Industry body the Electrical Conformance Board (ECB), previously the Electrical Contracting Board, aims to use its electrical industry members to drive conformity of electrical components and services standards to ensure that the industry improves its compliance with regulations and laws.

“Currently, about 35% of fires in South Africa each year are caused by electrical faults. About 500 people lose their lives each year from electrocution or in these fires and more than 1 000 are maimed each year owing to faulty electrical installations.

“This situation is untenable, especially as it should, and can, largely, be prevented by complying with existing electrical installation and electrical components regulations and standards,” says ECB chairperson Tony McDonald.

The electrical standards landscape and electrical professionals registration are fragmented between the Department of Labour, employer organisation the Electrical Contracting Association and the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications, as well as other approved inspector authorities in various territories.

There is no longer a database of registered professionals that allows for the verification of a person’s or a company’s registration with the relevant authority and compliance with electrical installation standards, he says.

Although the Occupational Health and Safety Act No 85 of 1993 requires all electrical contractors and installation professionals to register with the relevant statutory authority every year, the fragmentation makes it difficult for industry professionals and new professionals entering the industry to know which entity or entities to register with, while limited registration sites across the country create travel difficulties, especially for electricians in far-flung areas.

Currently, the Department of Labour, which took over the electrical contractor registration duties from the ECB, is issuing multiyear registration certificates to electrical contractors and professionals as a stopgap.

This fragmentation also allows for substandard products to enter the market, owing to the difficulty in verifying whether components comply with regulations. The lack of regulatory coherence also creates an opportunity for significant deviation from or disregard for compulsory conformance with electrical installation and components standards.

The ECB aims to provide a list of all components approved by standards authority bodies such as the South African Bureau of Standards and compliant with electrical standards so that electrical professionals can more easily identify and prove that components used in installations conform with regulations and standards. This will ensure safety of installation and of the components for the purposes of Certificates of Compliance.

“A Certificate of Compliance must be issued for each electrical installation completed, regardless of the scope of work for new installations and existing installations. If the certificate is found to be deficient or inaccurate, the electrical professional who issued it could be could be found guilty in terms of the Act, [and] further litigation arising from damage, injury or even death could follow.”