Electrical Certificate Question

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ambroseg1 said:
Are you trying to be obtuse on purpose or is this by accident? If you don't want to help with useful info, then cool. Jog on.
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No,

Let me put it to you again...

The Electrician who does these types of COCs told you he can't give you a certificate as it doesn't comply. He's the authority on it. You then come onto a website on the internet asking people who have no authority on the matter if he is correct or not? No matter what the people on here say it's still said Electrician that needs to issue the certificate right? He won't suck this info out of his arse as he has no vested interest in you having it fixed or not. So yes, let's assume for a second he is wrong, or maybe another electrician in your area also seeing it the same way. How do you intend getting the COC if they refuse to give it to you unless you fix it?

There is definitely a reason he's requesting it. He saw your setup and we don't. You might be right and the normal setup doesn't need to go through the DB board, but we don't know the state of your wiring in your house and the reason he's adamant that it needs to be done. I find it hard that you can not understand this :confused:
 
ambroseg1 said:
Wish I had done this. But doing that, would then require another inspection at R1200 per inspection.
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That's a bit bull**** to have to pay for the inspection again.

Mine they simply came back to check the items in question and then signed it off.

This electrician sounds like a money maker...
 
Sinbad said:
Oh **** what about my bedside lamp?! :p
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Probably relates to being a permanent fixture as well as distance from the point of connection.

I know with 12v stuff they don't give a damn where the wires run or how.
 
SauRoNZA said:
Probably relates to being a permanent fixture as well as distance from the point of connection.

I know with 12v stuff they don't give a damn where the wires run or how.
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Nothing's ever permanent.... :D

Any issues, I'll just pull down the wiring to the two security lights I have running off a plug.
 
Pitbull said:
No,

Let me put it to you again...

The Electrician who does these types of COCs told you he can't give you a certificate as it doesn't comply. He's the authority on it. You then come onto a website on the internet asking people who have no authority on the matter if he is correct or not? No matter what the people on here say it's still said Electrician that needs to issue the certificate right? He won't suck this info out of his arse as he has no vested interest in you having it fixed or not. So yes, let's assume for a second he is wrong, or maybe another electrician in your area also seeing it the same way. How do you intend getting the COC if they refuse to give it to you unless you fix it?

There is definitely a reason he's requesting it. He saw your setup and we don't. You might be right and the normal setup doesn't need to go through the DB board, but we don't know the state of your wiring in your house and the reason he's adamant that it needs to be done. I find it hard that you can not understand this :confused:
Click to expand...

He has a vested interest because he will most likely be doing the work to "fix" these things, thereby making more money. The fact that he contradicts what his boss did the previous time already shows that this electrician is not the "authority". Saying stuff like "longer than 3m has to be off the DB" also does not help his case at all.

In my opinion (not an electrician), 12000 BTU and smaller aircons can run off a wall plug, only 18000 BTU and larger must be wired into the DB. And lights can run off a plug, they count as an appliance then.

Rather phone a different electrician and ask him these 2 questions, and if they agree get them to do the inspection.
 
furpile said:
He has a vested interest because he will most likely be doing the work to "fix" these things, thereby making more money. The fact that he contradicts what his boss did the previous time already shows that this electrician is not the "authority". Saying stuff like "longer than 3m has to be off the DB" also does not help his case at all.

In my opinion (not an electrician), 12000 BTU and smaller aircons can run off a wall plug, only 18000 BTU and larger must be wired into the DB. And lights can run off a plug, they count as an appliance then.

Rather phone a different electrician and ask him these 2 questions, and if they agree get them to do the inspection.
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That part I get. But we don't know the breaker size on the wall sockets, or the distance from the aircon to the socket and the likes. I can't see how he would have an issue with it if it's not :confused: there could be an underlying issue.
 
Pitbull said:
That part I get. But we don't know the breaker size on the wall sockets, or the distance from the aircon to the socket and the likes. I can't see how he would have an issue with it if it's not :confused: there could be an underlying issue.
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Nah, this is very clearly an attempt at squeezing money out of the OP.

If it was signed off previously, then its acceptable as the regulations for that sort of thing haven't changed. Aircons under 18000BTU can run off a normal household plug, they don't draw enough current to require anything else. A security light outside technically should run off a light switch, but if the owner just unplugs it then it is no longer the electricians baby as its an "appliance" even though its outside.

This whole CoC thing is an absolute gold mine for electricians as people generally don't question the stuff they put forward in their reports.
 
ToxicBunny said:
Nah, this is very clearly an attempt at squeezing money out of the OP.

If it was signed off previously, then its acceptable as the regulations for that sort of thing haven't changed. Aircons under 18000BTU can run off a normal household plug, they don't draw enough current to require anything else. A security light outside technically should run off a light switch, but if the owner just unplugs it then it is no longer the electricians baby as its an "appliance" even though its outside.

This whole CoC thing is an absolute gold mine for electricians as people generally don't question the stuff they put forward in their reports.
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I told him to buy it and then he said no...
So if he doesn't want to buy it, he will have to make the changes to get it. It's not science :o

I'm sure bulk of home purchases are with bought COCs anyway. It's a great law, but it's not being enforced on any level what so ever which is sad.
 
Pitbull said:
I told him to buy it and then he said no...
So if he doesn't want to buy it, he will have to make the changes to get it. It's not science :o

I'm sure bulk of home purchases are with bought COCs anyway. It's a great law, but it's not being enforced on any level what so ever which is sad.
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True :)

I had a CoC issued for my house that was clearly bought. Reported the electrician to the ECBSA along with evidence of the crap work that he signed off as being acceptable. Don't think anything happened to him but hey, if we don't report the crap then nothing will ever get better.
 
Pitbull said:
No,

Let me put it to you again...

