Who attends
One accountable name on the quote, the work and the certificate
Electrical work is the part of a property where the consequences of a shortcut are not cosmetic. Apple Plumbing & Electrical is owner-managed: Garth Blair has run it since 2008, has 16+ years in the trade, and attends jobs himself. You are not handed to a rotating list of sub-contractors, and the person who inspects the installation is the person who worked on it.
Both trades are in-house, which matters more on electrical work than people expect. Geysers, pool pumps, borehole pumps and solar geysers all sit on the boundary between plumbing and electrics, and that boundary is exactly where two separate contractors start blaming each other. Here it is one team, one invoice.
The business is registered, VAT-registered and carries public liability cover, and it works Monday to Friday 07:00–17:00 and Saturday 08:00–13:00 across Sandton, Midrand, Northern Johannesburg and the East Rand.
Registration
Registered electrician, SANS 10142, and the COC
South African electrical installation work is regulated. A registered electrician is registered with the Department of Labour, works to SANS 10142 — the national wiring code — and is entitled to issue an Electrical Certificate of Compliance for an installation they have inspected and tested.
That last part is where homeowners get caught. A certificate is not a document you buy; it is the outcome of an inspection. A COC issued by someone who never saw the installation offers no protection at transfer and none at all when an insurer investigates an electrical fire. If your contractor cannot certify their own work, ask who will and whether they will be on site.
When an Electrical COC is required
On transfer — every property sale needs a valid certificate for the installation.
After any addition or alteration: a new DB board, new circuits, an added outbuilding.
After a solar PV, inverter or backup-battery installation.
Commonly requested by insurers following an electrical fire or surge claim.
The call-out
From the first phone call to a certified installation
Electrical faults are diagnostic work before they are repair work. This is how a job runs, and where the money is actually spent.
You describe the fault to Garth
Directly, not to a scheduler. If there is a burning smell, visible arcing or exposed conductors, the first instruction is to switch the main off at the board — safety before booking.
Time agreed before we travel
A slot, not a day-long window. A property with no power at all is attended ahead of planned work; planned installs are booked for the same or next day where the diary allows.
Testing, not guessing
Insulation testers, clamp meters and thermal imaging are used to find the circuit actually at fault. Swapping components until the tripping stops is expensive and leaves the real cause in the wall.
Written quote before work starts
Fault finding is priced separately from the repair, so you see the diagnosis and its cost before deciding on the fix. Scope changes are raised with you at the time, never added to the invoice afterwards.
The work, to SANS 10142
Compliant materials, correct breaker and cable sizing, and proper labelling at the board — so the next person who opens that DB can read what is on each circuit.
Test, label and certify
Circuits are tested, earth leakage is trip-tested, and where the work requires an Electrical Certificate of Compliance it is issued by us for the installation we actually carried out.
Quoting & pricing
Why fault finding is quoted separately
An electrical fault has no fixed price until it has been found. An earth leakage trip can be a geyser element found in twenty minutes, or a damaged conductor in a wall that takes most of a day to isolate circuit by circuit. Quoting a repair before the diagnosis means either padding the price or discovering halfway through that the number was wrong.
So the diagnostic work is quoted on its own. Once the cause is known you get a written repair quote on site, and nothing is installed until you approve it. If opening the board changes the picture — an undersized main, an unlabelled circuit feeding something it should not — you are told then, with the cost, rather than reading it on an invoice.
Larger installations such as solar PV, hybrid inverters and backup batteries are quoted as a specified system: the components, the circuits they will feed, and the certification included.
Hiring guidance
What to check before hiring any electrician
Useful whoever you end up hiring. The cheapest quote on electrical work is often the one that leaves you without a valid certificate.
Registered, and able to certify
Electrical installation work is regulated for a reason. Ask whether the person doing the work is registered and can issue the Electrical COC in their own name — not whether they 'work with someone who can'.
