Electrical Certificate Question

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So I bought a house. House registered on 3 November 2016.

Today is the 15th. I haven't received any documentation to prove this as apparently it takes 6 weeks to get a copy of the title deed from the lawyer.

Deeds office is walking distance from my office, so I took a stroll and got a copy myself. So all I need now is the electrical certificate.

I send the lawyer an email asking her when I can collect the electrical certificate. She answers me as follows:
"I will ask the agent and previous owners to send it to me then I will let you know when you can collect it"

So......this has me a little perplexed. Is the electrical certificate not a requirement the lawyer must have beforehand before the property transfer can take place? Am I wrong for being a little annoyed that she didn't have it before registering the property on my name??? What does the law say?
 
So called the free legal assist helpline my insurance company offers. Lawyer who I spoke to says, no harm no foul. Apparently the lawyer just needs to have acknowledgement from the agent or owner that there is a electrical certificate and that nothing is wrong. They don't need to have it in their possession and they should (not must) provide it to me "sometime".

Lawyer does not need that document to go ahead with the transfer. And now that transfer is already done, if owners didn't have it and lied, they can merely get it done now afterwards. And screw me, if the outcome of that certificate would've changed my mind about the sale (if perhaps the place was a death trap and had to be completely rewired). As long as the old owners "fix" it or get it up to code.

Dumbstruck.
 
Same happened to me 6 years ago. I did eventually get the estate agent to get the certificate from the previous owners. It was a copy, not the original, and my own electrician pointed out several issues not mentioned in the certificate (underhand business perhaps from the issuing electrician). Not much could be done since it took the agents 6 months after I nagged them weekly, and the previous owners had left the country.
 
reactor_sa said:
Same happened to me 6 years ago. I did eventually get the estate agent to get the certificate from the previous owners. It was a copy, not the original, and my own electrician pointed out several issues not mentioned in the certificate (underhand business perhaps from the issuing electrician). Not much could be done since it took the agents 6 months after I nagged them weekly, and the previous owners had left the country.
Click to expand...

My home's previous owners are also leaving for Australia. Got the electrical certificate yesterday. It states in the comments "this certificate does not include wiring for any outside lights and plugs"?????????

So the outside lights and plugs are not up to code. So the certificate still gets issued despite this. FCk people.
 
I think you need to contact the attorney again. The Electical COC should be part of the conditions of the OTP, and for the attorney to submit the registration based on a verbal confirmation is very risky. The fact that the certificate states that everything does not comply also means that the registration should not have happened. So phone the lawyer, tell them they messed up and they need to fix it.
 
That is a minor concern, just look at the big picture.
Yes sure, you'll get all non-compliant cabling replaced... but even that is not always for the better.
I would forget about trying to recover costs for any missed faults / wrong cabling, unless you're trying to postpone transfer.
 
I bought my place in August and they required an electrical certificate before submitting any papers for the bond to go through.

On a different (yet related) subject. It's now November, and I have found a plug in the 2nd bedroom to short out the entire house when you plug in anything there.

Is this up to the guy who issued the electrical certificate to come fix for free? Or should I rather get someone in and do it? I'm thinking of changing out all the plugs and light fittings/switches since the other day I turned off my bedroom light and the switch went right through the wall.
 
GoB said:
That is a minor concern, just look at the big picture.
Yes sure, you'll get all non-compliant cabling replaced... but even that is not always for the better.
I would forget about trying to recover costs for any missed faults / wrong cabling, unless you're trying to postpone transfer.
Click to expand...

Transfer is already completed, and this is only a small thing until hi house burns down due to faulty wiring or shortcuts that somebody took. Then insurance doesn't pay out either.

Fact is, the attorney didn't do their job properly and now it is OP's problem to sort out. And he has to have a valid CoC so he will then have to get an electrician out to do the inspection and fix whatever needs fixing. For a professional person like an attorney it is not acceptable to take shortcuts like this.
 
halfmoonforever said:
I bought my place in August and they required an electrical certificate before submitting any papers for the bond to go through.

