CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE and inaccessible areas

[BEVIN]

HI ALL
PLEASE TELL ME IS IT ALLOWED TO CLAIM THAT A PORTION OF THE INSTALLATION IS INACCESSIBLE AND THUS NOT COVERED BY THE COC?
FOR EXAMPLE WHERE CABLES ARE RUN IN A CEILING IN WHICH THERE MAY OR MAY NOT BE BOXES WITH JOINTS INSIDE?
2. IS THERE AN INSTRUMENT WHICH CAN INDICATE WHERE A CABLE EXITS A DWELLING WALL DIRECTLY INTO THE GROUND OUTSIDE?(A THUMPER I UNDERSTAND WOULD WORK BUT I DONT THINK IT WILL WORK ON A 2.5 MM CABLE?
THANKS FOR THE GREAT ADVICE AND INFORMATION WHICH I ALREADY HAVE GLEANED FROM YOUR POSTS

[GCE]

Hi
No it is not legal to exclude a section and the COC would be invalid.

It is a difficult one and there have been problems around that exact issue - There was up up the coast here that the new owner called AIA's into .The owner had used a selfie stick to take photo's inside a concealed area of roof space.
Contractor had to cut in a trap door and repair the installation.

I would definitely write under the comments section that the roof area is sealed and that visual inspection was not possible in the flat roof section.

Will be interested to hear other takes on the topic

[Derlyn]

I always exclude condition of wiring that is either underground, under plaster or screed, in conduits or in flat roof areas that are not accessible.

One would have to rewire the whole installation if the above mentioned were to be included as visual inspection of same is not possible.

I do not use a selfie stick while doing an inspection.

[Dave A]

I recall an argument that the roof space should be deemed an electrical enclosure - because requiring a ladder to access the area is in essence the same as requiring a tool...
legend attributes this idea to Tony McDonald

Requiring a trap to be cut as the only means to access the area seems an even stronger argument that the joints and cabling is already in an electrical enclosure

[BEVIN]

if i am correct in understanding.? should there be inaccessible areas like flat roof /or closed in wiring ,then a coc will not be able to be issued and owner will need to allow access by opening these areas for inspection.and thus inaccessible areas are not entertained in order to issue the coc?
thanks for your input
greatly appreciated

[GCE]

I was saying that you need to ensure that you note that the area was inaccessible for visual inspection - The circuits you would have tested for compliance and so can include in your COC

The incident I referred to above already had numerous errors on the rest of the installation and I think the AIA just felt that it was the contractors own fault and decided not to support the contractor in the inaccessible ceiling issue.If the inaccessible ceiling area had been the only fault then I think the result would have been different

It is unfortunately that one totally unreasonable client that will always mess with the system and make life difficult.
It is also sometimes the shoddy electrical contractors that upset people and force them to be unreasonable on future expenditure.

[ians]

You worried about inaccessible areas...i am yet to find a legit COC in KZN...this week i got caught out again with the same old cr@p...my customers buy properties which have a COC...i work on the property and make the mistake of assuming the COC is actually valid...yet you can see the exposed wiring above the ceiling fan...the hook is too long...so the cover doesnt go up against the ceiling ...the customer decides to sell and requests i issue a COC ...i issue a 2 page fault list and they cant understand why i suddenly find so many problems...yet the electrical has worked for at least 5 years without a problem.

The portion of work i did this week cannot be signed over because the property which has an illegal COC... has things like a 30 amp breaker feeding 1.5 mm wire...DB covers which dont fit and only has 1 screw holding it...at least the labeling was done...whether it is accurate or not... i havent checked yet...my problem starts when the customer wants me to issue a COC for the property when he sells...which i will not be able to do...then we get into a dispute because he says i have worked on the property and why didnt i tell him about the illegal stuff...which i do but they forget so quickly when it is time to leave....a lesson from this make sure you belong to the CYA club (as Ian Mee will always tell you) always send an email.

One of my customers bought a house a couple of weeks ago and lucky for him he asked me to have a look at a few pics he took...i advised him to stop the transfer until the electrical installation was bought up to standard... got Tom Jones to go have a look...as i suspected another buddy COC (where the owner gets his mate to issue a COC) got the mate back ...who spent 3 days fixing all the faults and replacing illegal wiring...you dont want these contractors on your property they will break stuff and f%^& up stuff in your house without any remorse.

I AM GOING TO SAY THIS AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN...UNTIL PEOPLE START TO LISTEN ...YOU CANNOT TRUST THE SELLER TO PROVIDE A COC...FOR MOST PEOPLE IT IS THE BIGGEST INVESTMENT YOU WILL MAKE IN YOUR LIFETIME...DONT TRUST THE SELLER WITH THE INSEPCTION REPORT AND COC...IT COSTS TOO MUCH MONEY TO GET IT FIXED ONCE THE TRANSFER GOES THROUGH ...THE INVESTIGATION...THE REPAIR AND LEGAL COC TO BE ISSUED IS AT THE NEW OWNERS COST...BEWARE.

Dont be fooled by things like a contractor being registered with the ECA etc...the ECA is the "electrical contractors association" not the unhappy public association.