The electrical certificate of compliance, and who may issue it

Who must hold the certificate

Regulation 7 puts the duty on the user or lessor of the installation. In a house that is the owner; in a rented shop or flat it is the landlord, unless a written undertaking has passed the responsibility to the tenant. The certificate is in the form of Annexure 1 to the regulations, a numbered form obtained from the Chief Inspector, and it must be accompanied by a test report in the approved format. On request it must be produced to a Department of Employment and Labour inspector, to the electricity supplier, or to an approved inspection authority.

There is one exception. An installation that existed before 23 October 1992 and has not changed ownership since 1 March 1994 does not need a certificate, but the moment anything is added or altered, a certificate for the whole installation becomes compulsory and the exception is gone for good.

The two-year rule and supplementary certificates

• On a sale. Regulation 7(5) says the user or lessor may not allow a change of ownership if the certificate is older than two years. The certificate itself does not expire; it is the transfer that triggers the two-year test. Conveyancers ask for it before lodging.
• After work. Regulation 7(4) says that where an addition or alteration has been made to an installation that already has a certificate, a certificate must be obtained for at least the addition or alteration. This is the supplementary certificate. A new geyser circuit, a solar inverter or an added plug circuit each need one.
• After a fault is found. Regulation 7(7) lets an inspector, an approved inspection authority or the supplier require a new certificate when an inspection finds a defect. If the defect is dangerous, the supplier may disconnect.
• Before connection. Regulation 8 forbids connecting a new or altered installation to the supply until a registered person has inspected and tested it and issued the certificate, and requires the supplier to be notified on Annexure 4 before work needing a new or bigger supply starts.

Who may issue one: the three registrations

Regulation 9 is short: no person other than a registered person may issue a certificate of compliance, and only after satisfying themselves by inspection and test that the installation complies with the incorporated safety standard, SANS 10142-1, and that new work was carried out under their general control. Regulation 11 creates three registrations, each granted by the Chief Inspector to a person with sufficient knowledge of the rules and appropriate practical experience for that category, and each entered on the national database.

The Annexure 5 application asks for two passport-style photographs, the applicant’s training and apprenticeship history with employer testimonials, three specimen signatures and the fee. A registered person must produce the certificate of registration to anyone they intend to certify for, and must tell the Chief Inspector of any change within 14 days.

Registering as an electrical contractor

Being a registered person and being a registered contractor are two different things. Regulation 6 says no person may do electrical installation work as a contractor unless registered as one, and the registration is annual. The Chief Inspector may only register a business that has a fixed address and a telephone and that employs a registered person full time, or whose owner is one. So a one-person business needs the owner to hold a registration; a bigger firm needs at least one registered person on the payroll, and must tell the department if that person leaves.

1. Complete Annexure 3, the application for registration as electrical contractor: the applicant, the registered and trading names, the business type and registration number, the province, and the registrations held.
2. List every registered person employed full time, with their registration type (tester, installation electrician or master) and number.
3. Attach certified copies of the applicant’s ID and the registered persons’ IDs, the business registration, and both sides of each registration certificate.
4. Pay the fee into the department’s bank account and attach proof, then lodge at the provincial office listed on the form.
5. Diarise the renewal. The registration lapses after a year and an unregistered contractor cannot lawfully take on installation work.

The fee. Regulation 14 originally set R120 for each application. A fee amendment gazetted on 29 July 2022 raised the contractor’s annual registration to R240 and the registered person’s fee to R480, according to the Electrical Contractors Association of South Africa. The forms on the department’s website still print R120, so confirm the current figure with your provincial office before you pay.

Penalties

Regulation 15 makes it an offence to install other than to the standard, to work as an unregistered contractor, to fail to hold or produce a certificate, to connect without one, or to issue one without being registered. On conviction the penalty is a fine or imprisonment of up to 12 months, and for a continuing offence a further R200 a day or a day’s imprisonment for each day, up to 90 days. In practice the bigger costs are civil: an insurer that repudiates a fire claim because there was no valid certificate, and a buyer who refuses transfer.

What actually goes wrong

• A certificate signed by an electrician who is not a registered person. A trade certificate is not a registration. The certificate is void and the conveyancer will reject it.
• A single phase tester certifying a three-phase shop. Outside the category, outside the law.
• A solar system installed on an old certificate. The inverter and its circuit are an alteration; a supplementary certificate is compulsory, and Eskom and the municipalities will not register the system without one.
• An old certificate at transfer. Older than two years means a new inspection, and a house that has had twenty years of DIY work seldom passes first time.
• A contractor whose only registered person resigned. The business no longer meets regulation 6(4) and its registration can be withdrawn.

Frequently asked questions