The document is suppose to be a legal document, so there should be s data base recording every "unique" COC/test report issued , which should be filled out correctly, with all the relevant details.
I wish you luck trying to find a 5 year old COC, and even if you do, I wish you luck trying to get the person back to site to fix non compliant items.
And when there is a dispute they seem not to care.Originally Posted by Derlyn
Client of mine is having an issue with a CoC issued by an ECASA member for a property in Cape Town.
VIR (rotten at he socket and switch boxes so extended with PVC - tells me the VIR has failed if it needs to be extended), rusted and broken slip conduits from the early 50's both of which, in my book is an instant fail just on the visual inspection side of things. They even had nice colour photographs of the issues but said it ok
ECA said it was tested to the standards at the time (?!?!?!?!) and stood by their members COC.
Cancelling My ECA memebership in July when it runs out - if thats their standard - I don't want to pay to be part of it.
Why is the number on the COC so significant, the number is recorded for the sale of a blank COC document only, there is no identification or reference to the document once it is sold.
By the way the COC/test report can be saved as a blank to PDF, then filled in using PDf tools. As I said I haven't purchased a COC document since I figured out how to create the PDF.
The only relevance the number has to anything, might be if you want to take action against the person who issued the COC, if they are a member of the ECA, you can contact them and attempt get the member to go to site and fix the non compliant items and issue a valid document, If the COC has an NM, you pretty up a creek without a paddle, unless the customer has the funds to take legal action, we all know how that plays out.
The "legal"document is completed by a registered person who is registered on a database.
The document has the address of the property, the details of the DB and circuits covered by the COC and most import the date of issue, because as we know the regs at that time are relevantbecause we all keep copies of the regs since the 19th century.
The details including the contractors details, registered person details, contact number, signature, registration number address and every other relevant detail is on the document.
Lets say I need to work on a site and I want to verify if there has been any test reports/COC's issued for the property in the past, do I contact the ECA (who sell the documents) and ask for the list of documents sold, relating to the property, would they be able to provide me with that list of numbers ?
When I work on a site, I only request a COC for the site after I have completed the work requested.
If the owner then shows me the COC, I then issue a supplementary to attach to the original.
If the owner doesn't have a COC, I then issue an original for only the work I've done.
Keep it simple.
I cannot prove the following, but judging from my own past experiences, I reckon that less than 50% of home owners 1) possess a COC or 2) know where it is or 3) know that they are supposed to have one.
Don't know if that's the case everywhere but that's definately the case here in our Slummies valley.
In our valley, the town council issues an occupancy certificate for all the houses. The house owner has to give a copy of all plans and certificates to the council, which places it on file. The same happens when a property is sold. All certificates must be on file before the property sale is approved. So if you need a copy of a CO,C speak to the council. Keep things simple.
I know we are a small town and it works for us, but with a city of 50 000 households things might not work this way
@Thys. Does your town have a municipal electrical inspector as a matter of interest ?
No electrical inspector, just an electrician and his team that runs the electrical side of our town, from the battery banks to the 22kV lines. Also, he inspects all solar systems connected to the grid to ensure they comply with the necessary regulations. Do all new services and so on.
No inspector yet. There are talks of getting one though, since we have many problems with DIY electricians and fly-by-night electricians and shoddy work that are not COC safe and compliant.
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