Guides
Part of Apartment EV charging subscription records: what to keep
How to keep apartment EV charging subscription records ready for a provider change
A subscription file needs a service card, a billing contact, an export request, a payment log and an access note so a new manager can run the account.
A subscription file has to work for someone who never met the provider's sales rep. That means the service card, the billing contact, the export request and the access note sit in one controlled place, not in four inboxes.
What to take away
- The service card is the one page a new manager reads firstcovered chargers, what the provider does, who to call, and what the plan excludes.
- A provider change needs a transition packet, not a folder. Terms, billing contact, export request and effective date travel together.
- Session and payment exports belong to the property, so request them in a format you can open without the provider's portal.
- Write down who holds the subscription account login and who may approve a resident message, by role rather than by name.
- Test the file on the incoming manager before renewal season, not during it.
What goes on the service card
The service card is a single page. It names the charger group the subscription covers, the service the provider performs, the support number, and the limits a resident will ask about.
Service Card Contents
- Charger group the subscription covers
- Service the provider performs
- Support number for residents
- Port limits and excluded garages
- Who to call at 9pm
Limits matter more than features. If the plan covers a set number of ports, or excludes a garage the property added later, that belongs on the card. So does the answer to "who do I call at 9pm."
A worked example, for a 60-unit building with 12 shared ports:
- Covered chargers
- garage level B2, ports 1 to 12. Level B3, added after the contract, is not covered.
- Provider does
- network uptime, session billing, and a support line answered 24 hours.
- Who to call
- the provider support line for charging faults, the property manager role for billing.
- Plan excludes
- ports added after the sign date, valet charging, and cable repair.
- Fee basis
- a flat monthly fee per covered port, billed quarterly to the property account.
Keep the card in the same place as the network records for the site, so a manager looking for one finds the other.
The transition packet for a provider change
A provider change is the event that exposes a thin file. Build the packet before you need it.
The transition packet
| Packet item | What it answers |
|---|---|
| Current terms | Which rates, session fees and end date apply today, and which signed document is the source. |
| Billing contact | Who receives the invoice, and which property role may approve a payment question. |
| Export request | Where session history and payment records go, in CSV, XLSX or PDF, and who checks the file opens. |
| Effective date | The day the old terms stop and the new provider takes over. |
| Named owner | The one property role who confirms each item is current. |
| Due date | The last day each item can land before the switch, so nothing is requested after access closes. |
Provider Change Packet
- Current termswhat was bought, until when
- Billing contactwho receives the invoice
- Support routewhere faults get reported
- Export requestsession and payment history
- Access notewho holds the account
- Effective datewhen the new deal starts
The export request is the item properties forget. Ask for session history and payment records as CSV or XLSX, not a portal view. A portal you lose access to on the last day is not a record.
Ask the same question about the billing contact. If invoices route to a manager who left two years ago, the first late notice is how you find out.
Separate the account from the policy
A subscription account note is not a policy document. One describes a commercial relationship with a provider; the other records what the association decided. Filing them together is how a summary gets quoted as the source.
Account File vs Policy File
Account note
- What it describes
- Commercial relationship
- Source
- Provider contract
- Cost split
- Not here
- Filing
- Keep apart
Policy document
- What it describes
- Board decision
- Source
- Association minutes
- Cost split
- Separate file
- Filing
- Keep apart
The Department of Energy's public-charging handbook notes that associations with long-term parking need a fair way to distribute charging costs among drivers. That is a decision the board makes, and the cost split between residents is a separate file from the provider contract.
Use the handbook as context for keeping the source behind a property decision, not as a substitute for the board's own minutes. Its Vehicle Charging Innovations for Multi-Unit Dwellings project split access control, billing, data collection and analytics into four functions. The NIST Privacy Framework is voluntary privacy guidance. None sets a recordkeeping rule for a property.
Run the retrieval test
Hand the incoming manager a task, not a tour. Ask them to find the current terms, the support route, the billing contact, the approved resident message, and the open-items list.
Anything they cannot find in ten minutes becomes a change-log entry with an owner and a date. A walkthrough proves the file was shown, not that it works.
The log holds one line per fix.
| Date | Item | Owner | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 4 | Support route not in the file | Property manager role | Provider support page |
| March 4 | Billing contact outdated | Assistant manager role | Latest invoice |
The National Archives' records-management introduction describes keeping records according to a schedule rather than by habit. Apply the same idea to superseded terms: mark them, date them, and keep them out of the working folder.
When to review the file
Review on events, not on a calendar alone. A renewal notice, a provider migration, a new charger group, a change in who approves resident messages, or a support question that keeps repeating all qualify.
At each review, confirm four things still agree: the current terms, the service card, the support route, and the account owner. Where they disagree, name the exact line to fix and the party who can supply the source.
Keep source dates visible in staff materials. A support script can point to the current card without copying account details into it.
When a resident asks about a rate or a term, staff record the question and route it to the accountable organization. Nobody interprets an expired document or quotes an amount from memory.
Before a provider or management handoff, one property role confirms the packet is current. That is the whole job.
Common questions
Can a spreadsheet replace the contract?
No. A spreadsheet indexes where the current evidence lives. The contract itself is the source that establishes the service terms, and a summary of it is not a substitute when a term is disputed.
What happens to terms from the old provider?
Keep them under the property's retention schedule, mark them superseded with the date they stopped applying, and move them out of the working folder so nobody quotes them by accident. The schedule usually comes from the management company's records policy, the owner's tax rules, and the state limit on contract claims, commonly three to six years.
One common floor is the contract term plus three years. The IRS generally expects records that support a filed return to be kept for at least three years.
Who approves a change to the resident message?
Whichever role the property's current process authorizes, after the service facts behind the message are confirmed. Record the approval in the change log with a date, so the next manager knows the message was checked rather than inherited.
How do we get session history out of a provider we are leaving?
Request it in writing as part of the transition packet, as CSV or XLSX, and confirm you can open the file before the account closes. The request belongs in the packet with a named owner and a due date.
