Hi everyone,

I need urgent help please!! My wife and I moved into a house in the Northern suburbs of Cape Town. The single garage in front of the house is rented out separately to another tenant. On the day I collected the keys, I was told that I HAVE to ensure that there is always units on the prepaid meter, as the flat is drawing from the house and the Landlord will pay us back after the fact for the consumption of the flat. So I have to buy electricity in advance and get paid back a month later. This sparked a few questions:

1. Is this legal in the sense that surely the flat should have it's own direct source and prepaid meter.
2. How are we to know what the consumption of the house is and what the flat is using?

I then looked at the db inside the flat and saw that there is only an Earth-leakage and breakers for the stove, geyser, plugs and lights. I then looked at our DB in the house and saw that the Mains for the flat is on our DB board! I spoke with the ECB (Electrical Competency Board) and they said that if the Mains is in our house, the tenant of the flat MUST have free access to our Db in the event of an emergency. That is BS to start with as I will never give a set of keys to a stranger!

I then had a look at the DB and noticed that there was a 2.5mm Twin&earth and a 1,5mm twin&earth feeding from my db to the flat. Distance approximately 10m between DB boards. No wire is tagged or labelled.

I installed 2 x data loggers shortly after we moved in to log the consumption. Needless to say, the landlord still owes us money for the flat's consumption. We moved in 14 August 2024 and from that day till the 1st of October 2024, when the flat tenant moved out I bought nearly R 3000.00 in electricity!! The loggers showed that we were using the same amount of units. The landlord paid me R409.00 to date. When we started asking for the money, we were told by the agent's Maintenance Manager that I was not allowed to install the loggers and that I have tampered with the DB board. 

I did not make any alterations to the DB board, merely added the loggers and a surge arrestor to protect our smart devices. 

Sorry for this lengthy story, but my question is two-fold:

1. Is this type of electrical installation even legal?
2. Do I require a CoC for installing the data loggers and surge arrestor?

I will greatly appreciate any advice, as this matter is now getting out of hand. A new tenant moved in tonight and we are again supplying free electricity to the flat. When I told the agent that I refuse to provide free electricity and that I will not switch on the Mains for the flat, she threatened me with criminal charges in reference to Section 26 and 27 of the Electrical Act??

I need urgent advice please!!

9 hours ago, Ripley1313 said:

Do I require a CoC for installing the data loggers and surge arrestor?

As far as I know if you added ct coils you do not need an amended COC, as for the surge protection, that is a change in the installation and would definitely need an amended COC.

Many electricians on here will give you a more valid answer

9 hours ago, Ripley1313 said:

 A new tenant moved in tonight and we are again supplying free electricity to the flat. When I told the agent that I refuse to provide free electricity and that I will not switch on the Mains for the flat, she threatened me with criminal charges in reference to Section 26 and 27 of the Electrical Act??

I smell a rat .... estate agent rat!

 

10 hours ago, Ripley1313 said:

On the day I collected the keys, I was told that I HAVE to ensure that there is always units on the prepaid meter, as the flat is drawing from the house and the Landlord will pay us back after the fact for the consumption of the flat. So I have to buy electricity in advance and get paid back a month later. This sparked a few questions:

1. Is this legal in the sense that surely the flat should have it's own direct source and prepaid meter.
2. How are we to know what the consumption of the house is and what the flat is using?

This should have been disclosed earlier. Some tenants might not care for such an arrangement.

It is a common practice to have a sub meter that controls the supply to part of the property. Usually these are third party meters. The tokens are bought from a third party who adds (and retains) a service fee to the purchase and who feeds the actual cost of the units into an account that the property owner specifies. 

The idea is that the owner can't get saddled with an electricity bill the tenant ran up. Fair enough.

But usually the tenant would have to feed the meter themselves. So they face a choice: Feed the meter or live without electricity. So your situation is a strange one. Is the tenant so short of cash that they rely on you buying and the owner of the property paying you back?

You need to talk to the people in the flat. They should know how much they use in a month. In most cases the meter will give you that information. Also the meter should display the remaining credit and most will give an alarm when the credit gets low.

I can't comment on compliance issues. But there are several third party pre-paid meters operating openly, so we can assume that the general principle is legal.

Your agent is being aggressive because that's what they do. Their business is commission driven, and the customer is the property owner, not you.

The solution here should be straightfoward: Let the tenant in the flat feed the meter.

Edited December 20, 20241 yr by Bobster.
Punctuation

1 hour ago, Demo said:

 

Ask the agent for their PPRA registration number and report them:

https://theppra.org.za/article/how_to_register_as_an_estate_agent_

Once you get the number, check that they are actually legit as well. If they are not legit you can claim back all the money and fees you paid to them in the past.

Personal opinion only. Even without considering electrical compliance, you may well be in breach of the lease contract by installing alterations to the property without consent. Before starting a fight with anyone, I'd start by re-reading your lease carefully, and worst case taking off any of your own equipment, and restoring it to original state, or the lease could be cancelled out from under you.

