An electrical Certificate of Compliance (CoC) is the legal document confirming that a fixed electrical installation complies with SANS 10142-1, the wiring code, and it may only be issued by a registered person who did the work or had general control of it. You need one for every new installation, for any extension or alteration, and on the sale of a property, where a CoC is generally treated as valid for transfer purposes for 2 years provided nothing has been altered since it was issued.
The legal framework
The CoC requirement comes from the Electrical Installation Regulations, made under the OHS Act 85 of 1993. The technical standard is SANS 10142-1. The Department of Employment and Labour administers the registered-person (wireman's licence) system, and contractors trading commercially register with the Electrical Contractors' Association or the Electrical Contracting Board.
Who may issue a CoC
Only a person qualified and authorised for electrical installation work: in practice a registered electrician or electrical contractor who undertook or had general control over the installation. The DEL registered-person categories relevant on site are:
- Domestic / single-phase installation electrician: single-phase residential work.
- Installation electrician: single and three-phase installations up to a prescribed size.
- Master installation electrician: unrestricted electrical installation work.
Two hard rules: an unregistered person cannot issue a CoC at all, and a CoC may not be amended after issue. An amended certificate is invalid by law.
When a CoC is required
- New installation: CoC before occupation.
- Extension or alteration: a new or supplementary CoC covering the new work. Any alteration invalidates the existing CoC for the altered portion.
- Sale of property: a CoC verifying compliance, generally treated as valid for 2 years for transfer purposes if no alterations have been made since issue.
- Insurance or bond: insurers and banks typically require a current CoC.
Becoming the person who signs
The wireman's licence path runs: an accredited trade qualification (typically N3 plus an apprenticeship), the DEL trade test at an accredited centre, registration as a registered person with the DEL, then registration with the ECA or ECB to trade commercially as an electrical contractor. If you are a builder rather than an electrician, the practical rule is simpler: every piece of fixed electrical work on your jobs goes through someone on that register, and the CoC lands in the client's file before handover.
Worked example: the renovated bathroom
A builder fits a new shower and asks an unregistered "sparky" mate to wire the isolator. That person cannot issue a CoC. Without one, the work cannot be included in the property's compliance documentation, the owner's insurance may be invalidated, and the property will fail its electrical inspection at sale. The builder should send the client to a DEL-registered installation electrician, and should have done so before the wiring started.
Common mistakes
- Using unregistered labour for fixed wiring. Cheap on day one, expensive at claim time or transfer time.
- Assuming the seller's old CoC covers new work. Alterations invalidate it for the altered portion; new work needs its own certificate.
- "Fixing" a CoC by hand. An amended certificate is legally void.
- Confusing the trade qualification with registration. Passing a trade test does not make someone a registered person; the DEL registration does.
- No CoC in the handover file. Builders carry the client relationship; collect the certificate before final payment.
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