ELECTRICAL CERTIFICATE

[Moo2u2]

Im just getting ready to sell my property and need to get an electrical certificate, what i want to know is; Where do I contact an authorized electrician to conduct the inspection and issue a valid wiring certificate . (in PE)

[AndyD]

Any registered domestic electrician should be able to conduct the required testing and certification. Maybe the Yellow Pages or ask at any local big electrical wholesaler for contact details of a couple of well established electrical contractors in your area.

[Sparks]

PE is full of "registered", "Acredited", "Authorised" whatever you want to call them "electricians". The challenge is to find an honest, concientious electrician who will not try rip you off yet at the same time ensure that the buyer has a "valid" COC. You are welcome to give me a call. Besides meeting the above challenge, I also give a lifetime guarantee on my workmanship.

[muzi]

hi tell me how do you go with this propity think i have a trade test also

[glynis]

I have sold my property and called an Electrician in to do an electrical compliance certificate. Before he arrived I did tell him that we were having problems with power tripping at the swimming pool when it rains or when the gardener waters the garden. He completed the inspection, did some repairs and issued the compliance certificate. However, the next time the gardener watered the power tripped again - I phoned him and he said that i should open the cover of the pump and let the sun dry things out and just tell the gardener not to water near the pool area again - I asked him how I should then stop the rain from falling in the same spot. Should his inspection not have picked up the problem? Damp is getting in some where? I have asked him to come back and have a look but to date he has not contacted me. Is he responsible to sort out the problem for me - seeing that he issued a certificate? If I get someone else in will it make the certificate which he gave me null and void?

[Dave A]

Should his inspection not have picked up the problem?

If the insulation test was done with a megga (as it should be done) there's a fair chance. If it was done with a multimeter (which I've heard is the way it's done by some) the chances of detecting the problem if the fault was dry at the time is much slimmer.

[Sparks]

In all likelihood you have what is called an intermittent fault. You do not mention whether the pump is on or not. Because you make reference to it happening when wet I will for now assume that the problem is not related to the pump, therefore an electrical inspection would not pick it up unless it had rained on the day or previous night. There is probably a joint under or close to the ground and it is either not inside a waterproof enclosure or the enclosure is damaged, if you have lights in the garden being fed from the pool DB which have joints or terminations which are not watertight it will also cause your earth leakage unit to trip. You can also check for "spade" damage caused by your gardener. These faults are all intermittent because they only occur in the presence of water. Once dry they are often impossible to find within a reasonable amount of time, especially if the cable has been damaged by a spade. You could end up minus your flowerbed. Simple logic and a keen eye can go a long way to find the fault.

[Dave A]

I'm interested in opinions on whether the electrician issuing the COC (test only) is liable for this, though.

If the electrician was using a megga and the insulation test reading was fine, can you hold the electrician responsible?

[AndyD]

From the certification side of things, I don't see the electrician being responsible, the COC is a one-shot test, if the correct test equipment and proceedures were employed then he should be in the clear.

The other point, especially with a pool pump and outside lighting is there's a good chance the IR fault would be on items that aren't even covered by the COC.

On the other hand, if the electrician was informed of the fault and he conducted repairs on that particular fault and he charged money for this on top of the COC work then he should return under warranty and make further repairs on the same fault if necessary.

I think the answer lies in the details (which we'll probably never know).

[unhappy]

Advice please - for a house based in Port Elizabeth:

Company 1 inspected and gave a quotation of R4000 and a list of 20 faults. 14 faults were fixed or eliminated which left 6 faults on the original list. Company 2 inspected and has now issued a quotation of R4000 and a list of 24 faults - which excludes the cost of fittings and "making good" (plastering and painting so heaven only knows what he is planning to do). Who or what do you believe now? This is R800 later after two inspections plus the "fixing up" costs in between!

Please help...