I'd ask for the landlord to install a different system, with own full sub-db and sub-meter for each home, ie. for you and the other tenant. You are neither a landlord nor a bank to the other tenant, I doubt that's part of your obligations under your lease to be a post-paid provider of electricity. Either way, before things get ugly, make sure worst case you're prepared to move.

 

Edited December 20, 20241 yr by GreenFields

22 minutes ago, GreenFields said:

Personal opinion only. Even without considering electrical compliance, you may well be in breach of the lease contract by installing alterations to the property without consent. Before starting a fight with anyone, I'd start by re-reading your lease carefully, and worst case taking off any of your own equipment, and restoring it to original state, or the lease could be cancelled out from under you.

I'd ask for the landlord to install a different system, with own full sub-db and sub-meter for each home, ie. for you and the other tenant. You are neither a landlord nor a bank to the other tenant, I doubt that's part of your obligations under your lease to be a post-paid provider of electricity. Either way, before things get ugly, make sure worst case you're prepared to move.

 

Wise words, I used to be a landlord and if I heard the tenants were making changes to the electrical system I would be very upset, not only does it invalidate my insurance, but it is also not their place to make any changes to a house they do not own. What happens if the tenant electrocutes themselves, not a good situation.

Good day,

 

Thank you all for your responses. Ok, so to clarify here are the following facts:

1. We were never told of the electrical setup when we viewed the property. After the deposit was paid and lease signed, we were then told on the day we collected the keys. Kinda eleventh hour if you ask me.
2. Agreed that I can into trouble for installing loggers for the house and the flat. Have spoken to the Dept of Labor and two electrical companies and they all said the same - this is not an alteration to the DB board. I did however, remove the loggers this morning, as we are now faced with getting an attorney.
3. This "special" way of electricity provision is not stated anywhere in our lease agreement.
4. The Mains of the flat is on my DB board in the house and according to the Electrical Competency Board this means that the tenant of the flat MUST have full access to my DB board at all times, in the event of an emergency. What if my wife and I are away on vacation? Leave my house keys with the other tenant? I think not!!

I really appreciate all your input and am still stuck with a dispute with the landlord, as the report he is getting from the City meter in the flat show a total different unit consumption that what the data loggers show that are connected at the Main Breaker. There is about 10m travel from the Main Breaker to the Earth Leakage on the DB board in the flat and this is connected with a 2,5mm twin and earth wire.

Seems that we will have to get a lawyer today. Couple of thousand rand gone - a few days before Christmas!

Regards everyone! 

2 hours ago, Ripley1313 said:

The Mains of the flat is on my DB board in the house and according to the Electrical Competency Board this means that the tenant of the flat MUST have full access to my DB board at all times, in the event of an emergency. What if my wife and I are away on vacation? Leave my house keys with the other tenant? I think not!!

It's not good for you, but you can see why this has to be done. My outbuildings are on a sub DB off of the main DB. If the earth leakage goes on the main DB then the outbuildings lose power. And the sub DB has it's own breaker. So I could turn the outbuildings off if it suited me, or an overload in the outbuildings could trip that breaker. 

I now understand why a house further down my street, which has a cottage, has the DB mounted in a box on the exterior wall.

In your position it's necessary for there to be trust between the tenants of the flat and the main property.

3 hours ago, Ripley1313 said:

Good day,

 

Thank you all for your responses. Ok, so to clarify here are the following facts:

1. We were never told of the electrical setup when we viewed the property. After the deposit was paid and lease signed, we were then told on the day we collected the keys. Kinda eleventh hour if you ask me.
2. Agreed that I can into trouble for installing loggers for the house and the flat. Have spoken to the Dept of Labor and two electrical companies and they all said the same - this is not an alteration to the DB board. I did however, remove the loggers this morning, as we are now faced with getting an attorney.
3. This "special" way of electricity provision is not stated anywhere in our lease agreement.
4. The Mains of the flat is on my DB board in the house and according to the Electrical Competency Board this means that the tenant of the flat MUST have full access to my DB board at all times, in the event of an emergency. What if my wife and I are away on vacation? Leave my house keys with the other tenant? I think not!!

I really appreciate all your input and am still stuck with a dispute with the landlord, as the report he is getting from the City meter in the flat show a total different unit consumption that what the data loggers show that are connected at the Main Breaker. There is about 10m travel from the Main Breaker to the Earth Leakage on the DB board in the flat and this is connected with a 2,5mm twin and earth wire.

Seems that we will have to get a lawyer today. Couple of thousand rand gone - a few days before Christmas!

Regards everyone! 

Sadly, a very bad situation for you, like someone else mentioned, prepare to move - this is a bad landlord. How can he expect you to supply the power to another tenant in a different flat/garage? And he still owe you money for the electricity the other tenant used .... your deposit is probably going to be another issue if/when the lawyer steps in. Hope all get sorted