When you bought your solar system, you probably thought of it as a product. You paid, someone installed it, and the job was done.
The law sees it differently. Once the system is connected to your house, it's part of your electrical installation. And under South Africa's Electrical Installation Regulations, the person responsible for the safety of that installation isn't the company that sold it to you. It's the person who uses it.
In a home you own and live in, that's you.
What the Law Actually Says
The Electrical Installation Regulations are made under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Four of them matter to a solar owner.
- You're responsible for its safety. The user of an electrical installation is responsible for its safety, safe use and maintenance (regulation 2).
- You must have a Certificate of Compliance. Every user must have a valid Certificate of Compliance (CoC) for the installation, with a test report attached, and must produce it when an inspector or the electricity supplier asks for it (regulation 7).
- Adding solar means a new certificate. When an installation is added to or altered, the user must get a CoC covering at least the addition or alteration (regulation 7). A solar system, a battery and a changeover switch are all additions.
- Only a registered person can issue it. A CoC can only be issued by a person registered with the Department of Employment and Labour, after they have inspected and tested the work (regulation 9).
Notice the wording: safety, safe use and maintenance. Not just on the day it was installed. For as long as you use it.
Who "the User" Is
For most homeowners it's simple. You own the house, you live in it, you're the user.
If you rent your house out, the regulations make you responsible as the lessor, unless there's a written agreement that transfers the responsibility to your tenant. If you're the tenant, it works the other way: unless your lease transfers it to you in writing, it stays with your landlord. Either way, check what the lease actually says.
What It Doesn't Mean
This duty is easy to overstate, so here's what it doesn't mean.
- You don't have to be an electrician. Being responsible for safety doesn't mean testing the system yourself. It means making sure it's safe, which in practice means having it checked by someone qualified and acting on what they find.
- Your installer wasn't off the hook. Whoever took on the installation work had their own duty to make sure a valid CoC was issued for it (regulation 9). If they didn't, that's a failing on their side. But if they've since closed down or stopped answering the phone, their duty doesn't help you. Yours is still there.
- Your system didn't become illegal overnight. A CoC doesn't expire on a date. The two-year rule you may have heard about applies when a property changes hands. We explain it in what a Certificate of Compliance does and doesn't mean.
Where You'll Actually Run Into It
Most homeowners never meet an electrical inspector. They meet this duty at one of four moments.
- Selling the house. The regulations don't allow a change of ownership if the CoC is older than two years. A solar system with no certificate, or one added after the last certificate was issued, can hold up the transfer.
- Making an insurance claim. After a fire, a storm or a burst geyser, your insurer may ask for proof the installation was certified. A missing CoC for the solar work, or a system the insurer never knew about, can complicate the claim.
- Registering with City Power. A grid-tied system has to be registered as small-scale embedded generation (SSEG), and the application asks for the CoC.
- An inspection by your supplier. The regulations allow your electricity supplier to inspect or test your installation. If they find a fault, they can require a new certificate, and where there's immediate danger they must disconnect the affected circuit.
What to Do This Week
- Find your CoC. Look for one that mentions the solar system, inverter or battery. A certificate for the house from before the solar went in doesn't cover it.
- Check who signed it. The certificate shows the registered person's name, registration number and category. A registered person has to show you their registration certificate if you ask.
- Check your City Power registration. Look for an approval letter or reference number. If you can't find either, assume the system isn't registered until you know otherwise.
- Phone your insurer. Ask whether the solar system and battery are on your policy, and what they'd need from you at claim time.
- Look, listen and smell. Discolouration, melted plastic, a burning smell, buzzing or a swollen battery case means stop, don't touch it, and get it looked at quickly.
If you can't find a CoC, or the one you have doesn't cover the solar work, that's common with systems installed during the load-shedding rush. It's fixable. It needs a registered person to inspect and test the system, and anything that stops them issuing a certificate to be put right first.
How We Help
We check existing solar systems across Blairgowrie, Linden, Randburg, Ferndale, Northcliff, Fairland, Emmarentia, Greenside, Parkhurst and the suburbs around them, and give you a written report of what we found and what needs attention.
Where electrical work is needed, it's done by a registered electrical contractor you contract directly, and they issue the CoC in their own name. We scope the work, coordinate it and check it's been done. The certificate comes from the person the law allows to issue it, and you know exactly who did what.
Start With the Checklist
Download our free checklist, "Is your solar system legal and safe?". It takes ten minutes, you don't need to touch anything, and it tells you whether your system is worth having looked at.