Certificate of Compliance
The Water By-law has been amended with the adition of the Certificate of Compliance to ensure compliance of water installations on transfer of properties.
Following is an excerpt from the Cape Town Government website explaining the new Certificate of Compliance in more detail. Over the next couple of weeks we will be elaborating a bit more about the Certificate of Compliance.
Cape Town is located in a water scarce region with a high demand and usage during the summer months.
“The City’s amended Water By-Law, promulgated on 18 February 2011, provides an opportunity for the City to be pro-active and introduce water conservation and demand management measures to ensure sustainability of the water supply to its consumers,” says the City’s Director for Water and Sanitation, Philemon Mashoko.
All requirements of the Water By-law must be complied with as from the promulgation date.
One of the most important changes to the by-law is that a Certificate of Compliance of water installations must be obtained and submitted to the City upon the transfer of any property to a new owner. This applies to domestic, commercial and industrial properties and includes sectional title units.
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 stormwater 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
The conveyancer, on behalf of the seller/owner, needs to submit the completed and signed form via e-mail to CertificateOfCompliance@capetown.gov.za. The system will not delay the issuing of rates and taxes clearances by the municipality.
For more information call Danie Klopper on 021 590 1488 or click here and look under the ‘policies, laws and by-laws’ tab to view the amended Water By-laws and Certificate of Compliance document.
Your Drips-and-Drains, Durbanville Plumber says know where to turn off your water
On two occasions today as Drips-and-Drains, Your Durbanville Plumber, we were called to attend to plumbing emergencies where our clients had no idea where to turn off their water mains to the house. Folks, you must realise that this could save you plenty of heart ache and damage to your home. If you suddenly have a burst water pipe in your ceiling, you need to know where to turn off the water to your home. Imagine having a hose pipe with full water pressure open in your ceiling space! If you manage to turn off the water immediately it can prevent so much damage. In one instance the husband was away on business and the wife had to deal with this plumbing emergency while two little children were adding to the stress levels. It’s not fair. Know where your emergency service provider’s telephone numbers are (especially that of Drips-and-Drains, Your Durbanville Plumber J), in fact, have them on speed dial in your cell phones as well. Also, know where to turn off the electricity and the water mains. Trust me, at Drips-and-Drains, Your Durbanville Plumber, we have seen too many disasters, and they happen when you least expect them!
Yes, as your Durbanville Plumber we are able to respond fast to your plumbing emergency, but those couple of minutes before we arrive at your home, if you manage to turn off the water main sooner, you could prevent plenty of damage.
Till next time folks!
Deon Goodwin
Drips-and-Drains Plumbing
Your Durbanville Plumber
Drips-and-Drains, Your Durbanville Plumber Repairing a burst pipe
It has been another busy day for your Durbanville Plumber because at Drips-and-Drains Plumbing we have been attending to numerous plumbing emergencies. After all, that is what we specialise in. From burst pipes to burst geysers. In the following photograph you can see one of the jobs we did today. As your experienced Drips-and-Drains Durbanville Plumber we were able quickly able to locate the burst pipe in the cupboard of the unit above and with minimal damage we were able to repair the burst pipe. The lesson to be learned is that if a drip starts, deal with it as in most cases it will only get worse over time. In this case we were fortunate in the sense that our plumbers were able to carry out the plumbing repairs from inside the kitchen cupboard of the upstairs unit and no damage was done to tiles and brick work. There was a pinhole in the cold water pipe and once we cut out and replaced the section of pipe with the pinhole and turned on the water main it started leaking 30 cm further down the pipe. This is often the case if the pipe is deteriorating. Due to the water pressure being 100% in the pipe after the first repair, if there is another weak spot in the copper pipe it will push out there. What we did in this case was replace as much of the pipe in the wall as possible. After a pressure test was done and the wall dried out we returned to close up. Another satisfied customer for Drips-and-Drains, Your Durbanville Plumber 
Drips-and-Drains Your Durbanville Plumber locating a burst pipe
