The Electrical Certificate of Compliance explained

[Leecatt]

What if the electrical installation is so bad that it would cost thousands if not hundreds of thousands to repair and the seller doesnt have the money to repair the electrical installation?

What if the buyer agrees to buy the property without a valid COC, because he plans on doing major alteration which will affect the entire electrical installation?

Try looking at it this way. Under normal circumstances the electrical installation is covered by a valid COC, at all times. Once the transfer takes place the COC cannot be used if it is over two years old and has to be renewed, which is not a problem as all work done has been certified along the way and regular maintenance has been taking place, which ensures continuing compliance of the entire installation.
Of course, this is in a perfect world, but if you live in places like The UK that's how it works.
Policing is the problem we have.

[Sparks]

Justloadit you are right, but I don"t think that there is anything stating that it is the sellers responsibility, although most estate agents probably put it into the deed of sale that way. That probably explains why it is not required before a property is auctioned.

"No person may sell, advertise to sell, barter or trade anything for which a safety standard exists without that standard having been me, to the full extent of the law it may not even be given away free"

I think that clearly indicates who is responsible for the COC and all estate agents know!
A COC is supposed to be in place before transfer of ownership.
If the buyer agrees to take the onus upon himself for the COC, he may do so in writing, but that does not excuse him from getting a COC before registration.

What I have done was to remove the old installation and install a Certified site box. It solved the issue for me.

[ians]

I decided to get some technical information with regards to the SABS regulations today, where do you start?

Phone a friend who doesnt have a clue about electrical,
phone a friend who has many years of experience who doesnt answer his phone,
Phone the ECA who doesnt have any "technical knowledge" because everyone has left,
call the DOL who dont answer their phone and dont have an answering machine so you can leave a number for them to get back to you,

or just just do the job the way you think it should be done according to the way you interpret the rules and know you will never get caught if it is wrong unless someone dies.

And we wonder why our industry has fallen through its own ass.

As an electrical contractor you pretty much on your own, just imagine if you are member of the public.

Having a helpline would be a good start

[ians]

I also decided to speak to someone in the "technical department" of one of the big suppliers of circuit breakers. Just when you thought its only the skilled workers😜 lucky there is still 1 person (old) left who knows what he is talking about.

[Sparks]

Another advantage of the onbudsman, he was always glad to be of assistance and if you did not understand he would gladly meet you on site free of charge. He also took the trouble when he was not too busy to call back in a day or two to ask if you came right. I made extensive use of his knowledge when I started out and learned a hell of a lot by him even though we only met a few times.

[Dave A]

An electrical installation has to provide protection against

- Shock Current
- Over Current
- Fault Current
- Over voltage
- Under Voltage
- Excessive Temperatures
- Electric Arcs

If any of the above arises, the protection should automatically disconnect the supply or limit currents and voltages to safe values.

AFAIK, there are precious few electrical installations out there with that level of over and under voltage protection.
Nice idea though.

I decided to get some technical information with regards to the SABS regulations today, where do you start?

...
Phone the ECA who doesnt have any "technical knowledge" because everyone has left

I'm happy to report the ECA is working on solving that one. Brian Bilton is back on staff at the Durban office to assist members, and I'm pretty sure there's technical support systems in place at the other offices of late too.

[BlueArc]

If a Main DB is divided into 3 parts i.e. "Normal" Power (White Section) "Emergency" Power (Red Section) and "UPS" Power (Blue Section) and all sections have different feeds do I need to give 3 separate COC's even if its one big DB? This may sound like a stupid question for a wireman to ask but I have only been doing three phase houses recently and am having problem with understanding this situation in a large commercial building. I am looking to do a refreshers course soon but any help or advice would be appreciated.

[AndyD]

If it's a single DB I'd do it on one certificate and probably make some elaborate additional notes.

[Sparks]

I beg to differ on this one Andy. He has 2 alternate power supplies. Each being a separate installation with individual circuits, points of consumption and readings. I would have this indicated on all 3 COCs'. All 3 have just been combined into one enclosure for convenience in my opinion.

I just hope the power source for all the points of consumption have been identified.

[AndyD]

I beg to differ on this one Andy. He has 2 alternate power supplies. Each being a separate installation with individual circuits, points of consumption and readings. I would have this indicated on all 3 COCs'. All 3 have just been combined into one enclosure for convenience in my opinion.

I just hope the power source for all the points of consumption have been identified.

If it's as you describe it would require 3 certs, I misread the post and was assuming a single feed and common points of consumption.