SANS 10142 in the quote
The wiring code is the standard your installation is measured against at transfer and after a claim. A contractor who cannot reference it is unlikely to be working to it.
No cash-job certificates
A COC bought without an inspection is worthless the moment an insurer looks at it. The certificate should follow an inspection of the actual installation, done by the person signing.
Two more: check that public liability cover is in place before anyone works on your board, and ask for the quote in writing. Both take one question each and both are the things people wish they had asked afterwards.
The work itself
Electrical services
This page covers who attends. For the work itself, start at the electrical services overview or go straight to a job:
Where we work
Find an electrician in your suburb
Each suburb page covers the property types and faults common to that area. Full list on the service areas page.
- Electrician in Sandton
- Electrician in Midrand
- Electrician in Fourways
- Electrician in Bryanston
- Electrician in Randburg
- Electrician in Rivonia
- Electrician in Morningside
- Electrician in Kyalami
- Electrician in Sunninghill
- Electrician in Rosebank
- Electrician in Edenvale
- Electrician in Bedfordview
Questions
Hiring an electrician — FAQs
Who attends the job?
Garth Blair runs Apple Plumbing & Electrical and has done since 2008, with 16+ years in the trade, and he attends jobs himself rather than handing them to an unknown sub-contractor. The number you phone, 082 886 9119, is answered by the owner.
What does a registered electrician mean in South Africa?
Electrical installation work is regulated: a registered electrician is registered with the Department of Labour and is the only person entitled to issue an Electrical Certificate of Compliance for an installation. Work is carried out to SANS 10142, the national wiring code. If the person doing your wiring cannot issue the COC themselves, somebody else has to certify work they never watched being done.
How do I check an electrician before hiring them?
Ask whether they are registered and can issue an Electrical COC in their own name, whether the installation will be done to SANS 10142, whether the quote will be in writing before work starts, and whether they carry public liability cover. We are registered, VAT-registered, publicly insured, and quote in writing on site.
When is an Electrical COC legally required?
You need a valid Electrical COC when a property is transferred to a new owner, and a new certificate is required after any addition or alteration to the installation — a DB board replacement, new circuits, a solar or inverter installation. Insurers commonly ask for one after an electrical fire or surge claim. A certificate older than two years is generally not accepted at transfer.
How does quoting work on electrical jobs?
The fault is diagnosed first, then priced in writing on site, and no work begins until you approve it. Fault finding is quoted separately from the repair, because an intermittent trip can take an hour or most of a day to isolate and pretending otherwise on the phone is how estimates turn into arguments.
Why does the DB keep tripping — can you just replace the breaker?
Replacing a breaker that keeps tripping without finding out why removes the warning, not the fault. Earth leakage tripping usually means moisture, a failing geyser element or a damaged circuit somewhere in the installation. We isolate the circuit at fault with test equipment before anything is swapped out.
Can you do both the plumbing and the electrical side of a geyser?
Yes — both trades are in-house. A geyser is a plumbing installation on an electrical circuit, and the split between trades is where jobs usually stall. Here one team handles the pipework, the circuit and both certificates where they are required.
Do you certify solar and inverter installations?
Solar PV and inverter work is electrical installation work and must be certified. We install and sign off solar PV, hybrid inverter and backup battery systems, and can inspect and certify existing installations where the original installer left no valid paperwork.
Is the work guaranteed?
Workmanship carries a 3-month warranty, and we carry public liability cover. Materials used are compliant rather than the cheapest available — on a DB board that distinction is the difference between a breaker that trips when it should and one that does not.
What are your hours?
Monday to Friday 07:00–17:00 and Saturday 08:00–13:00 for planned work, with emergency attendance for a dead board, a burning smell or exposed live conductors across Sandton, Midrand, Northern Johannesburg and the East Rand.
Talk to the electrician doing the work
Garth Blair answers the phone. Fault found and priced in writing before anything is replaced.