The IRVE qualification: what French regulation actually requires

In the electrical trades most qualifications are commercial choices: they open markets, they reassure buyers, they can be argued in return-on-investment terms. The IRVE qualification — covering infrastructures de recharge pour véhicules électriques, France’s term for EV charging infrastructure — is different, because above a certain power threshold it conditions the compliance of the installation itself. Here is what the regulation actually says, and what it means for a firm.

What the 2017 decree provides

Decree no. 2017-26 of 12 January 2017, adopted as part of the transposition of the European directive on the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure, governs the installation, maintenance and operation of electric-vehicle charging infrastructure.

The key point fits in one sentence: installing a charging point rated above 3.7 kW must be carried out by a professional holding an IRVE installation qualification issued by an approved body.

Two bodies issue that qualification in France: Qualifelec and AFNOR Certification.

The 3.7 kW threshold is the tipping point, and it is low. A large share of the residential market sits above it: that is the case for 7 kW single-phase installations and, a fortiori, for higher three-phase ratings. In practice, an electrician installing wallboxes for households crosses that threshold routinely.

The qualification levels

The IRVE qualification is not a single block. Three levels correspond to distinct technical situations:

Level	Scope	Typical situations
1	AC charging points up to 22 kW, without supervision or payment system	Detached house, private parking space
2	AC charging points up to 22 kW, with supervision and payment system	Co-ownership building, company car park, fleet
3	DC rapid charging above 22 kW	Public stations, motorway service areas, logistics sites

The logic is one of actual scope, not ambition. Installing a domestic wallbox and deploying a rapid-charging station are not the same trade: the first mobilises the classic skills of electrical installation, the second requires mastering power levels, grid connections and management systems of a different order.

The right reflex is therefore to start from the services you already sell — or expect to sell within twelve months — and derive the level from that. Going straight to level 3 with no matching market means paying for a qualification you will not practise.

Access goes through training

The IRVE qualification is not a mere declaration: it requires dedicated training whose content and duration vary with the level sought. That training covers the specifics of charging — sizing, protection, communication between the charge point and the vehicle, the constraints of shared installations — which are not those of a conventional electrical installation.

This is a scheduling point to anticipate. As with training the technical referent in the RGE journey, the availability of sessions and of the person to be trained is often the project’s critical path. A firm that receives its first wallbox enquiry and only then starts to get qualified has already lost that job.

Why the regulation demands verified competence

The obligation may look severe for an installation that, from a distance, resembles fitting a heavy-duty socket. It is explained by the nature of the risk. A charging installation means high power sustained for hours, often on a domestic installation designed for other uses, in an enclosed space and sometimes right next to a vehicle carrying a large battery.

Electrical installation faults are a major cause of structure fires. In a plenary lecture published in Fire Safety Science in 2008, Vytenis Babrauskas surveys the state of the art in research on electrical fires and stresses that the ignition mechanisms specific to them — overheating at connections, insulation degradation, arcing faults — are highly specialised and call for dedicated research and skills (reference). That is exactly the logic of a mandatory qualification: what separates a safe installation from a dangerous one is not visible in the finished result.

What it changes in your organisation

Three practical consequences, often discovered too late.

The qualification is a condition of practice, not an argument. In this segment the question is not whether it improves your commercial position: without it, work above the threshold is not compliant. The distinction matters to your insurers as much as to your customers.

It opens a closed market. That is the opposite of most qualifications, which improve a position in an open market. For an electrical firm turning away wallbox enquiries, it is often the fastest-paying step available.

It sits within a wider set. The IRVE qualification is managed on the same rhythm as your other qualifications: file, examination, multi-year cycle, annual certificate, renewal. Keeping all your applications with a single body makes follow-up considerably simpler. Our article on the Qualifelec file and committee sets out that circuit.

Not to be confused with RGE

One last point, a frequent source of confusion: the IRVE qualification and the RGE mark are two different things.

RGE is a quality sign covering energy-saving and renewable-energy works; it conditions your customers’ access to the French public subsidies for energy renovation. The IRVE qualification stems from a regulatory obligation concerning the safety and compliance of one specific type of installation. You can be RGE without holding an IRVE qualification, and the reverse is equally true.

On the RGE side, see our dedicated article: becoming RGE as an electrical firm.

Take action

Count how many charging-point enquiries your firm has declined or subcontracted over the past twelve months: that is your business case. If the number is not zero, identify the qualification level matching that work and book the training now — it is the longest step. The full scheme sheet, with the steps and frequently asked questions, is here: the Qualifelec qualification.