Before an Electrical Certificate Of Compliance may be issued, the property must be thoughroughly inspected by a qualified and registered electrician. This article takes a closer look at the electrical compliance inspection that will be done before certification.
Electricity Authorities
The relevant laws, regulations and standards regarding electrical installations dictate how the electrical compliance inspection must be done. Here is a list of the relevant authorities:
- Occupational Health & Safety Act, 1993 (Act 85 of 1993)
- SANS 10142-1:2003 (SABS 0142) Edition 1.1 (as amended 2003)
- Government Notice No.1373 of 8 November 2002
- Electrical Contracting Board
- Electrical Contractors' Association
Purpose Of The Inspection
The electrical installation on a property can only be certified compliant once the electrician is certain that it is. So, in order to issue an Electrical Certificate of Compliance, the electrical installation must first be tested to make sure that it is safe and complies with the relevant regulations.
The electrician and his/her assistants will be crawling all over the property to test the electrical wiring, if the whole installation has to be certified. But for smaller additions to the electrical installation, the inspection may only involve that specific section.
A Certificate of Compliance is not required for minor repair work or maintenance, such as replacement of lamps, fuses, or similar work.
What will be inspected?
During a thorough inspection for an electrical certificate of compliance, the inspection will test whether the components of the installation is whole, safe and in working order.
The components of the elecrical installation that will be tested includes the circuit breakers, distribution boards, earth leakage, lights, plugs and wiring circuits. The aspects that will be tested includes the bonding, earth continuity, insulation, loop impedance, resistance, voltage, polarity, and the safety of each component.
Illegal installations will be corrected or disconnected.
What will not be inspected?
Some electrical components in a property will not be tested. All appliances, including the stove, geyser, pool cleaning equipment, air conditioners, fans, etc. are excluded from the electrical compliance inspection, even though they may be fixtures of the property.
These appliances also fall under the Occupational Health And Safety Act's requirements for electrical compliance certification, but they have already been tested and certified in the factory.
Electrical Repairs
After inspecting the property's electrical installation, the electrician will submit a report containing his/her findings. This report will contain a list of required repairs that will be needed to bring the electrical installation in line with the relevant code and regulations.
The electrician's report should reflect the minimum repairs needed for the electrical installation to conform to current compliance standards.
Issuing The Electrical Certificate Of Compliance
Once all the required repairs to the electrical installation has been done, making it compliant to the code and standards, the electrician will issue the electrical certificate of compliance.
The electrical certificate of compliance must be issued in accordance to the regulations. An electrical certificate which is falsified, or which was not issued inaccordance to the regulations, is invalid.
