# Interest group forums > Electrical Contracting Industry Forum > Electrical Load Shedding Forum >  COC and load shedding

## ELECT 1

When testing an installation and the power goes off due to load shedding....i know it doesnt seem right, but where you have to fill in details of power stuff, eg voltage, ELU and stuff ... etc   i just put in no power at time of test.Load shedding and date and time.
I cant travel 100klm again to check, i will be out of business fast and furious

----------


## Dave A

Where we've been affected by load shedding, we're going back to complete the tests that require the power on.

To be honest, it hasn't been that much of a problem this time around - at least so far. So it's been pretty easy to take a "big picture" view on the problem and just absorb the extra cost involved.

----------


## Justloadit

> So it's been pretty easy to take a "big picture" view on the problem and just absorb the extra cost involved.


How long can business sustain this?



> African National Congress MP Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba told the House there was no power crisis.


After all as per her words, the electricity will be stable in 2018. Does this women actually understand business can not function with out electricity, its no longer a luxury but a basic human right necessity.
Power supply: It’s going to get tough, minister warns

----------


## Dave A

> How long can business sustain this?


Probably not too long, but there's no way we're going to issue a COC when we haven't managed to test the installation under power.

----------


## ians

Or you could just climb on the band wagon and make some money. 5.5 kva generators already hitting the R8000 mark( and that's the cheap craps ones) just the other day you could buy them for under R5000.

105 amp/hr Deep cycles batteries are already over R2000.

Anyone know were i can get a full or half wave invertor like the old tedelex unit which has the battery in the black box and plugs into the wall at a good price, thereis a huge market for these again. Please send me a pm

----------


## Justloadit

True, but you can not run a business with a 5.5KVA genny, nor can you do that much with a 100Amp battery.
Try making an expresso with a genny, the fuel will cost more than the cuppa.

Running a PC and a printer should be OK on the genny, but the expense on fuel will be a problem.
I suppose one can adapt and add it to the cost of running the business, which ultimately lands up that the customer has to pay. However if the customer has no bucks, then business suffers?

----------


## AndyD

> Try making an expresso with a genny, the fuel will cost more than the cuppa.


Lol, that's the only reason I have a genny at home. My laptops run for a couple of hours on batteries but I can't go for a full hour without my espresso machine.

Back on topic, I don't see how you could issue a CoC without dong the live tests. There's no way around it, I guess you'd just have to make a return visit.

----------


## Dave A

> Back on topic, I don't see how you could issue a CoC without dong the live tests. There's no way around it, I guess you'd just have to make a return visit.


Agreed. To my mind the only question is whether you're going to charge the client for the extra trip.

----------


## AndyD

I'm not sure how you could pass the cost on to the customer unless you've quoted an hourly rate.

----------


## Sparks

Fortunately for me I don't regularly work 100km away so I rather make another trip. What about a small genny or inverter with just enough power to test the circuitry? You can always test the supply side when your quote has been accepted and you go back to do the repairs?

----------


## AndyD

Problem with a genny or any other alternative supply is you won't won't be able to get meaningful on-load and off-load voltages for example.

I guess if the premises has failed the Coc anyway for other reasons you could just leave the live tests entirely until a later visit for remedial works.

----------


## ians

This load shedding is really becoming a pain the butt.
Get to a breakdown, 2 minutes into the call out, power goes off. Leave site and go to Durban to another job, stage 2 load shedding starts. It is also becoming extremely dangerous working as an electrician.

----------

