Electro-Spark is a Cape Town electrical contractor that works for managing agents, body corporates and landlords. The work covers common property installations, certificates of compliance for unit transfers, gate motors, walkway and security lighting, and tenants' call-outs. Reports and quotes separate safety defects from items that can wait, and common property from sections, so the right party approves and pays.
Who is responsible for the electrical installation in a sectional title scheme?
In a sectional title scheme, each owner is responsible for the electrical installation inside their own section, and the body corporate is responsible for the installation on the common property: gate motors, perimeter and walkway lighting, passages, pump rooms and anything else outside the units.
Exactly where the line falls depends on how the scheme is wired, so we confirm it with the managing agent before we quote. It matters because it determines who pays. When a fault proves to be on the other side of that line, the report says so and the work stops there.
Which CoCs are needed when a unit is sold?
The seller needs a certificate of compliance for the unit, and it must not be older than two years at the change of ownership. Transfer attorneys will often also ask for the body corporate's certificate for the common property.
A missing or outdated common property CoC can delay sales across the whole scheme, so it is sensible to keep a current one on file rather than arranging one each time a unit is sold. When we inspect a unit for a transfer and find a problem on the common property side, it is reported to the managing agent separately from the owner's report.
Gate motors and common property lighting
Gate motors are among the most frequent call-outs for any managing agent. The motor runs off a battery kept charged from the mains, and repeated outages can drain it faster than the charger can recover it. An old battery that no longer holds its charge fails first. The control board is also exposed to power surges, so the supply to the gate should be on its own protected circuit.
Common property lighting usually fails at the switching rather than the lamp. Photocells become dirty or fail, and timers lose their setting after a power cut, so lights burn all day or stay off at night. Outdoor fittings that let in water trip the earth leakage and take other circuits down with them.
Replacing old walkway and security fittings with sealed LED fittings rated for outdoor use reduces both the running cost and the number of call-outs. In complexes near the coast, from Blouberg up the West Coast, salt air corrodes cheap fittings and exposed terminals quickly, so fittings and glands must be chosen for those conditions.
Quotes the trustees can approve
Trustees approve spending at meetings, so a quote must be clear to people who are not electricians. Ours separate safety problems from items that can wait, include photographs of what we found, and split common property items from items inside sections so the right party pays.
Anything dangerous is made safe on the day and reported immediately, so the decision on the permanent repair can wait for the next meeting without anyone being at risk.
Handling tenants' call-outs
For rental portfolios, the managing agent logs the call and we arrange access with the tenant directly. After the visit the agent receives a short report: what was wrong, what caused it, what was repaired, and whether it appears to be wear and tear or damage. That last point is usually what the agent and the owner most need to know.
Backup power for common property
During load-shedding, the items residents notice are the gate, the intercom, the cameras and the walkway lights. These can be moved onto a common property essentials board and backed up with a battery and inverter sized for them alone. Solar panels can be added to reduce the scheme's daytime bill. Any grid-capable system must be registered with the City of Cape Town. The managing agent will know whether the trustees can approve it or whether it needs a vote of the owners. See solar for body corporates.