The Electrical Compliance Certificate
Who is responsible for providing an Electrical Compliance Certificate?
It is the Seller’s responsibility to hand a valid Electrical Compliance Certificate (ECC) to the Purchaser, unless otherwise agreed between the parties.
A valid ECC must not be older than 2 years, subject that no changes to the electrical installation has been made in the 2 year period.
Should the Agreement of Sale provide for a new certificate to be issued, the seller will have to provide a new one although he may be in possession of one younger than 2 years.
It is important to note that the ECC merely states that the electrical installation is safe and not necessarily that same is in working order. However, few electricians will issue an ECC if they cannot test all the electrical installations in the property. Therefore the cost of the ECC may be much higher than anticipated if it includes work to be done to fix faulty wires / equipment.
Written by Wessel de Kock
Useful resources & expert property law advice
