INACCESSIBLE SPACES

[GCE]

Contrary to some narratives created by some articles and statements, YOU MOST CERTAINLY CAN EXCLUDE PARTS OF THE INSTALLATION ON THE COC, AND THERE IS A DEDICATED SPACE PROVIDED FOR THAT PURPOSE ON THE COC UNDER SECTION 3. It would not "render the coc invalid" or be "against the law"

Here is an example from sans 10142 of the format of the coc approved by the chief inspector and enacted by law: As you can see there is a clear section to comment on parts you want to EXCLUDE.

Attachment 8881

Maybe I need to clarify
If the house is being sold you are doing a COC to state that the entire installation is safe as per fundamentals - You cannot then start excluding parts of the installation , it will come back to bite.

If you do an alterations you can cover just that alteration and exclude the balance of the installation that you have not worked on

On the sale of a property you would be contracted to check the entire installation

[Isetech]

Provided the customer can supply a valid COC/test report for the balance of the installation.

Your work will require a supplementary COC/test report.

As pointed out to me during an investigation, as a qualified skilled person with experience in the industry, you should know better than to turn a blind eye to non compliant parts of the installation.

At some point you would have to open an existing DB to connect your supply cable, or connect plugs and lights to the existing installation.

Fortunately for us the electrical industry is winning the race to the bottom of all industries, chances are you will get away with just about anything.

If you do an alterations you can cover just that alteration and exclude the balance of the installation that you have not worked on

[Derlyn]

I think this thread is not about turning a blind eye to sections of an installation that are non compliant, it's more about excluding sections that for some or other reason, are either extremely difficult or sometimes virtually impossible to access in order to inspect.

I take it that that is what the exclusion section on the test report is for.

Ther are occasions that crop up where doing things 100% by the book are virtually impossible. That's where being reasonable comes into play.

At the end of the day, you are signing a declaration that the installation is REASONABLY safe.

[Isetech]

Its a fine line, some might say they exclude the solar or backup system, because they are not qualified to test the installation.

I have heard all the excuses:

The room was locked,
There was a large cupboard in front of the socket or switch,
The appliance or light was out of arms reach,
The labels are being printed,
There were dogs in that area.
My inspecting must have missed that par tof the building,
and many many more

[Derlyn]

It's amazing how these things happen.

So often something is discussed here and then within a day or two I am faced with a situation where it's much easier making that decision after having that discussion.

We were talking about excluding certain sections from a COC.

This cropped up today. Requested to issue a coc for a cottage in order for occupation to take place.
This property was bought voetstoots so the buyer needs to organise the COC before occupation. It is one ERF consisting of a main house with a cottage fed from the main house.
The property is in the process of being subdivided.

The main house is basically still a construction site but the cottage has been renovated and is tenant ready, bar for the COC.

I have decided to issue a COC for the cottage with the exclusion being the main house.
I think this is a perfect example of using the exclusion facility on the test sheet for what it was intended.

[Die sparky]

I was taught to put all concealed circuits and parts of circuits not covered by this test report.