17 Jun 2013
The official name, or description, given to the Certificate as described in the City of Cape Town's By-laws is "Certificate of compliance for water installations". Brought into effect solely as a method of reducing water wastage and preventing potable, grey water and sewerage water from mixing for rather obvious health reasons. So basically the City does not want you wasting or contaminating their water supply. And of course we have to check the correct operation of the meter to ensure that the City can bill you for your usage.
Certificate Requirements.
A suitably qualified and accredited plumber in terms of the South African Qualifications Authority, must certify that:
The hot water cylinder complies with SANS 10252 and 10254.
The water meter registers.
There are no water leaks on the property.
Water pipes and terminal fittings are correctly fixed in position.
No storm water is discharged into the sewerage system.
There is no cross connection between the potable supply and any grey water or groundwater system which may be installed.
Read the full article here
As can be seen by the above checklist the Certificate is very limited and we as inspectors are obliged to work within these six points only, we cannot require more of the seller, if the installation passes these six points we will issue a valid Certificate to allow transfer to proceed, any plumbing issues over and above the requirements are between the seller and buyer as part of their normal contractual obligations.
We recommend that potential buyers are made aware of the limitations to the "Plumbing Inspections" and that they still perform their due diligence, check condition of taps, water pressure etc and raise their issues, or suspensive conditions, with the seller before signing.
Common calls we receive from new home owners, that are not covered by the certificate.
My drains are blocked - maintenance issue. I have low hot water pressure - not covered, geyser may require an upgrade. Broken taps, but not leaking in the off position - maintenance issue. Cracked sinks or baths - maintenance issue. We can only guarantee new materials that we have installed during the certification process, we cannot take responsibility for existing equipment that may go faulty after the certificate has been issued. This will be the responsibility of the current owner or occupant.