Compliance Certificates required when selling your property

Compliance certificates are a requirement before any property transaction and specifically registration can take place in South Africa.

No transferring attorney and bank will proceed with registration without these certificates in hand and this offers great piece of mind for any buyer of immovable property in South Africa.

The following is a brief description of each of the 5 certificates:

Electrical Certificate
The Electrical Certificate of Compliance needs to be completed by a registered electrician and verifies that the electrical installations on the property conform with the regulations and standards stipulated.  Please note a separate Electrical Fence Compliance Certificate needs to be issued for electric fence and is not covered by the general Electrical Compliance one.

Plumbing Certificate (Water Installation Certificate)
A Certificate by an accredited Plumber submitted to the City of Cape Town Municipality certifying that the water supply to the property conforms with the requirements stipulated in section 14 of the CITY OF CAPE TOWN: WATER BY-LAW 2010 in i) that the water installation conforms with the national building regulations; ii) there are no defects which can cause water to run to waste; (iii) the water meter registers; iv) there is no discharge of storm water into the sewer system.

Gas Certificate
The Gas Certificate ensures that all gas fittings are safe and in working order, that the relevant safety valves are functioning and there are no leaks.  Required for built-in gas fires or braais, gas stoves and hot water systems and the like. 

Beetle Free Certificate
Not applicable to sectional title units, this compliance certificate is only required for free standing homes and mostly only needed for coastal homes of Western Cape and Kwazulu-Natal as the beetles are rarely found inland.

Electrical Fence Certificate
The certificate certifies that the electrical fence installation complies with the required safety standards.
Importantly also applies to sectional title unit if there is an electrical fence system situated on common property.

The costs of these certificates and any follow up work that needs to be actioned in order to be fully compliant is for the cost of the Seller however this can be negotiated and costs passed onto the Buyer if this has been documented clearly in the Offer to Purchase.