Checked 2026-08-21Next review 2027-02-21Every detail read from the ECB’s own site
01
Quick Answer
In short
Ask for two registrations, not one. The person doing the work must be a registered person in a category that covers it, and the business issuing your Certificate of Compliance must be a registered electrical contractor. A card from an industry body is not either of those things.
- Statutory registerEmployment and Labour
- RegulationsElectrical Installation, 2009
- The personRegistered person
- The businessRegistered contractor
- Industry bodyECB, not the register
- CoC age at transferUnder 2 years
Certificate of Compliance rules and registration categories read from ecb.org.za on 2026-08-21.
02
What You Need to Know
Electrical work in South Africa is regulated under the Electrical Installation Regulations, 2009, made under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. The statutory registration sits with the Department of Employment and Labour, and it comes in two separate parts that people routinely collapse into one.
The first is the individual. A person is registered in a category, and the category sets the ceiling on what they may test and certify: Tested Single Phase, Installation Electrician, or Master Installation Electrician. Someone registered for single-phase work is properly registered and still not the right person for a three-phase board.
The second is the business. A Certificate of Compliance may only be issued by a registered electrical contractor. This is the half that matters when you are selling a house, because a certificate issued by someone who is not a registered contractor is not doing the job you are paying it to do.
Then there is the Electrical Contracting Board. The ECB issues ID cards to its members and runs a searchable directory of them, and its card is very often the thing produced at a front door. It is an industry body. Membership of it is a useful signal and it is not registration under the regulations, so treat the card as the start of a check rather than the end of one.
On the certificate itself, the ECB is blunt that it is just a one page legal document
and that your COC is valid as long as you are in the property
. The catch is at the point of sale: under the Act a change of ownership may not go ahead on a certificate older than two years. A certificate does not travel with the house indefinitely.
- Statutory registerNot the ECB, and not any private directoryEmployment and Labour
- Governing regulationsMade under the Occupational Health and Safety ActElectrical Installation, 2009
- Individual categoriesThe category caps what may be tested and certifiedTSP, IE, MIE
- Who may issue a CoCThe business, not simply the individualRegistered contractor
- Certificate age at change of ownershipOlder than this and a transfer may not proceed2 years
- Industry directoryA starting point, not the statutory checkelectrician.org.za
Registration categories, contractor requirement, certificate validity and the change-of-ownership rule read from ecb.org.za, checked 2026-08-21. The ECB is an industry body; the statutory register is held by the Department of Employment and Labour under the Electrical Installation Regulations, 2009.
03
Step-by-Step Guidance
Two questions at the quoting stage save the argument at transfer.
- 1
Ask for both registrations in writing
The individual’s registration and category, and the contractor registration of the business. On the quote or in an email. Asking for both at quoting stage is normal and an established contractor will not blink at it.
- 2
Match the category to the actual job
A registration is real and still limited. If the work touches a three-phase supply, a distribution board or anything beyond a tested single-phase installation, ask directly whether their category covers it.
- 3
Confirm the business can issue the certificate
Only a registered electrical contractor may issue a Certificate of Compliance. If an individual is doing the work under someone else’s contractor registration, ask whose name goes on the certificate before the work starts.
- 4
Treat an ECB card as a signal, not the check
It shows membership of an industry body. It does not show statutory registration. If a card is the only thing on offer, ask for the registration behind it.
- 5
Check the date if you are buying or selling
A certificate older than two years will not carry a change of ownership. If you are selling, check the date early rather than a week before transfer, when your options narrow to whatever is available.
- 6
Keep the certificate and note what you checked
The certificate, the registration numbers you were given and the date you asked. Registration status changes, so a check is only ever true as of the day you made it.
04
Costs, Timing and Common Mistakes
- Cost to ask for and check registrationsAsking is free; the documents are the contractor’s ownNone
- Certificate age at change of ownershipThe one hard deadline in this process2 years
- Cost of a Certificate of ComplianceDepends on the installation; no central tariff is publishedNot published
The two-year rule is the ECB’s own statement of the Act. The cost of a certificate is not published as a fixed national fee, so this page does not quote one; quotes are worth comparing between registered contractors.
Taking an industry card as the registration
The ECB is an industry body. Its card shows membership, not statutory registration under the 2009 regulations.
Checking the person and not the contractor
Only a registered electrical contractor may issue a Certificate of Compliance. Both halves matter, and they are separate.
Assuming a certificate is permanent
It holds while you are in the property, but a transfer will not proceed on one older than two years.
Ignoring the category
Registered for single-phase work is still registered. It is simply not the right registration for a three-phase board.
What this page does not tell you
This guide explains what to ask for and why the two registrations are separate. It does not assess any electrician, it names no contractor as registered or unregistered, and it is not legal advice about your obligations or theirs.
If something electrical is actively dangerous right now, that is not a registration question: see Explore Gezina emergency numbers.
05
Related Gezina Services
Where to go next.
Electrician Gezina
Electricians working in the area, and what each one publishes about itself.
Services in Gezina
Trades and professional services, with the other verification guides alongside this one.
Explore Gezina emergency numbers
For anything happening now rather than anything to be checked.
Explore list my business Gezina
If you run a registered electrical contractor locally and want a listing, at no cost.