How to Choose the Right EV Charger Installer in San Francisco

Buying an EV charger is easy. Buying the installation is where San Francisco owners get hurt, because the quotes they receive are rarely describing the same job. One contractor prices a plug-in unit on an existing 240 V receptacle; another prices a hardwired unit, a load calculation, a permit and a panel upgrade. Both come back as a single lump sum, and the cheaper one is not cheaper - it is narrower. This page is a vetting checklist, not a price guide: it tells you what to verify before you sign, what a quote has to itemise, and which answers should end the conversation. If you have not yet settled on the hardware itself, start with our San Francisco charger comparison, then come back here to choose who installs it.

What the job actually involves

An EV charger installation is an electrical project with a car-shaped appliance at the end of it. Whoever does the work has to get all of the following right, and every one of them can be excluded from a quote:

• A dedicated 240 V branch circuit. Level 2 charging runs on 240 V, and the circuit is a continuous load, so it is sized at 125% of the charger's draw. A 40 A charger needs a 50 A circuit; a hardwired 48 A unit needs a 60 A breaker and conductors sized for it.
• A load calculation. Before adding 40 or 48 amps of continuous load, the installer has to confirm the service and panel can carry it under the code's calculation method - not by looking at the main breaker and guessing.
• A wiring method. Hardwired or plugged into a NEMA 14-50 receptacle. Hardwiring allows higher current and removes a receptacle from the weather; a plug-in gives you a portable unit you can take with you.
• Protection and grounding. The right overcurrent device, GFCI protection where the code requires it for the receptacle, and a ground path that is actually continuous.
• Mounting, weatherproofing and cable management. Enclosure rating, conduit entries sealed against rain, a holster that keeps the connector off wet pavement, and strain relief where the cable turns.
• A permit and an inspection. Electrical work in San Francisco goes through the Department of Building Inspection, and the permit record is the only durable proof the work was inspected.
• Commissioning. Breaker on, charger online, current limited to the circuit's rating, scheduled charging and any utility or network enrolment set up, and the customer walked through it.

The five verifications that matter in California

California licenses electrical contractors, so unlike many trades this one is checkable in public records. Verify, in this order:

• Contractor licence. Electrical work needs a C-10 Electrical contractor licence. Ask for the licence number and look it up yourself in the Contractors State License Board public lookup - confirm the name matches the entity quoting you and that the licence is active, not suspended.
• Who will be on site. Ask whether the crew is employed by the licence holder or subcontracted, and whether the electricians are certified through the state's electrician certification programme. An unmanaged handoff is where scope, warranty and liability disappear.
• Insurance. General liability for property damage and workers' compensation for anyone on your property. Ask for the certificates, and check the named insured matches the contractor. If a worker is injured in your garage with no coverage, that is your exposure.
• Bond. California contractors are required to carry a surety bond; its existence is part of a licence in good standing, and its absence is a warning sign.
• Permits. Ask in writing who pulls the electrical permit and who meets the inspector. The correct answer is always the contractor, in your name, on your address. A contractor who offers to skip the permit to save time is offering to leave you with unpermitted electrical work that will surface at resale, at insurance, or after a fault.

Why San Francisco is not the national quote

National average pricing assumes a modern suburban panel with spare capacity and a garage wall. San Francisco housing stock does not cooperate, and the differences below are what actually move a job from straightforward to week-long:

• Service size. Much of the city's housing predates 200 A service. A 60 A or 100 A panel with an electric range, dryer and water heater already on it may not have room for 40 continuous amps without an upgrade.
• Panel condition. Older panels, obsolete breaker lines, double-tapped breakers and corrosion on the bus. The panel is usually the single biggest variable in the estimate.
• Shared and TIC garages. A charger fed from a shared meter is a metering and permission problem as much as an electrical one - the circuit has to come from the right service, and the building may need a subpanel or a submeter.
• PG&E. A service upgrade means the utility is involved, not just the city. Utility design and scheduling sits on the critical path, and it is the reason a quote can be perfect on price and wrong on timeline.
• Permits. California requires cities to approve EV charging station permits ministerially against a checklist rather than through discretionary review, which makes the paperwork predictable - but only if the application is filed correctly the first time.
• Fog and salt air. In the fog belt, connectors, enclosure hardware and mounting fasteners corrode faster than the manufacturer's inland assumptions. It changes the hardware choice and the maintenance cadence, which is covered in our seasonal maintenance calendar.

Reading the quote: what has to be itemised

A one-line quote is not comparable to anything. Require these lines, in writing, from every bidder:

• Circuit length, conductor size and routing (through a crawlspace, along a wall, under a sidewalk, or through a finished ceiling are different prices).
• Hardwired versus NEMA 14-50 receptacle, and the breaker rating that goes with it.
• The load calculation result, and the panel's spare capacity in amps - not a verbal assurance that it is fine.
• Permit fee and who files; inspection included or billed separately.
• Panel upgrade work as a separate allowance, with what triggers it.
• Load management or a shared-circuit device if the panel cannot give the charger a dedicated 50 A, and what that device limits the charger to.
• Wall repair, penetration sealing and any restoration.
• Commissioning, app setup and the customer walkthrough.
• Warranty: labour period, equipment period, what voids each, and who honours the claim - the installer or the manufacturer.

Questions to ask before you sign

1. What is my service size and how many amps of spare capacity does your load calculation leave?
2. Will the unit be hardwired or plugged in, and why is that the right call for my wall?
3. Are you filing the electrical permit, and what is your inspection pass rate on this work?
4. How many installs have you done in this building type - single-family, two-unit, or TIC with a shared garage?
5. What happens if the inspector flags something? Who pays for the correction?
6. Is the quoted price fixed, or is there an allowance that can move?
7. What is the warranty on labour, separately from the equipment warranty?
8. Can you show me photos of terminations from a recent job so I know what finished work looks like?

Red flags

• A price well below every other bid with no load calculation behind it - the missing work is the discount.
• Any offer to skip the permit, or to describe the work as "not needing a permit" for a new 240 V circuit.
• Cash-only terms, no written contract, or a licence number that does not match the name on the quote.
• A quote with no circuit length, no conductor size and no breaker rating.
• Pressure to decide today because "the rebate ends" - incentive deadlines are checkable, urgency is a sales tactic.
• A contractor who cannot explain what happens if the panel turns out to be full, or who treats a panel upgrade as a surprise line item after the fact.

What good looks like when they leave

The site is clean; the charger is on its own labelled breaker; the connector holster keeps the cable off the ground; the current limit matches the circuit; the permit card or record is in your hands; you have been walked through the app, the schedule and what to do on a fault; and you have the warranty documents with the licence number on them. If any of those are missing, ask before you pay the balance - it is far easier to correct an omission while the crew is still owed money than after.

Frequently Asked Questions