
An Electrical Compliance Certificate or ECC is a legal requirement when you sell and transfer a property into somebody else’s name. The electrician must be qualified and certified for the job. The entire process could take from an hour or two to 2 days of work. And when you sell a property it is your responsibility to ensure your property meets the required legal standard. When you buy your next home, I know for a fact, you would like the same. There are no corners to be cut. The Electricians we recommend are qualified, certified and accredited. An ECC or Electrical Compliance Certificate is required for a property transfer. Need help? Call Sandy on (083) 550 1220.
What does the Electrical Compliance Certificate cover?
I always explain this in layman’s terms as follows:
- Electricity is provided by Eskom to your home or the complex.
- From there the electricity is distributed within your property.
- The Electrical Compliance Certificate covers your core installation.
- It covers lights, switches, and wall plugs.
- In other words, all ingoing and outgoing electricity within your property.
- An ECC does not cover any fixed appliances.
- In cases where it is considered dangerous, where a power cord or cable is loose, this can be included in the ECC, but the Electrician is not bound to make these repairs. Visually if one can see the danger of a loose ceiling light hanging down from the ceiling, this is normally agreed to upfront with the Electrician.
- But, remember the ECC is a legal requirement that ensures your property is wired to specific standards.
- In other words, as a Randburg estate agent working as a team called Cornerstone Realty within eXp South Africa, I always request that the stove, the oven, and the extractor fan or hob be covered in the ECC. There is just nothing worse than an estate agent when you receive a call from a buyer to say the backplate on the stove is not working. To mitigate this challenge and to improve the overall experience when I sell a property, I almost always ask that the stove, the oven, and the extractor fan be included in the ECC. Also, remember the stove, the oven, and the extractor fan or hob are considered appliances and are not normally covered with the ECC.
- Finally, as a buyer, you will get a copy of this certificate as part of the normal transfer process. In conclusion, keep it in a safe place for future reference.
Have issues with your Electrical Compliance Certificate?
- The Electrical Compliance Certificate is a certificate that confirms your property meets a required standard. And, it’s the law. If you have issues, look at your certificate and find the contact details of the electrician who did your ECC.
- If you still get no joy after chatting to the electrician who did your ECC and you want to take it further, go to the Gauteng Inspection Authority. Click here to go to the Gauteng Electrical Inspection Authority’s website. And remember the Geia polices the work done in the ECC space.
- When you call the Gauteng Electrical Inspection Authority, they will undertake a thorough review of the electrical distribution within your property. They open everything up and have a really good look. To clarify, the Geia findings are produced as a report. Quite detailed too. Above all, the Department of Labour, the electrician is obliged to get the property up to standard. And at the electrician’s cost.
- Finally, if work is not done to standard, the Electrician faces 2 results. 1 withdraw the licence. 1, suspend the electrician’s licence to operate. Or 2, do the work required to get the property up to the required standard. In other words, this work is done at the electrician’s cost.
How do you find someone to do your ECC?
As a full-status lead agent from Cornerstone Realty, powered by eXp South Africa, you could ask me. I have had quite a few ECCs done in my day. I know that cutting corners does not always result in savings. We have covered when an Electrical Compliance Certificate (ECC) is required. When an estate agent or Property Practitioner as we are now referred to sells your property, they would generally on instruction, request an ECC at the time when our buyer pays for conveyancing costs and transfer fees. There are many reasons why this is the right time, but generally the ‘property transaction’ is quite far along and at this point, the risks are far lower than doing it too early in the process. But we always recommend you start the process and get a quote. This may cost quite a bit more than you expect, especially if you live in a freestanding house and have lived there for many years. Remember the actual yellow sheet of paper is what you pay just under R900 for, but the labour you will see and the additional parts is always over and above the cost of the actual ECC.
In Summary
To sum it up, your estate agent will always recommend a contractor that they have worked with before. Someone qualified and accredited and who does good work with good reviews. If you need assistance with an Electrical Compliance Certificate (ECC) a Gas COC or even an Electric Fence COC, we would love to assist you. Call Sandy from Cornerstone Realty on (083) 550 1220 so we can get you connected to a reputable service provider that can and will do a good job for you. Please remember to start with a quote and we go from there. You are under absolutely no obligation to use a service provider we recommend. It’s your property, it’s your sale and you have total control over who you place your trust in to deliver.
How much does an Electrical Compliance Certificate cost?
Generally speaking, and depending on which Electrician is used to do the ECC, the cost of obtaining this certificate is between R900 and around R1,800 depending on the electrician. Our service providers are reasonable and reliable. Need to find someone reliable, call Sandy from Cornerstone Realty on (083) 550 1220.
What is not covered by your ECC?
And in conclusion, to obtain the certificate alone, the cost is between R900 and R1,800. In other words, work that’s required to get your property to the right standard will be an additional cost and may include labour and additional parts. And as a Seller, it’s your cost to bear. Additional work is charged as a cost per hour.
Need to get in touch?
If you have plans to sell or do you need a good service provider to do some work on your property? Start with a quote and work from there. Call Sandy Graham from Cornerstone Realty, powered by eXp South Africa for more information at (083) 550 1220.
Written by: Sandy Graham from Cornerstone Realty, on (083) 550 1220, powered by eXp South Africa and acting as a full-status Randburg estate agent.