The wallbox is certified. But is it connected? What to check at handover

From 1 January 2027, every new or replacement private charging point of standard power will need to be certified. If you install wallboxes, the process seems straightforward: choose a certified model, install it to the required standards and hand the system over to the customer.

Then you read the consultation paper published by the energy regulator, ARERA, on 6 October 2026, and find a detail that directly affects handover. Certification confirms that the wallbox can communicate. Its internet connection, however, may never have been activated.

Let’s look at what the paper says, what ARERA is proposing to ask installers to do, and the evidence you can start collecting in your handover reports for January jobs.

What changes on 1 January 2027

The requirement comes from legislation. Article 23 of Legislative Decree 5/2026, which implements a European directive on renewable energy, requires certification for all charging points installed from 1 January 2027. ARERA reiterates this in its consultation paper. The deadline also appears in a news item published by CNA Valle d’Aosta on 2 November 2026 about a webinar for installers organised with CEI, the body that develops technical standards.

Certification covers the requirements for smart charging and communication with the electronic meter. The wallbox must have the capabilities needed to exchange information and allow charging to be managed remotely. To use those capabilities, however, the equipment alone is not enough: it needs an active connection.

The scope is specific. This concerns charging points of standard power that are not accessible to the public. High-power chargers and publicly accessible charging points are outside the scope of this article.

The detail that may surprise you

In its consultation paper, ARERA explains that certification guarantees the wallbox’s ability to communicate. It does not guarantee that the customer will actually activate an internet connection or that the connection will be stable. To manage charging remotely, compliant equipment is necessary, but it is not enough on its own: a certified wallbox can still be offline.

As the installer, you have to work with the conditions on site. ARERA gives two practical examples: a parking space too far from the home router, and an underground garage with no mobile signal. Getting a stable connection in these situations can be difficult.

The connection can use an active SIM in the wallbox or its controller, or connect to the customer’s router by cable or Wi-Fi. The controller is the component that enables communication. If it is not built into the wallbox, ARERA says compliance can also be achieved by connecting an external controller.

What ARERA is proposing, and what it is not

To understand the proposal, you need some background on the trial it relates to. Since 2021, users who meet the requirements and can demonstrate that they charge an electric vehicle using a smart wallbox installed to the required standards have been able to access more power at night and on public holidays for the same cost. Customers with contracts for up to 4.5 kW can get up to 6.05 kW. More than 11,500 applications have been submitted, and around three in four met all the requirements, allowing activation. ARERA is proposing to reopen the trial from 1 February to 31 December 2027.

In the consultation, which is open for comments until 9 November 2026, ARERA asks stakeholders a question: should applications to join the trial include a statement from the installer confirming that the wallbox has been connected to the internet?

For now, this is a consultation proposal, not a requirement, and it applies only to applications to join the trial. If adopted, it would mean that you, as the installer, would also need to confirm that the connection had been made. Installer documentation already has a role: ARERA says certification will be verifiable through the declaration of conformity that the installation company gives the customer.

Equipment availability also remains an open question. On 5 November 2026, Vaielettrico published a letter from an engineer concerned that manufacturers might not be ready for January. The editorial team replied that there is a certification body, CESI, and cited a survey conducted in late August by ANIE, the manufacturers’ association: 90% of the member companies surveyed are confident they can integrate the controller. ANIE is considering asking the ministry for a transition period of a few months. As of 6 November 2026, no extension has been confirmed: the deadline remains 1 January 2027.

Why it matters when you have around ten technicians

Imagine a typical business with around ten electricians who install wallboxes alongside solar PV systems and heat pumps. This is a hypothetical example. In this scenario, handover ends with testing and the declaration of conformity. Once the customer has signed, the technician heads off in the van and the job is considered closed.

Now suppose a customer calls in February about accessing the additional power available at night. You need to know whether their wallbox was connected, but the job report does not say and the technician cannot remember. There is no photo or screenshot to check either. Finding out could mean another trip to that underground garage, even though the job is already closed.

Those are working hours you did not allow for in the installation quote. You may also face a dispute over who was supposed to arrange the connection. If you are asked to provide evidence as the installer, collecting it during the job means you can respond without having to piece everything together later.

How to get started, step by step

You do not need to wait for the consultation to end to improve your handover process. Start with the installation report and decide what information needs to be in the job file when the technician leaves the customer’s premises.

The first step is to add three standard fields. One records the wallbox model and the charging point’s certification details, including any external controller. Another holds evidence of the internet connection: a photo or screenshot documenting the connection checked by the technician on site. The third is the customer’s signature, collected once the work is complete.

The second step is to speak to your supplier. Ask which models they hold in stock will be certified for January installations, and when any external controllers will be available. Then compare their answers with the models listed in quotes already signed for January. This will help you identify which supplies need clarification before the installation.

The third step is to decide who checks the evidence before the job is closed. Adding fields to a report achieves little unless someone checks that they have been completed. To make that check effective, you can prevent the job from being closed while any required evidence is missing.

These three fields are a practical choice, not a new list of legal obligations. They keep a record of what the technician checked on site, whatever the outcome of the consultation. If the statement becomes a requirement for joining the trial, you will already have documentation to work from. You could also offer a connection check as a service to the customer, with the result recorded in the job report.

How we work

Gitogi helps maintenance and technical service businesses organise these steps. We combine bespoke software, training and change management, starting with how your technicians work. You can read more about our bespoke software here: https://www.gitogi.com/en/servizi/software-su-misura/

For a wallbox installation, we can set up the job report with a list of the required evidence and prevent the job from being closed until it is all there. The customer’s signature can also be collected directly in the report while on site. You can read about our approach to field service, meaning the management of jobs carried out on site, here: https://www.gitogi.com/en/field-service/

The first step is to review a completed month’s work using that month’s job reports, invoices and contracts. Together, we look at where the work carried out, the contract and the invoices do not match.

If missing evidence is a familiar problem, write to us and tell us how you work. We’ll start with a month’s worth of your jobs.