An Electrical Compliance Certificate (ECoC) is a document that ensures the electrical work on your property complies with the South African National Standards as stipulated in the Electrical Installations Occupational Health and Safety Act.

When selling a property the owner has the responsibility of supplying a valid Electrical Compliance Certificate as well as an electrical fence certificate of compliance in cases where there are electric fences before any property can be transferred.

Any house with electrical items will be required to have a Certificate of Compliance (CoC), these items will include the DB board, lights, swimming pools, geysers, wiring and even plugs.

All qualified electrical contractors are expected to be registered with the Department Of Labour (D.O.L), before issuing a CoC electrical certificate, this can be validated by the E.C.A. (Electrical Contractors Association) or the Department of Labour.

• Ensure there is no damage or wear and tear.
• Ensure the electrical main switch is compliant with regulations.
• Make sure the type of wiring system is safe and in good condition. 
• Ensure that the fuse box is fitted with a trip switch.
• Ensure that switches, sockets and light fittings are operating correctly.
• Check that the premises is earthed and bonded correctly.
• Ensure that the switch box is labelled correctly and includes the correct warnings. 

A CoC certificate does not stay valid forever, as a seller of a house you can not supply the buyer with the original CoC certificate, you will need to apply for a new CoC if yours is older than two years. If your Certificate of Compliance (CoC) is not older than two years you will have to specify that no changes have been made to the electrical components of the house in the last three months. This helps to ensure that any changes or additions that have been made to the electrical components of the house are in line with the necessary regulations.

As a qualified electrician, you will need to register for your Compliance Certificate (CoC) every year. Regardless of the electrical work performed, every qualified electrician will need to register with the relevant authority every year.

If an individual would like to check the credibility of the electrician completing the electrical work they will need to contact the Electrical Contracting Board of South Africa and the Department of Labour, they will then receive the electricians registration card as well as their accreditation certificate.

Making sure the property has a valid Compliance Certificate (CoC) is the sellers responsibility, the seller of the property will need to set up an electrical inspection before the property can be registered in the buyers name. If new electrical work has been completed on the house, the seller will be required to get a new Electrical Certificate of Compliance (ECoC).

Any addition or alteration made to the electrical components of a property which already has a CoC will need a supplementary CoC certificate for the addition or alteration, keeping both CoC’s together.

Depending on the size of the property this could take anywhere between two to three hours.