Electric Fence Certificate of Compliance Port Elizabeth

What the certificate is

An electric fence system certificate of compliance, usually just called an electric fence COC, confirms that a fence meets the safety rules in SANS 10222-3 and the Electrical Machinery Regulations. It covers the whole system: the energiser, the wiring, the earthing, the gates and the warning signs.

It is a separate document from your electrical COC. Conveyancers and estate agents sometimes assume the electrician's certificate covers the fence, and it does not. If there is an electric fence on the property, it needs its own certificate, and only a person registered as an electric fence installer with the Department of Employment and Labour can issue one. We are registered.

When you need one

• You are selling a property that has an electric fence on it

• Your conveyancer or estate agent has asked for it before transfer

• A new fence has been installed or an old one extended

• Your insurer wants proof the fence is legal and safe

• A body corporate needs certificates for a complex or estate

• You bought a property and there was never a certificate for the fence

Selling your house

This is where most people first hear about the certificate. Any property transfer registered after 1 October 2012 that has an electric fence on it needs an electric fence certificate, and the conveyancer will not lodge the transfer without it. Sellers usually find out a few weeks before the deadline, when the electrical COC is being done and the attorney asks where the fence certificate is.

If that is you, call us early. Most fences need at least one small fix before they pass, and it is far easier to sort out with a week to spare than the day before lodgement. We send the certificate straight to you or your conveyancer once it is issued.

What we check

We inspect the fence against the standard, section by section. The main things we look at are:

• The energiser, whether it is an approved unit and whether it is mounted correctly

• Warning signs, which must be on the fence at the right spacing and on both sides where needed

• Wire heights and clearances, especially where the fence is near a public pavement

• Earthing, including the number and condition of earth spikes

• High voltage cable and joins between the energiser and the fence

• Gates and openings, and how the fence is bridged across them

• The general condition of brackets, insulators and wire

Why fences fail, and what we do about it

Most fences we inspect around Port Elizabeth do not pass first time, and that is rarely because the fence is badly built. The usual reasons are small. Warning signs have faded, blown off in the wind or were never put up at the right spacing. The earth is down to one rusted spike. The energiser was swapped for a cheaper unit at some point. A section near the pavement was put up too low.

Because we are installers and not just inspectors, we can fix those things on the spot. We tell you what is wrong, quote the work, and once it is done we issue the certificate. You do not have to find a second company to do the repairs and then call us back. If the fence has bigger problems, our electric fence repairs page covers what is involved.

New fences and alterations

Every fence installed since October 2012 needs a certificate from the start, and so does any fence that has been extended or significantly altered. When we do an electric fence installation, the certificate is part of the job. If somebody else installed your fence and never gave you a certificate, we can inspect it and certify it, subject to it meeting the standard.

Homes, complexes and businesses

We certify fences on freestanding houses, sectional title complexes, estates and commercial premises. For complexes we can work with the managing agent or body corporate, and for businesses in areas like Greenacres, Port Elizabeth Central and Deal Party we can schedule the inspection around opening hours.