Usually an installation electrician in required for a 3 phase system, a single phase tester is the minimum of requirements you need. Basically a Single phase Certificate of Compliance. 

The 3 types of electricians are a Master electrician, Installation Electrician & Single phase tester. In order of decreasing order of responsibility. 

Master electricians are certified to commission & sign off on Petro Chemical electrical installations & hospitals. Basically very specialist sites of installation. 

@TaliaBbeing involved in the electrical business for a number of years probably the length of service of my value in age will be able to Clarify in a better & more precise way. 

Your DB looks to be a 3 phase sized DB I could be wrong. 

9 minutes ago, Steve87 said:

Your DB looks to be a 3 phase sized DB I could be wrong. 

Single phase

4 hours ago, Steve87 said:

Usually an installation electrician in required for a 3 phase system, a single phase tester is the minimum of requirements you need. Basically a Single phase Certificate of Compliance. 

The 3 types of electricians are a Master electrician, Installation Electrician & Single phase tester. In order of decreasing order of responsibility. 

Master electricians are certified to commission & sign off on Petro Chemical electrical installations & hospitals. Basically very specialist sites of installation. 

@TaliaBbeing involved in the electrical business for a number of years probably the length of service of my value in age will be able to Clarify in a better & more precise way. 

Thanks Steve there is Electrical Tester for single phase that can do installation on single phase only but can not issue a COC.

Installation Electrician also 3-phase certified that can issue a COC but must be registered with DOL( Department of Labour)

Master installation Electrician that is certified to issue COC for all electrical installations.

@LandyMan you will need an installation electrician to sign off and issue a COC. 

Edited January 11, 20242 yr by TaliaB

10 hours ago, TaliaB said:

Thanks Steve there is Electrical Tester for single phase that can do installation on single phase only but can not issue a COC.

Installation Electrician also 3-phase certified that can issue a COC but must be registered with DOL( Department of Labour)

Master installation Electrician that is certified to issue COC for all electrical installations.

@LandyMan you will need an installation electrician to sign off and issue a COC. 

Thanks @TaliaB

Out estate requirement is to have anything done signed off by their Master. COC issued by Installation Electrician, then that and paperwork submitted to our Electrical provider, to be checked and signed off by their Master.

When I have the opportunity, I plan to initiate a new post addressing the escalating issue of Certificate of Compliance (COC) problems in light of the solar installation boom. The Electrical Conformance Board (ECB) has detected numerous COCs issued by unauthorized individuals lacking the necessary credentials, qualifications, and authority. I intend to outline a comprehensive procedure detailing the correct steps, the documentation the installation owner should receive, and how to verify credentials from an Independent Contractor (IE) or Master Independent Contractor (MIE).

The issued COC is more than a mere formality for insurance purposes or asserting the legality of the installation; it significantly pertains to ensuring the safety of your property and the lives of your family.

 

 

 

Edited January 12, 20242 yr by TaliaB
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@TaliaB Is there a website where a customer can verify a COC-issuer?

1 hour ago, TheMac said:

@TaliaB Is there a website where a customer can verify a COC-issuer?

There is not a website to verify issuer's credentials but each electrical contractor have an id card to identify his level of competence. Blue sticker is single phase tester, yellow installation electrician and red master installation electrician. Before any work is started you must ask for the electrician that is going to issue the COC to present his card so you could verify his credentials. If still in doubt you could contact the ECB to verify. Below contact details,  also see attached picture of id card and level of competence and remember a single phase tester can not issue an COC only IE and MIE. 

ECB NATIONAL OFFICE:

CONTACT DETAILS:

Tel: (012) 751 2290

E-mail: [email protected]

E-mail: [email protected]

Address: 213 Kessel Street, Fairland,

Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa

Edited January 12, 20242 yr by TaliaB

Also when a COC is issued you must ask for a copy of the test report to ensure all tests for the entire installation has been done. See link below for example of the test report.

2020-TEST-REPORT-GENERAL-Template (1).pdf

24 minutes ago, TaliaB said:

Also when a COC is issued you must ask for a copy of the test report to ensure all tests for the entire installation has been done. See link below for example of the test report.

