Hi everyone,

I am renting a house here in Cape Town. When I moved in, I installed a surge arrestor, (single pole), timer for my geyser and a data logger to the DB board. My question is - do I need a CoC for this? I did not alter or change any wiring on the DB, merely added to it?

I have been Googling all the Electrical Laws and as always they are very vague and my interpretation of the sections to the next person will differ for sure.

Your insights will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

Inspection before hand should have been more thorough but now get out, gather evidence and get answer from the rental tribunal to support yourself if the landlord is making life difficult.

 

Kiss the deposit good bye 

 

...get out 

Edited December 20, 20241 yr by Franamtb

12 hours ago, Ripley1313 said:

Hi everyone,

I am renting a house here in Cape Town. When I moved in, I installed a surge arrestor, (single pole), timer for my geyser and a data logger to the DB board. My question is - do I need a CoC for this? I did not alter or change any wiring on the DB, merely added to it?

I have been Googling all the Electrical Laws and as always they are very vague and my interpretation of the sections to the next person will differ for sure.

Your insights will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

Probably not a good idea to alter electricals in a house you do not own. I would revert the changes pronto and pray the landlord does not find out. Good Luck.

The Landlord does know, have spoken to another electrician this morning and he states that a CoC is not required. I informed the Agent on the day the loggers were installed.

1 hour ago, Ripley1313 said:

The Landlord does know, have spoken to another electrician this morning and he states that a CoC is not required. I informed the Agent on the day the loggers were installed.

My 2-cents would be that in spite the Landlord knowing, get a written consent/affidavit from Landlord in relation to these changes so that in future it's not a "he said/she said" type of issue to cover both parties and in that written consent it should specify the scope of what is to be done and if need be, a mini-schematic. Things tend to be great until there's an electrical fault which may then be attributed to you and your contractor. Landlord should they desire should get an independent person to verify what has been done and a sign-off done.

Thank you Moffat, after several emails send between all parties, it looks like the Landlord wants to evict us, or give us notice - even though our rent is paid up to date and on time every month, This is in lieu of the fact that we are probably the first tenant to questions this shady practice and made it clear that we are not prepared to provide free electricity to another tenant that is paying rent to the landlord. 

Looks like we in for a battle and attorneys will be involved. 

Thank you for your input.

 

Regards and Merry Christmas!

23 minutes ago, Ripley1313 said:

Thank you Moffat, after several emails send between all parties, it looks like the Landlord wants to evict us, or give us notice - even though our rent is paid up to date and on time every month, This is in lieu of the fact that we are probably the first tenant to questions this shady practice and made it clear that we are not prepared to provide free electricity to another tenant that is paying rent to the landlord. 

Looks like we in for a battle and attorneys will be involved. 

Thank you for your input.

 

Regards and Merry Christmas!

Sorry to hear that. Was actually going to ask about who foots the bill for all the additions you've done, which ultimately increase the rental value proposition of the property? Ideally this should also be made clear, whether it's at tenant's cost or it's offset on the rent in one payment or over time.

On a side note, a reason to cancel a lease may be that the Landlord may wish to increase the rentals and some jurisdictions/countries/areas do not legally allow this unless it's in the lease on an annual basis or as per set conditions. Thus their only recourse is to cancel the lease, which may not be a necessary reflection on the current tenant.

Best wishes and happy holidays.

Edited December 20, 20241 yr by Moffat