We have talked about the importance of an Electrical Certificate before. But this is a recap of what you will need when selling your property. Short and to the point.
Only registered electrical contractors may perform electrical work and issue the certificates.
The requirements for an Electrical Compliance Certificate are set out in the regulations of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. In general, each ‘user’ or ‘lessor’ must have a valid electrical certificate. Although regulations refer to ‘user’/’lessor’ and not ‘owner’, the description of user/lessor necessarily incorporates the owner of the electrical installation who will also be the owner of the land.
Regulations lay down many general requirements, as an example, only registered electrical contractors may perform electrical work and issue the certificates.
In respect of property transfers, the regulations prescribe as follows:
– It is obligatory to obtain an electrical certificate where ownership changes.
– Save where there is a valid certificate in place that is (a) not older than 2 years, and (b) there were no alterations to the installation since the issue of the current certificate, a new certificate is not required for purposes of transfer. The seller can then hand the current certificate to the buyer.
Parties may nonetheless agree that a new certificate must be provided, even where the current certificate is less than two years old and no alterations or additions to the installation have taken place (which is often the case in many standard offers to purchase).
Although the onus is on the seller to obtain this certificate and pay for the costs of repairs, this obligation can be shifted to the buyer by way of agreement.
Article courtesy of Property 24