The construction desk/The registers

Department of Employment and Labour: registered persons

The register of people who may do electrical installation work and issue the certificate of compliance: single-phase testers, installation electricians and master installation electricians.

What the register is for

Under the Electrical Installation Regulations an electrical installation may only be certified by a registered person, and an electrical contractor must be registered with the Department to undertake the work. The registration is personal; a company registration is not a person registration. The certificate of compliance is issued for the work done, by the registered person who did it, and a certificate from a previous owner does not cover new work. Supplementary credentials such as the PV GreenCard are training records, not registrations.

Who must be on it

Electricians and electrical contractors, and every client with a board, a gate motor, a solar installation or a transfer to close.

Where it comes from

Electrical Installation Regulations, 2009, under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993; SANS 10142-1 is the wiring code the certificate certifies against.

How to check

Ask for the registered person's registration number and the contractor's registration; the Department's Chief Inspector confirms both. A certificate shows the registered person's number.

What a listing does not prove

That the installation was tested to the standard on the day; that is what the certificate itself has to say, with its test results attached.

Read the detail

the pieces that go deeper

The panel

A contractor on the panel is checked on Department of Employment and Labour: registered persons before it quotes, and the check is repeated when the registration falls due. You see one quote from one company, with this already done.