South African homes face electrical risks most countries don't — daily load shedding cycles, frequent surges and a housing stock that often hasn't seen a Certificate of Compliance update in 20 years. These are the five faults we find most often when issuing COCs in Sandton, Midrand and Bryanston.
1. No (or failed) surge protection on the DB board
Every load-shedding restoration sends a voltage spike through your wiring. Without a Type-2 surge arrestor on the main DB board, those spikes work their way into geysers, fridges, TVs and Wi-Fi routers. Surge protection costs less than R1,500 to fit and pays for itself the first time it saves a R12,000 fridge.
2. Earth leakage that "trips when it rains"
An earth leakage that trips after rain almost always means water is getting into an outdoor light, garden plug or pool light. The fix isn't to swap the earth leakage — it's to find which circuit is leaking and seal or replace the offending fitting. Our electricians use insulation resistance testers to isolate the exact circuit in minutes.
3. Geyser circuits without dedicated isolators
Older homes often have geysers wired straight off a 20A breaker with no isolator switch in the roof. This is non-compliant and dangerous to service. A proper installation has an isolator within 1.5 m of the geyser so it can be safely worked on without killing the whole house.
4. Inverter and battery installs done by handymen
The inverter boom has produced thousands of installs that aren't COC-compliant — wrong cable sizes, no AC isolator, missing earth bonding, batteries in habitable rooms. If your inverter was fitted in the last two years, ask the installer for the COC. If they can't produce one, the install is technically illegal and your insurer can reject claims.
5. Surface-wired DIY in roof voids and garages
Surface-mounted twin-and-earth running across rafters and stapled to ceiling joists is a fire risk and a fail on any COC inspection. All wiring inside roof voids must be in proper conduit or trunking and protected against rodent damage.
The COC reality check
If you bought your home more than 5 years ago and haven't done electrical work since, there's a strong chance your installation no longer meets current SANS 10142 standards. A pre-sale COC inspection by a registered electrician takes a couple of hours and gives you a defects list with a fixed quote, so there are no nasty surprises when the buyer's electrician arrives.
Book a Certificate of Compliance inspection on 082 886 9119 or request a written quote — we cover Sandton, Midrand and surrounding suburbs Monday to Saturday.