C.O.C Madness

Mars

Mars

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Can anyone point me in the right direction to find out the requirements for the certificate of compliance.

I just got a quote to make my house compliant and this sparky yet again it telling me a completely different story to every other sparky I have spoken to. Its always in the sparky's favor tho. :mad:
The previous sparky said our house was compliant so I thought that only the new alterations may have issues. This guy has come with R18k worth of stuff to change.

If he is correct then so be it, but I need to make sure because I am SO SICK of being fleeced.
 
Madman88 said:
Can anyone point me in the right direction to find out the requirements for the certificate of compliance.

I just got a quote to make my house compliant and this sparky yet again it telling me a completely different story to every other sparky I have spoken to. Its always in the sparky's favor tho. :mad:
The previous sparky said our house was compliant so I thought that only the new alterations may have issues. This guy has come with R18k worth of stuff to change.

If he is correct then so be it, but I need to make sure because I am SO SICK of being fleeced.
Click to expand...

I can send you a copy of the Durban version of a COC if you want?
 
I need a coc cos I'm selling my house.

There is a whole list of stuff he says is wrong.. from dumb stuff like installing a double plug into a place because I have an extension cord running there, to telling me each of my bathroom lights have to be on individual isolators because they have heater lamps in them.

I'm not saying he's wrong, I just want to make sure he is not taking me for a ride.
 
Madman88 said:
I need a coc cos I'm selling my house.

There is a whole list of stuff he says is wrong.. from dumb stuff like installing a double plug into a place because I have an extension cord running there, to telling me each of my bathroom lights have to be on individual isolators because they have heater lamps in them.

I'm not saying he's wrong, I just want to make sure he is not taking me for a ride.
Click to expand...

Right, the double plug because you're using an extension cord is BS... just remove the extension cord, problem solved.

Bathroom lights on individual isolators? thats the first i've ever heard of that... and heater lamps? what exactly does that mean?
 
ToxicBunny said:
Right, the double plug because you're using an extension cord is BS... just remove the extension cord, problem solved.

Bathroom lights on individual isolators? thats the first i've ever heard of that... and heater lamps? what exactly does that mean?
Click to expand...

One of these puppies:
SHHL1.JPG
 
Ahhh then he MIGHT be right on that one.. but i can't say yay or nay...

But I would have thought, as long as the load on the circuit is acceptable then all should be good.
 
Im not sure on the compliance thing, but i can recommend 2 different electrician's that I know are not full of i BS
 
syntax said:
Im not sure on the compliance thing, but i can recommend 2 different electrician's that I know are not full of i BS
Click to expand...

Maybe it would be worth it to get a second opinion. I would appreciate that.
 
Meh, have the same $h1t at the moment.

Have to get a new C.O.C for my place as I am selling as well. The C.O.C I got when I bought the house is less than 2 years old and I have made very few changes to the electricals.

First guy that came to check it out has quoted me R10k to fix things that haven't changed from the previous C.O.C. I gave him a copy of the previous one and he simply said that the rules have changed since then. Told him to stuff it, I'll get someone else then.

Also minor things he wants to change:

- The isolator on the oven is old, he wants to put in a new one, it still works but he won't give a certificate unless he puts in a new one;
- The outside gates need to be on independent switches on the DB;
- The DB can't be in a kitchen cupboard with shelves in (even though there are no shelves in front of the actual DB);
- The garage doors need to be on an isolator switch;
- There is one to many downlights on one of the switches on the DB, new switch for that light.
 
Thats when you tell him you will find a new electrician...

Some of those things are possibly valid, but not giving you a CoC because he wants to replace an isolator that is still working is complete BS.
 
The COC is bs in any case, did this sparky climb into the roof and check out all the wiring ?

It is just a money making racket. One that did the COC of the house I bought 2 years back, walked around at ground level checked if all the plug/light work, opened up the DB checked that the wiring looks ok. cha-ching done.

Just reading through the posts here is what is wrong at my place
- The outside gates need to be on independent switches on the DB;
- The garage doors need to be on an isolator switch;
- Extension cord to outside light, needs a double plug

Here is what I know is wrong:
- Cracked pvc piping, look like someone put his foot on the pipes running in the roof.
pita on getting this fixed, have to pull up the wires, replace pipes then pull the wires again.
- Nothing else.

Here is what I found in my moms house, this after a COC certificate was issued.
- Open junction boxes in the roof.
very much an electrocution hazard
- 2 Different gauge wires used from municipal supply running in parallel
smaller gauge wire will heat up when pulling power, fire hazard


Really gets me mad that this supposedly valid COC process is not worth the piece of paper it is written on.
 
Last edited:
biena said:
The COC is bs in any case, did this sparky climb into the roof and check out all the wiring ?

It is just a money making racket. One that did the COC of the house I bought 2 years back, walked around at ground level checked if all the plug/light work, opened up the DB checked that the wiring looks ok. cha-ching done.

Just reading through the posts here is what is wrong at my place
- The outside gates need to be on independent switches on the DB;
- The garage doors need to be on an isolator switch;
- Extension cord to outside light, needs a double plug

Here is what I know is wrong:
- Cracked pvc piping, look like someone put his foot on the pipes running in the roof.
pita on getting this fixed, have to pull up the wires, replace pipes then pull the wires again.
- Nothing else.

Here is what I found in my moms house, this after a COC certificate was issued.
- Open junction boxes in the roof.
very much an electrocution hazard
- 2 Different gauge wires used from municipal supply running in parallel
smaller gauge wire will heat up when pulling power, fire hazard


Really gets me mad that this supposedly valid COC process is not worth the piece of paper it is written on.
Click to expand...

Of course its not,

The wiring in my house is so absolutely dodgy there is no way an even vaguely competent sparky would pass it, but it got a CoC nonetheless.

There are plugs in the kitchen that are running off lighting gauge wire, outside lights and such are just tacked onto whatever circuit was nearest, the granny flat is on a 25Amp breaker..... so it trips whenever my tenant tries to use too many things.
 
The wiring in my house when I bought it was pretty dodgy (but it obviously had a CoC). I'm sure the lady that sold it just found the cheapest guy that would give her a CoC. As far as I know he replaced one plug point (you can see it's newer than the others and she cheaped out and got one with a single socket) and maybe one or 2 other small things. I found a really decent guy that basically spent an entire week at my place rewiring stuff, installing downlighters, installing some other lights, redoing dodgy connections in the roof and putting everything in sealed junction boxes etc and he charged me 5k including a CoC. (as opposed to a guy I got from a "well known" electrical company that charges out at R400/hour and he spent 10 hours and didn't manage to correctly wire 1 2-way light switch).
 
Meh Dealing with electricians is a real pain in the arse.

Now the one electrician wants to confront the other electrician about who said what and whats compliant.
I told him I don't have the facilities to host a boxing match :p

It seems to me when it comes to a COC there is massive room for interpretation. The reasoning behind the lights needing an isolator is that they are appliances. I think there is some interpretation going on there as well.
 
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