Associations
47
What is a Certificate of
Compliance?
By IOPSA
IOPSA (the Institute of Plumbing South Africa) has noticed an increase
in confusion due to the number of different plumbing Certificates of
Compliance (CoC) issued within South Africa.
The local municipalities are responsible for the enforcement
of the national building and water regulations. Individual
local authorities have their own form of a CoC if their bylaws
require one to be issued by a plumber. Due to the lack of registration and inferior plumbing installations,
IOPSA initiated the PIRB not only to register all plumbers, but
also proactively check the quality of installations by means of the
issuing of PIRB CoCs.
For this article, IOPSA will focus on the City of Cape Town CoC
and the Plumbing Industries Registration Board (PIRB) CoC to give
an understanding of why there are different CoCs and what the
differences are. This was initially a voluntary industry-driven solution that is
now being included in plumbing regulations, since the PIRB
has become a professional body. The value of the PIRB CoC is
explained next.
The City of Cape Town has implemented that a CoC is to be
issued on the sale of a property in the same vein as the Borer
and Electrical CoC. However, in terms of the requirements of the
document, only specific points are raised and required for the
plumber to check:
• The hot water cylinder installation complies with
SANS 10252 and SANS 10254.
• The water pipes in the plumbing installation (especially
within the roof space) are properly saddled as per
SANS 10252.
• The water meter records the flow when water is drawn, and
does not register when consumption stops.
• The private isolating valve as per subsection 23(2) (a) or (b)
is in place and functioning.
• None of the terminal water fittings leak and they are
correctly fixed in position.
• No stormwater is discharged into the sewerage system.
• There is no cross-connection between the potable supply
and any alternate supply. The PIRB registered plumber is required to log a CoC within five
days of the installation, which, through the automated services,
may result in an audit being carried out on the installation. In the
event of a failed audit, the plumber would be required to carry
out rectification. It is a controlled, measured system and process.
Should the plumber not wish to rectify the issue, they will be
removed from the PIRB register. It is important to understand the
difference between a local CoC and PIRB CoC.
The document has been amended since inception. A concern
relating to the City of Cape Town CoC is that new property
owners are under the impression that the entire plumbing
system is compliant. As you can see by the points indi