An Electrical Compliance Certificate

• is a declaration of electrical safety which should be issued before an installation is put into service OR produced to the buyer of an existing installation prior to the installation being sold.

• is not intended to be issued to confirm the completion of a contract

• should not be withheld for contractual reasons, especially if the electrical installation has been made available for use.

The issuing of an appropriate Certificate of Compliance is a statutory requirement for any electrical installation work. The Certificate of Compliance should be fully completed and signed BY A REGISTERED PERSON WHO HIMSELF MUST TEST AND INSPECT THE INSTALLATION.

The form should not be a photocopy.

The documents must be signed by an accredited person and in general should be completed in full.

Certificate of compliance

1. Subject to the provisions of subregulation (3), every user or lessor of an electrical installation, as the case may be, shall have a valid certificate of compliance for that installation in the form of Annexure 1, which shall be accompanied by a test report in the format approved by the chief inspector, in respect of every such electrical installation.
   
2. Subject to the provisions of subregulation (3), every user or lessor of an electrical installation, as the case may be, shall on request produce the certificate of compliance for that electrical installation to an inspector, a supplier or, subject to regulation 4(1), an approved inspection authority for electrical installations.
   
3. Subregulation (1) shall not apply to an electrical installation that existed prior to 23 October 1992, and where there was no change of ownership after 1 March 1994: Provided that, if any addition or alteration is effected to such an electrical installation, the user or lessor of the electrical installation, as the case may be, shall obtain a certificate of compliance for the whole electrical installation, whereafter the provisions of subregulation (1) shall be applicable to such electrical installation.
   
4. Where any addition or alteration has been effected to an electrical installation for which a certificate of compliance was previously issued, the user or lessor of such electrical installation shall obtain a certificate of compliance for at least the addition or alteration .
5. Subject to the provisions of section 10(4) of the Act, the user or lessor may not allow a change of ownership if the certificate of compliance is older than two years.
   
6. The relevant supplier may at any reasonable time inspect or test any electrical installation: Provided that the supplier shall not charge any fee for such an inspection or test unless the inspection or test is carried out at the request of the user or lessor.
   
7. If an inspector, an approved inspection authority for electrical installations or supplier has carried out an inspection or test and has detected any fault or defect in any electrical installation, that inspector, approved inspection authority for electrical installations or supplier may require the user or lessor of that electrical installation to obtain a new certificate of compliance: Provided that if such fault or defect in the opinion of the inspector, approved inspection authority for electrical installations or supplier constitutes an immediate danger to persons, that inspector, approved inspection authority for electrical installations or supplier shall forthwith take steps to have the supply to the circuit in which the fault or defect was detected, disconnected: Provided further that where such fault or defect is of such a nature that it may indicate negligence on the part of a registered person, the inspector, approved inspection authority for electrical installations or supplier shall forthwith report those circumstances in writing to the chief inspector.

Specimen of a new Certificate of Compliance (Annexure 1 – Electrical Installation Regulations 2009) together with the test report as described in the SANS (South African National Standard) 10142-1 Wiring Code, which must be issued with effect from 01 May 2009 in respect of all electrical installation work. This version of the legislated document is distributed by the Association of Accredited Inspection Bodies of South Africa.

It is important to note that only a Department of Labour Inspector, an Approved Inspection Authority for electrical installations or a Supplier may conduct an inspection or investigation into the validity of a Certificate of Compliance and require the user or lessor of that electrical installation to obtain a new certificate of compliance