Electro-Spark is a residential electrician in Cape Town, based in Table View. We carry out electrical compliance certificates (CoCs) for property sales and insurers, fault finding on tripping circuits, DB board upgrades, rewiring, lighting and plug points, geyser timers and repairs, and stove and appliance repairs. Every job is run and supervised by the owner.
The home electrical work we carry out
Our residential work falls into eight areas. Each has its own page setting out what is involved, what the regulations require and what to send us before a visit.
- Compliance certificates (CoC) for a sale, an insurer or after alterations
- Fault finding and tripping, from an earth leakage unit that drops every time it rains to a plug that runs warm
- DB board upgrades: replacing fuse boards, adding earth leakage, splitting circuits for an inverter
- Rewiring, a room at a time or the whole house
- Lighting and plug points, inside and out
- Geyser repairs and timers
- Stove, oven and appliance repairs
- Renovations and new builds: the electrical side of an extension, a kitchen or a new house
Why small jobs often lead back to the DB board
In an older house the problems tend to be connected. A CoC inspection finds there is no earth leakage protection. Adding it needs space the old board does not have, so the board is replaced. Once the new earth leakage unit is in, it trips on a circuit the old fuses never detected, and that circuit turns out to have perished wiring in the roof.
We explain how these pieces connect before any work starts, so the scope never grows without your agreement. If we find something beyond what you called us for, you receive a clear explanation and the choice of what to do now and what can wait. Where something is dangerous, we say so plainly.
When does a house need an electrician if nothing is broken?
Three events bring an electrician in regardless of faults: selling, renovating and adding solar. Selling requires a valid electrical compliance certificate before transfer. Renovating means new circuits, moved plugs and more lights, and new work needs its own certificate. Adding an inverter or solar system changes the board, and the City of Cape Town requires the installation to be certified before it will register a grid-capable system.
Where more than one of these is planned, the order matters. A CoC issued in March has limited value if an inverter is added in May, because the new work has to be certified as well.
Geysers, stoves and other large loads
The geyser is usually the largest single load in a house, and it heats water whether or not anyone needs it. A timer lets it run at the hours that suit you, and on a solar system it can be set to heat in the middle of the day, when the panels are producing. A geyser that has stopped heating usually has a failed element, a faulty thermostat or a tripped isolator, and each calls for a different repair.
Stoves and ovens fail in similar ways: a plate that stays cold, an oven that will not hold temperature, a stove that trips the board the moment it is switched on. The appliance itself falls outside the scope of a CoC, but the circuit and isolator feeding it fall inside it.
Lights, plugs and outdoor points
Most houses were wired for the way people lived when they were built. The kitchen has two plug points where it now needs six, the lounge has one ceiling light and the garden has none. Adding plugs and lights is straightforward work, but where the new point is fed from matters. A plug tapped off a light circuit, or an outdoor socket run from a bedroom circuit with no earth leakage, is the kind of work that fails a CoC later.
Outdoor fittings have to be rated for the weather. On the coast that means fittings and fixings that withstand salt air, because lower-grade ones corrode and let in water, which shows up as earth leakage trips.
How do I book a small job?
Send us a WhatsApp on 072 490 4296 with a short description of the problem and a photo. For anything to do with tripping, a clear photo of the DB board with the cover open (the hinged door, not the panel behind it) tells us a great deal. For a CoC, tell us whether it is for a sale, and whether there is a solar or inverter system in the house.
Our hours are Monday to Friday 08:00–17:00 and Saturday 09:00–13:00. We are based in Table View and work across Cape Town.
Services
- Compliance certificates (CoC) CoC inspections for sales, insurers and alterations, with remedial work if it fails.
- Fault finding & tripping Tracing trips, earth leakage faults, short circuits, warm plugs and burning smells.
- DB board upgrades Replacing old fuse boards, adding earth leakage, surge protection and inverter splits.
- Rewiring Partial and full rewires for older houses, finished with a CoC.
- Lighting & plug points New plug points, dedicated circuits, LED downlights and outdoor security lighting.
- Geyser repairs & timers Elements, thermostats, isolators, earth leakage trips and geyser timers.
- Stove, oven & appliance repairs Stove and oven repairs, hob and oven connections, and appliances that trip the power.
- Renovations & new builds Planning, first and second fix, boards, solar-ready wiring and a CoC on completion.