2020-TEST-REPORT-GENERAL-Template (1).pdf 77.68 kB · 2 downloads

When you have an existing installation with COC and just adding couple of new plugs plus wiring on the essential side of an inverter, do you need a test report in addition to the addendum COC? And if yes, does it have to performed on the whole installation or only on the newly wired plugs?

6 minutes ago, PowerUser said:

When you have an existing installation with COC and just adding couple of new plugs plus wiring on the essential side of an inverter, do you need a test report in addition to the addendum COC? And if yes, does it have to performed on the whole installation or only on the newly wired plugs?

Yes you need a test report for the new plugs fitted to ensure the RCD is functioning correctly so only the section applicable on the test report must be filled out. So any changes made will reflect on the test sheet.

1 hour ago, TaliaB said:

There is not a website to verify issuer's credentials but each electrical contractor have an id card to identify his level of competence. Blue sticker is single phase tester, yellow installation electrician and red master installation electrician. Before any work is started you must ask for the electrician that is going to issue the COC to present his card so you could verify his credentials. If still in doubt you could contact the ECB to verify. Below contact details,  also see attached picture of id card and level of competence and remember a single phase tester can not issue an COC only IE and MIE. 

ECB NATIONAL OFFICE:

CONTACT DETAILS:

Tel: (012) 751 2290

E-mail: [email protected]

E-mail: [email protected]

Address: 213 Kessel Street, Fairland,

Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa

Thanks for this @TaliaB. Most of us laypersons have no idea about this stuff, and just let in anybody who says they're an electrician and just nod at everything the electrician says.

38 minutes ago, TaliaB said:

Yes you need a test report for the new plugs fitted to ensure the RCD is functioning correctly so only the section applicable on the test report must be filled out. So any changes made will reflect on the test sheet.

Just to add something related to old houses. If plug circuits were added in a house and there was no RCD it is up to the sparky to add one and add all plugs to the RCD. This is IIRC. This was very long ago that I wrote regs. 

On 2024/01/11 at 3:56 PM, Steve87 said:

Usually an installation electrician in required for a 3 phase system, a single phase tester is the minimum of requirements you need. Basically a Single phase Certificate of Compliance. 

The 3 types of electricians are a Master electrician, Installation Electrician & Single phase tester. In order of decreasing order of responsibility. 

Master electricians are certified to commission & sign off on Petro Chemical electrical installations & hospitals. Basically very specialist sites of installation. 

@TaliaBbeing involved in the electrical business for a number of years probably the length of service of my value in age will be able to Clarify in a better & more precise way. 

 

FYI: For CoCT it is now required for all solar installations to use an Installation Electrician.

My installer had to send one out last week to get my application up to scratch (again) - the longer the City takes to finalise, nine months now, the more red-tape my installer has to go through. Oh, this is all at my installers expense, not mine. I've a growing mini filing cabinet next to my inverter with all the documents.

On 2024/01/11 at 2:41 PM, Steve87 said:

Do you have a suitable space setup that is not far from your DB? If so what cable length estimated distance away from the DB? Their system is quite a straight forward plug & play system. Without Solar panels this is a one day install at most. The work required is basic sparky splitting of Essentials & Non essentials.

Awesome system & I think Sungrow are ahead of the pack in terms of the use of High Voltage DC for residential projects. The systems of the future will all be using this architecture in the next decade. It's much more efficient & cable diameter is kept small because the voltage is high. 

I did see this product marketed a lot but the uptake was not a lot due to the fact it's a not established brand here in SA but Sungrow are a quality brand & well trusted in the overseas markets. 

Post pics for us when it's up & running. You are definitely one of the first to install these on our forum!!

I know you already saw , but for the rest of the guys here who were following, and might be interested: 

 

Edited February 26, 20242 yr by LandyMan

Honestly if the inverter and batteries are basically free, adding panels is a no-brainer. The installation cost you're worrying about now could pay itself back within 2-3 years just from Eskom savings, and after that your electricity bill pretty much disappears. We went that route with HomeLink Solar and it changed the whole calculation completely.

On the 13000VA passthrough question — worth confirming directly with Sungrow because if it genuinely handles that load, putting the whole house on it removes the DB split headache entirely. That said, with only 6kW inverter output and 9.6kWh battery, I'd be cautious. During loadshedding you'd need to be very mindful of what's running simultaneously — geysers, stoves, aircons all competing on 6kW gets uncomfortable fast.