edition: PAS 63100:2024, published 20 March 2024, effective 31 March 2024 (sole edition). · Last checked 2026-06-14 · official source
Safety of transformers, reactors, power supply units and combinations — Part 2-4: isolating transformers (general applications)
BS EN IEC 61558-2-4:2025 (isolating transformers)
The indoor floating-output fix: a 61558-2-4-compliant isolating transformer breaks the galvanic link between the EV's floating V2L output and the house wiring, letting the secondary be re-earthed in a controlled way — restoring a normal earth-fault path and RCD operation while keeping the one PME/MET earth.
Edition: 61558-2-4:2025 and 61558-2-6:2025 (3rd editions, published 31 March 2025); base 61558-1:2019. · Last checked 2026-06-14 · official source
Protective earthing of electrical installations. Code of practice
BS 7430:2026
The UK reference for designing and proving the local earth electrode that forms a TT-type island when a V2L output backs up a property — because the DNO/PME earth is normally isolated during backup.
Edition: BS 7430:2026, published 26 May 2026 (supersedes 2011+A1:2015). · Last checked 2026-06-14 · official source
RCD/RCBO/MCB/RDC-DD product-standard register
Protective-device product standards (RCD / RCBO / MCB / RDC-DD)
A floating V2L output passes a socket tester but gives no RCD protection until bonded; and power-electronic sources can produce DC/higher-frequency residual currents a plain Type AC/A RCD may not clear. Device type selection (A/F/B + smooth-DC detection) is safety-load-bearing.
Edition: BS EN 61008-1:2012+A12:2017; BS EN 61009-1:2012+A13:2021; BS EN 62423:2012+A12:2022; BS EN 60898-1:2019+A11:2024; BS IEC 62955:2018. · Last checked 2026-06-14 · official source
BS EN 60947 / BS EN 60669 series — contactors, isolators, transfer switching
Switchgear & transfer-switching standards (BS EN 60947 / 60669)
The standards a designer points to when specifying the interlocked contactors, isolators and changeover/ATS, and the formal basis for insisting a V2L changeover is open-transition (break-before-make), never bridging grid and vehicle.
Edition: 60947-2:2025; 60947-3:2021+A1:2025; 60947-4-1:2025; 60947-6-1:2023; 60669-1:2018; 60669-2-4:2025. · Last checked 2026-06-15 · official source
Plugs, socket-outlets, vehicle connectors and inlets — conductive charging of EVs
BS EN IEC 62196 series
Defines the Type 2 interface almost all V2L on European-market EVs uses (a V2L adapter plugs into the car's Type 2 inlet). The connector geometry bounds how much backup power a V2L setup can deliver; the coupler is a live, latched interface — not an ordinary plug to be pulled live.
Edition: Part 1: BS EN IEC 62196-1:2026 (Ed 5.0, = IEC 62196-1:2025) is the current UK edition — BSI-current, published 28 Feb 2026. Part 2: the readable UK edition on BSI Knowledge is BS EN IEC 62196-2:2022 (Current, Under Review); IEC parent IEC 62196-2:2025 (Ed 4.0) is published, but no accessible primary BSI BS EN IEC 62196-2:2026 page was located — UK -2:2026 adoption Not confirmed. Part 3: UK remains BS EN IEC 62196-3:2022; IEC has moved to 62196-3:2026 with no BS EN adoption located. · Last checked 2026-06-15 · official source
Road vehicles — Vehicle-to-grid communication interface
BS EN ISO 15118 series (key part -20:2022)
Marks where V2L ends and true V2G/V2H begins: a vehicle's plain V2L socket does NOT use ISO 15118-20, but a future communicating bidirectional home charger feeding the consumer unit would. Don't imply V2L = ISO 15118.
Edition: -20:2022 (UK publication 30 June 2025); -1:2019; -2:2014; -3:2015; -4:2019; -8:2020; -21:2025. · Last checked 2026-06-14 · official source
Electric vehicle conductive charging system
BS EN IEC 61851 series
Positions V2L correctly: a V2L adapter draws power OUT of the vehicle and sits outside the Mode 1–4 charging framework and the control-pilot path. The regulated grid-aware bidirectional pathway lives in the DC bidirectional work (-23/-24).
Edition: -1:2019; -23:2023 (adds BPT); -24:2024 (extends to discharging); -25:2021. · Last checked 2026-06-14 · official source
Safety of power converters for use in photovoltaic / battery / EV-derived power systems
BS EN 62109 series
The standard most likely cited on a bidirectional EV charger/inverter or portable V2L unit's type-plate. Critically: a 62109 mark is NOT evidence of anti-islanding compliance — that duty lives in ENA G98/G99 and BS 7671, with islanding test methods in IEC 62116.
Edition: -1:2010; -2:2011 (under review); -3:2020. A Part 1 Edition 2 is in draft (target Oct 2026), not yet published. · Last checked 2026-06-14 · official source
Connection of generation/storage to the distribution network
ENA EREC G98 / G99 (and G100)
Marks the DNO-notification trigger. True islanded V2L — physically separated by a changeover so it cannot run in parallel or export — is generally outside G98/G99; but whether a given changeover genuinely prevents parallel operation is a design-and-test matter for the competent person and the DNO.
Edition: G98 Issue 2 (10 Mar 2025); G99 Issue 2 (10 Mar 2025); G100 Issue 2 Amd 2 (2023). · Last checked 2026-06-14 · official source
Approved Document P — Electrical safety — Dwellings (2013 edition)
Approved Document P (Building Regulations, England)
A V2L arrangement that adds a dedicated inlet circuit, a changeover/transfer switch, or alters the consumer unit will normally be notifiable — the legal hook for the safety frame: design, install, test and certify by a registered competent person, not DIY.
Edition: 2013 edition (England), in force from 6 April 2013; remains current as of 2026-06-15. · Last checked 2026-06-15 · official source
IET Code of Practice for Electrical Energy Storage Systems (EESS)
IET Code of Practice for Electrical Energy Storage Systems (3rd Edition)
Relevant where a fixed home battery is paired with a V2L backup arrangement; the island-mode material is the analogue for a vehicle acting as a backup source.
Edition: 3rd Edition (per the standards index). · Last checked 2026-06-14 · official source
Reciprocating internal combustion engine driven alternating current generating sets
BS EN ISO 8528 series
An island-mode analogue: a V2L backup is a switched-alternative source like a standby genset, so the same changeover and earthing discipline applies (the source's earth reference must be correct in each switch state).
Edition: Multi-part; -13 genset safety (ISO 8528-13:2026 verified at ISO level; UK BS EN adoption to confirm). · Last checked 2026-06-14 · official source
IET Guidance Notes and On-Site Guide (companions to BS 7671)
IET Guidance Notes (GN1–GN8) + On-Site Guide
GN3 (testing/verification) and GN8 (earthing/bonding) support the testing and sign-off, and the TT-island electrode design, for a V2L arrangement.
Edition: Mixed A4 rollout: On-Site Guide 9th Edition (A4:2026); GN2–GN6 10th in print; GN8 6th in print; GN1 (10th) and GN7 (8th) forthcoming as of 2026-06-14. · Last checked 2026-06-14 · official source
- Last reviewed
- 15 June 2026
- Written against
- BS 7671:2018 + A4:2026
General information, not project-specific design advice. Standards are cited by reference only and never reproduced. How we source this.