Originally Posted by
Dave A
One of the problems to my mind when it comes to enforcement is the DOL is hellbent on prosecuting the people who are doing the electrical work. However, the owner/lessor/user of the electrical installation is not being held responsible for who they use to carry out electrical installation work. And reality is many are knowingly using people who are not suitably qualified and not working under the general supervision of a responsible person, and not registered as an electrical contractor.
When I raised this at an electrical safety forum held in Durban (about 2016 or so), I was told by Pieter Laubscher that they do not pursue the user/lessor because they are reliant on them to be evidence providers in the DOL's prosecution of the "electrician" who did the work. He said they might consider prosecuting the owner/user/lessor afterwards. And confirmed that they never had pursued an owner/user/lessor yet for contravening the Electrical Installation Regulations up until then.
As long as the owner/user/lessor gets a free pass on who they use, they will not pay attention to compliance with the Electrical Installation Regulations.
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