The occupational Health and Safety Act prescribes, through the Electrical installation Regulations, SANS 10142-1 of 2009, who may carry out electrical installation work and in this way protects users of electricity. The Regulations also give protection to the public by means of a Certificate of Compliance (CoC) and Test Report which every user or lessor of an installation is obliged to possess, and must be provided every time a house changes ownership.  The Seller is required in terms of the Act to sell an installation that complies with these Regulations. 

The COC and Test Report is the only recognised proof of compliance and safety and can only be issued by a registered person (an electrician registered by the Department of Labour as a Master Installation Electrician, Installation Electrician or an Electrical Tester for Signal Phase) and who is registered with the Department of Labour as an electrical contractor. The registered person may be the proprietor or an employee of the business.

 

Electrical Installations Responsibility:

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The onus rests on you, as the homeowner, to ensure that the electricity in your house does not pose a threat to you, your family, any other person or animal, or the property.  This also places the responsibility on you to prevent any hazardous situations that may trigger an electrical incident.

The certificate has no expiry date (please refer to frequently asked questions) but if any additions, modifications or alterations are carried out to your installation you must insist that the electrical contractor provides you with an additional certificate that covers such work.  Failure to acquire such additional certificate will render the original CoC and Test report invalid.

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Alternatively, you may request a new certificate for the entire installation although the contractor is only responsible for issuing a certificate for the work he performed.

 

Should an incident occur, all involved parties will be investigated and the homeowner could attract liability if the installation is not safe or is not being correctly used. It could also invalidate the insurance of the property.

 

Save yourself the money and heartache that accompanies these incidents and “service” your electrical installation, appliances or any other hazardous sources on a regular basis.