No COC Required?????

[Sparks]

Who on earth gave Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality's building inspector Mr Bernini the right to tell a home owner that a COC is not required for an addition/extension of 3 circuits to provide 5 plug points and 5 light points in a bedsitter which was built adjoining to the house?
The weight wich his position carries has made me (and all other registered accredited electricians who are law abiding)to be accused of being a fraudster and has cost me a friend.
This stinks of fraud within the municipality.

[AndyD]

What exactly did he say, do you have a link for the story?

[murdock]

welcome to south africa....if you have the right connections you even get out of jail free cards...ask shaik...you get off murder chargers....reckless driving...ask winnie...a coc such a trivial little thing...you dont even need connections for 350 bucks some inspectors dont even leave the comfort of their airconditioned office...i wouldnt loose any sleep over it.

[Sparks]

HI guys, sorry I took so long. A bit hectick here now. Fortunately the Chief building inspector is a sensible man. He instructed Mr Bernini to apologise to the home owner for the consternation he caused. He has also informed the contractor that he is liable for a COC. This little episode has soured my relationship with the homeowner but, I know that the installation will be certified and the building inspector will never let a contractor get away without issueing a COC for the new part of an installation.
The inspector told the homeowner that it is "just" a few plugs and lights so a COC is not needed Andy. The building contractor told the hoeowner that in order for a COC to be issued the whole house would need to be insepcted and that the costs could run into "thousands of rands" for which the homeowner would be liable. This was "scare tactics" to get out of the COC.

[Dave A]

Was the contractor who installed the electrical additions working under the general supervision of an accredited person?

[murdock]

and so we go back to education...educate the public about their rights and responsibilites...the industry will have to conform.

[Sparks]

That is the thing, The public are not aware of their rights to COCs' or the regs. The builder brought a guy to the site and introduced him to the homeowner as the electrician. I never met him. While visiting for a cup of coffee between jobs, I took a casual look around and noticed that he was not using surfix for the supply from the house. 2 plug circuits & 1 lights circuit. The T&E cables were not in conduit. This made me suspicious of him. Because of that I warned the homeowner not to settle the account until a COC had been issued. It has come to light that the "electrician" is an assistant with no qualifications and moonlighting. At least the homeowner has been apologised to and formally informed by the municipality that regulations demand a COC be issued.
There is a lot of money spent on "arrive alive" campaigns, why is the DOL or ECA doing nothing to promote public awareness of the dangers and regulations surrounding electricity?

[murdock]

the eca is an electrical contractors ass. not an electrical customer ass....they are also not an electrical policing agency...but they can however offer some assisitance when the contractor working on their site is registered with the eca...and they do have a R15000 workmanship gaurentee which i am yet to hear of someone successfully claiming from it....it some has please let us know and i would also like to hear how you managed to get it right.

the DOL (department of labour) who effectively are responsible for the industry...firstly dont have the labour/manpower to carry out inspection so they have been trying to palm off the responsiblity to others...and now make you pay for an investigation...so in theory you the client/customer still stuck with the cost of the inspection or enquiry and the repair cost.

so the moral of the story if you dont check the credibility and qualification as i have mentioned 100 times of the people working in your house or on site...you the customer must pay the price...as i have mentioned in other threads...i am so over feeling sorry for customers...you get what you pay for.

for the record T&E doesnt need to be in conduit unless mechnical protection is required...and it can be plaster directly in the wall.

LEGIT ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS DO NOT HAVE TO BE MEMEBERS OF THE ECA... BUT DO HAVE TO BE REGISTERED WITH THE ECB

[Sparks]

It is as you say Murdock however, while still learning, I called aberdare cables to enquire about the different cables. I was informed that T&E does not have UV protection and that only surfix can be safely plastered directly. Apparently a chemical reaction takes place with the T&E which preacks down the insulation. They also stipulated that it had to be PPC cement when using surfix. Something about the lime therein.

As for the educating the public, the tv broadcasters are doing a fine job of showing DIYs' how to ignore potential dangers and regulations.

[murdock]

i agreee about t&e not being uv protected against the sun and therefore adequate covering/protection is required for external installations

if t&e cannot be plastered in the wall then pinetown electrical would be in a whole load of trouble...because as far back as i can remember they have been plastering the T&E directly into the wall...in fact i think it was neville bradley who started the low cost housing projects using this system...they use to prewire the houses in the factory then throw it across the rafters and drop it down the wall before the plasterers ...i stand to be corrected...not to mention all the other contractors who are presently doing it...including myself...who has decided if you cant beat them join them...you need to check...if they are talking about directly in plaster or concrete

[Sparks]

I've seen it from the East coast to the west coast and all the way up to Mphumalanga. I also believe it is not just Pinetown in Natal.

I have stuck to what I learnt back then however as I got it straight from the manufacturer.

I will contact my old boss when I get to PE on Wednesday and ask if he still has the e-mail sent by Aberdare.
As I recall it took a while to get to the "right" person who was quite helpful at the end of the day.

As soon as I have it I will post it.

[AndyD]

Running cabling without conduit in polystyrene insulation can cause the cable to weep a gooey residue. The plasticizer compounds added to the PVC sheath to give it more flexibility get leeched out when it contacts certain other plastics...another good reason to use conduit.

[Sparks]

Thanks Andy, glad for the extra motivation to use conduit. It makes life a lot easier down the line too.