Seven questions to ask before you hire an EV charger installer

Ask any installer these seven things before you sign: are you a Maryland licensed electrician, will your license be on my permit, will you run a load calculation before quoting, what exactly is in the price, will you pull the Calvert County permit, who files the state rebate, and what warranty covers the workmanship. A serious local company answers all seven without flinching.

The rest of this page is what the good answers sound like, and the answers that should send you back to the phone. We sit on one side of this market, so take the list with that in mind. But every question here works on us too, and we would rather compete with companies that can pass it.

1. Are you a licensed electrician, and will your license be on my permit?

The answer you want is a Maryland license number you can check yourself, and a yes on the permit. Maryland licenses electricians through the State Board of Master Electricians, and the state site lets you look a license up in about a minute. Do it. It is the fastest background check you will ever run.

The second half of the question matters more than people realize. Some outfits that advertise charger installs are marketing companies that sell the job, then hand it to whoever is available that week. Asking whose license goes on the permit tells you who is actually accountable for the wiring in your wall. If the person quoting you cannot answer, the person doing the work is a stranger to both of you.

2. Will you pull the Calvert County electrical permit?

The only acceptable answer is yes, and it is included in the price. A 240V charger circuit needs a Calvert County electrical permit and the inspection that follows, and the county inspector is a free second set of eyes on work you will live with for decades. Anyone who tells you the permit is optional, or offers a discount to skip it, has told you everything you need to know about the rest of their corners.

3. Will you do a load calculation before you quote me?

A real quote starts with a load calculation, not a charger brochure. A Level 2 charger wants a 40 to 60 amp circuit to itself, and plenty of older homes in this county, the 1980s ranchers, the Chesapeake Ranch Estates cottages in Lusby, still run 100 amp service. Sometimes the math shows enough headroom anyway. Sometimes it does not, and the honest move is to say so before quoting, because a panel upgrade changes the price by thousands.

So listen for the questions the installer asks you. Panel size, what else runs on it, electric or gas heat, where you park. An installer who quotes a firm number over the phone without asking about your panel has given you a placeholder, and placeholders grow.

4. What exactly is in the price?

You want one written number that covers labor, wire, breaker, permit, and inspection, with the charger itself listed separately if you need one supplied. Vague quotes hide the gap between the price that got you to sign and the price you pay. Two specifics worth confirming in this market: if you asked for a NEMA 14-50 outlet, the quote should name the GFCI breaker the current code requires, and on an outdoor or detached garage job it should say who digs and restores the trench. We publish our ranges for every job type in the cost guide, so you can sanity check any quote against them, including ours.

5. Who files the Maryland rebate paperwork?

Maryland pays back half your installed cost up to $700 through the state EVSE rebate, and the current funding cycle opened July 1. The rebate application wants your receipt and install details, which a permitted job answers cleanly. Ask whether the installer provides the documentation package, and whether they have actually walked a customer through it. The program is first come, first served and recent cycles ran dry months early, so an installer who shrugs at the paperwork is leaving your $700 on the table. The full program, and its traps, are in our rebate guide.

6. What happens if the job changes once the walls are open?

The answer you want: nothing changes without a written change order you approve first. Most charger installs hold no surprises, but an old panel with no spare slots, aluminum branch wiring, or a crawlspace run that turns out blocked can move a price. The difference between a professional and a problem is whether that conversation happens before the extra work or on the final invoice.

7. What warranty covers the workmanship?

The charger has a manufacturer warranty. The wiring does not, unless the installer stands behind it, so ask for the workmanship warranty in writing and ask what it covers. A loose lug or an undersized conductor does not announce itself on day one. It shows up months later as a warm breaker or a charger that trips at 2am, and you want to already know who answers that call for free.

The cheat sheet

Why the cheapest quote keeps winning anyway

Most people collect three quotes and pick the lowest, which is exactly how the corner cutters stay busy. A quote that beats the field by $300 usually found that $300 in the permit, the wire gauge, or the receptacle grade, and none of those is where you want the savings on a circuit that pulls 40 amps for hours every night. Ask the seven questions of every bidder and the quotes get easier to compare, because the ones that survive are finally pricing the same job.

If you want to see how we answer these, our process from quote to county inspection is laid out on the how it works page, and the quote itself is free, usually within a day, from photos of your panel and parking spot. Bring the list. We like the customers who ask.