Working on Installation with out COC

[chris541125]

Good morning.
I have a question, should an electrician perform work on an installation if the owner can not show an valid coc?
and what would you recommend as a solution?
Thank you all in advance!
Chris

[AbrieD]

Hi Chris,

If no electrician is allowed to work on an installation without COC, how will anybody be able to obtain a COC?

[chris541125]

Good day,
Thank you for your reply.
Maybe I should revrase the question.
What if the purpose is to fix something on the db board but the client has no coc? (Sorry if it sound stupid but I think not unless a coc is issued after the work?)
Regards

[AbrieD]

Hi Chris,
To try and make this as simple as possible.
An electrician is allowed to work on the DB, and he should do a full inspection and testing
on the installation to enable him to do a COC, he can not issue a COC just because he worked on the DB, or any part of the installation.
Obtaining a COC is the responsibility of the owner of the building.
If the installation already has a COC, and the electrician made any alterations to the installation, a new COC must be issued.
If the installation is in a bad condition, any electrician should refuse to do any work until the installation is properly repaired and a COC issued. (Owners cost)
Also, COC's are valid for 2 years, if no alterations were made in that time period.

If your statement had any value, all owners will simply call out an electrician to work on their DB's and claim a COC afterwards.
Very soon all electricians will either be in court or go bankrupt.
To come back to "fix something on the DB", for arguments sake he replaced a 20A circuit breaker with a 20A circuit breaker,
the installation did not change, it was just repaired, then there is no need for a new COC.
But let's say he added a socket outlet, with a new supply and a 20A circuit breaker to accommodate the new outlet, then a new COC must be issued.
There are still many buildings without COC's, but this does not mean their installations cannot be repaired.

There are many more we can discuss about COC's, but I will need to type for days.
Hope your questions are answered.
Regards,