The Electrician who does these types of COCs told you he can't give you a certificate as it doesn't comply. He's the authority on it. You then come onto a website on the internet asking people who have no authority on the matter if he is correct or not? No matter what the people on here say it's still said Electrician that needs to issue the certificate right? He won't suck this info out of his arse as he has no vested interest in you having it fixed or not. So yes, let's assume for a second he is wrong, or maybe another electrician in your area also seeing it the same way. How do you intend getting the COC if they refuse to give it to you unless you fix it?

There is definitely a reason he's requesting it. He saw your setup and we don't. You might be right and the normal setup doesn't need to go through the DB board, but we don't know the state of your wiring in your house and the reason he's adamant that it needs to be done. I find it hard that you can not understand this :confused:
Click to expand...
Only slightly wrong. They have a vested interest because they want the rewiring job. So they will look for things to fix.

edit sorry someone else said the same thing.
 
Last edited:
Regulations DO change over the years.
My CoC from 1971 is still valid until I do any changes to the home electrical system.
You can ask the electrical guy just to give you a CoC for the current work done.
More than likely he will tell you all the other issues you have, but he have to issue you a CoC for the work he did!!!

If yo looking to sell your house, you have to adhere to the current standards.

Running a 9000btu AC from a wall plug is no problem, but we have no idea if all 3 of thse is sitting on a single breaker or not? Is the wiring big enough to support the load? We do not know.
 
wetkit said:
Regulations DO change over the years.
My CoC from 1971 is still valid until I do any changes to the home electrical system.
You can ask the electrical guy just to give you a CoC for the current work done.
More than likely he will tell you all the other issues you have, but he have to issue you a CoC for the work he did!!!

If yo looking to sell your house, you have to adhere to the current standards.

Running a 9000btu AC from a wall plug is no problem, but we have no idea if all 3 of thse is sitting on a single breaker or not? Is the wiring big enough to support the load? We do not know.
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Then why doesn't he state that you have 3 9000btu's running off a single breaker and that needs to be rectified, and instead comes with some BS about plug length being over 3m?
 
wetkit said:
Regulations DO change over the years.
My CoC from 1971 is still valid until I do any changes to the home electrical system.
You can ask the electrical guy just to give you a CoC for the current work done.
More than likely he will tell you all the other issues you have, but he have to issue you a CoC for the work he did!!!

If yo looking to sell your house, you have to adhere to the current standards.

Running a 9000btu AC from a wall plug is no problem, but we have no idea if all 3 of thse is sitting on a single breaker or not? Is the wiring big enough to support the load? We do not know.
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If the failure point is the wiring, not the breaker, then the wiring or the breaker is incorrect. The breaker's job is to protect the wiring.
Besides, as mentioned, my 12k BTU aircon pulls 5 amps. 3 of them can still run off one 15 amp socket.
 
So spoke to two other electricians. Both agree in their ambiguity. They both say, the aircons "should" actually be on isolators. Both also agree though, that if not, they are seen as appliances and the douche bag I got was trying to make a quick buck and can still issue the certificate but just note that it does not include the aircons/appliances including that security light.

Since absolutely nothing else was wrong in the house, I am now forced to do it Pitbull's way and just buy the damn thing. I do take a little of solace in the fact that nothing is wrong and nothing is being hidden away like what happened to me. I am merely paying for someone to do what was supposed to have been done from the start. The full inspection was done, thus no need for that. Just someone to issue the certificate. Still going to cost me R600 (half the price I paid for the full inspection)
 
Great that you got it sorted. The best way to keep these guys honest is to name and shame them. Maybe you will safe the next guy some money.
 
ambroseg1 said:
So spoke to two other electricians. Both agree in their ambiguity. They both say, the aircons "should" actually be on isolators. Both also agree though, that if not, they are seen as appliances and the douche bag I got was trying to make a quick buck and can still issue the certificate but just note that it does not include the aircons/appliances including that security light.

Since absolutely nothing else was wrong in the house, I am now forced to do it Pitbull's way and just buy the damn thing. I do take a little of solace in the fact that nothing is wrong and nothing is being hidden away like what happened to me. I am merely paying for someone to do what was supposed to have been done from the start. The full inspection was done, thus no need for that. Just someone to issue the certificate. Still going to cost me R600 (half the price I paid for the full inspection)
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Unfortunately this is what it's come to due to lack of policing this.

You know you have nothing to hide so you can sleep with an easy heart. However not everyone are as honest as you. They will hide faults and once you buy the place it's now your problem.
 
Pitbull said:
Unfortunately this is what it's come to due to lack of policing this.

You know you have nothing to hide so you can sleep with an easy heart. However not everyone are as honest as you. They will hide faults and once you buy the place it's now your problem.
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This is exactly what I never wanted to do (hide faulty stuff and leave the new owner stuck with it when he takes possession). I even invited the new owner to be present during the inspection. Just hate that I am forced to take this route. I will gladly pay to rectify any and all faults to the home. I will however not be ripped off and pay for things that are not necessary.

Why is being an honest decent human being so difficult for some people?
 
ambroseg1 said:
This is exactly what I never wanted to do (hide faulty stuff and leave the new owner stuck with it when he takes possession). I even invited the new owner to be present during the inspection. Just hate that I am forced to take this route. I will gladly pay to rectify any and all faults to the home. I will however not be ripped off and pay for things that are not necessary.

Why is being an honest decent human being so difficult for some people?
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I honestly don't know. The world would be such a great place if everyone was just honest and made an honest living. But then no one would be rich ;)
 
Piece of horse **** just sent me a quote to fix all the "problems". R5200. Includes adding an isolator for the garage door motors which were there plugged into a wall socket from when he issued the first certificate. ****ing thief basically stole R1200 from me today. ****.
 
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