On a different (yet related) subject. It's now November, and I have found a plug in the 2nd bedroom to short out the entire house when you plug in anything there.

Is this up to the guy who issued the electrical certificate to come fix for free? Or should I rather get someone in and do it? I'm thinking of changing out all the plugs and light fittings/switches since the other day I turned off my bedroom light and the switch went right through the wall.
Click to expand...

You could phone that electrician, but he could refuse to do it. The certificate only says everything was ok on the day of testing, although a fault like that was probably present back then already. Maybe just speak to him, if he dodges get somebody else to change your plugs for you.
 
furpile said:
You could phone that electrician, but he could refuse to do it. The certificate only says everything was ok on the day of testing, although a fault like that was probably present back then already. Maybe just speak to him, if he dodges get somebody else to change your plugs for you.
Click to expand...

Think I'll rather get someone trustworthy in. Testing seems to involve a "im sure it will be okay" guesstimate.
 
ambroseg1 said:
My home's previous owners are also leaving for Australia. Got the electrical certificate yesterday. It states in the comments "this certificate does not include wiring for any outside lights and plugs"?????????

So the outside lights and plugs are not up to code. So the certificate still gets issued despite this. FCk people.
Click to expand...

that is correct and has always been like that.
The wiring certificate will make sure that the external plug housing is 100%, but what ever is plugged into that it wont cover.
 
Agents and lawyers do the minimal amount of work possible and hope buyers wont look into details of things that were overlooked or neglected and not done properly. Its all about their money and commission at the end of the day. I have learned that the hard way. Dont fall for these super nice real estate agents. Once you sign on the dotted line its game over. These agents usually use the same person to go do inspections for them with the understanding that they want a fast and easy sale...
 
This thread got me to check at home if I had the original. Realised I never fetched it from the lawyers three years ago. Doing some building next year and will need to get a new one anyway. At least my insurance was happy with the copies the lawyers sent them, thats all I really care about.
 
scienide said:
that is correct and has always been like that.
The wiring certificate will make sure that the external plug housing is 100%, but what ever is plugged into that it wont cover.
Click to expand...

Fair enough. I get that anything plugged in, that isn't up to standard is my problem. The outside security and flood lights are however connected to light switches on the inside of the house, and not 3-prong plugs.
 
Sent an e-mail to the Electrical Conformance Board stating my case and asking for advice/clarity on the issue. Not holding my breath for feedback though.
 
furpile said:
I think you need to contact the attorney again. The Electical COC should be part of the conditions of the OTP, and for the attorney to submit the registration based on a verbal confirmation is very risky. The fact that the certificate states that everything does not comply also means that the registration should not have happened. So phone the lawyer, tell them they messed up and they need to fix it.
Click to expand...

Well the attorney has changed her tune after I confronted her. She now apparently did have a copy of the certificate available but not the original which is apparently fine. And she is not a electrician, so I assume its fair to assume that if she saw a compliance certificate that all was in order. As logic would dictate, that if something was wrong, no certificate would be issued at all.

People I am buying from are leaving this country because of all the "skelms" (this is what they are telling their children). Seems they are part of the problem they are trying to escape.
 
Whatzmyname said:
Agents and lawyers do the minimal amount of work possible and hope buyers wont look into details of things that were overlooked or neglected and not done properly. Its all about their money and commission at the end of the day. I have learned that the hard way. Dont fall for these super nice real estate agents. Once you sign on the dotted line its game over. These agents usually use the same person to go do inspections for them with the understanding that they want a fast and easy sale...
Click to expand...

Accurate - they even tried to make me (buyer) pay.
Pushing back on that, it resulted in the bare minimum done to get the certificate.
Ended up with a lot of surface mounted (previously in-wall) hot-glued cables which started falling off soon after.
Calling back the electricians was a mistake - it would have been easier to get it neat from there than the follow-on mess they created.
Also still have at least 2 earth leakages and the breaker on the oven doesn't work.

Conveyancing attorneys are also some of the most incompetent and rude "professionals" - locally I will avoid MHi in future.
 
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