Dramatic Legislative Amendments Affecting The Electrical Compliance Certificate



1. The new Code of Practice SABS 0142 of 2001 replaces the old SABS 0142 of 1993 as of 1 April 2002. It will be the only code of practice accepted in South Africa. 2. The new Act does not permit unregistered/unqualified electricians to undertake inspections, maintenance or construction work, ie we can no longer do re-inspections or issue certificates where someone else has done the repairs. 3. Please note that according to the new code, the user or owner is responsible for the safety of the electrical installation and requires an accredited person to ensure that the installation complies with the new Act. This means that if the seller appoints an unqualified electrician, the purchaser can hold the seller liable and not the electrician who issued the certificate. The implications attached to recommending unqualified service providers are self-explanatory. 4. The new certificate requires twice as much detail as previously and the report itself has been extended from 2 (two) to 4 (four) pages. 5. Inspections will therefore take longer to complete and inevitably more faults will be found, which will result in higher quotes. 6. We cannot stress strongly enough that electrical inspection is a highly specialised field, which cannot be properly undertaken by people who are not dedicated to upholding the required standards. The public, as well as most agencies and attorneys are largely ignorant of the complexities and enormous responsibilities attached to doing thorough inspections. Whilst there will always be someone out there who will do any job for less (including agents!) we are aware that clients will usually complain to their agent first when they are not happy with our findings. Please beware of cheap inspection fees and cheap quotes – a proper standard cannot be upheld this way and the purchaser for whose benefit the certificate is issued, has the right to a decent job being performed. 7. These changes have been introduced to improve the quality and safety of installations, to bring South Africa more in line with international standards and to eliminate sub-standard workmanship. The industry is going to be policed more vigorously and heavy penalties imposed on offenders. Information supplied by Ridco – Wood Boring & Electrical Contractors Tel : 021 785-3300 GOVERNMENT GAZETTE 16 November 2001 N0R1128 NOTICES OF EXEMPTION IN TERMS OF SECTION 40 OF THE OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY ACT, 1993 ELECTRICAL INSTALLATION REGULATIONS, 1992 Under Section 40 (3) (b) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1993 (Act No 85 of 1993), I Faiza Salie, appointed as chief inspector in terms of section 27 (1) of the said Act, and by virtue of the powers delegated to me by the Minister of Labour in terms of section 42 (1) of the Act, hereby grant exemption in in terms of section 40 (1) from the Electrical Installation Regulations, 1992, published under Government Notice No R 2920 of 23 October 1992, which appear in the schedule hereto. SCHEDULE 1. Accredited persons are hereby exempt from the obligation of Electrical Installation Regulation 7 (1) with regard to the issuing of a Certificate of Compliance in the form of Annexure 1: Provided the Certificate of Compliance is issued in the form incorporated under SABS 0142: Wiring code. The issuing of Certificates of Compliance in the form of Annexure 1 of the Regulations is being phased out and the official use thereof shall be discontinued as from 1 July 2002. F SALIE Chief Inspector