Transfer Inspections
The full water installation checked against the requirements, with a written pass or a written list of what fails and why.
Home/Plumbing Compliance Certificate
A plumbing compliance certificate in Bellville is a condition of transfer under the City of Cape Town Water By-law, so every seller needs one. The inspection is a pass or fail against stated requirements. Each remedial item comes with the rule it fails, and anything that is merely an upgrade is listed apart and left to you.
Tell us the property address, whether it is a house or a sectional title unit, and your transfer date if you have one.
The certificate is about the water installation on the property. Electrical and gas each have their own certificate and their own inspector.
The full water installation checked against the requirements, with a written pass or a written list of what fails and why.
The water heater, its safety valves, drip tray and drainage checked as installed, not just whether it produces hot water.
The isolating valve and the non-return valve the by-law requires downstream of it, plus any cross-connection risks.
Dripping taps, running cisterns and leaks on the property found and recorded, since water wasting fittings are part of the inspection.
Each failed item priced on its own line with its reason, so you can see exactly what you are paying to pass.
Already holding a remedial quote that looks long? It can be checked line by line against what the certificate actually requires.
In Cape Town a house cannot be transferred until a registered plumber has signed off its water installation, a rule set by section 14 of the City's Water By-law. That is unusual in South Africa, and it creates an unusual moment: the seller has to pay, the transfer is waiting, and the inspector is often whoever the agent suggested.
Reviews of compliance inspections in the Northern Suburbs keep coming back to one complaint. Remedial quotes arrive carrying work that has nothing to do with compliance, described as though it were required. Sellers who then get a second inspection report that the certificate needed far less than the first list said.
The test for every line on a remedial list is simple: which requirement does it fail? A leaking fitting fails. So does a missing non-return valve, which the by-law requires downstream of the isolating valve, and a geyser without its safety valves or drainage. An old but sound geyser does not fail, and neither does a bathroom that is merely tired.
The other half of the complaint runs the opposite way. A certificate is only as good as the inspection behind it, and a buyer who inherits a defect the inspector missed pays for it after transfer. So valves are operated and the installation is tested under pressure, not simply looked at.
Ask for the remedial list with a reason written against every line. Anything without a reason is not compliance. It is a sale, and you are entitled to decline it.
You should be able to verify every claim on a compliance report yourself. These rules make that possible.
No remedial item appears without the requirement it fails written beside it.
Recommended improvements are priced separately and never needed for the certificate to pass.
Valves are operated and the installation pressure-checked, so the certificate reflects how it works.
The seller may use any registered plumber. An agent's suggestion is a suggestion, not a requirement.
There are two parts: the inspection, which is a fixed fee quoted when you book, and any remedial work, which is priced item by item once the inspection is done. If the installation passes, the inspection is the only cost. The plumber prices page sets out how every quote is structured.
Yes. Under the City’s Water By-law, no property changes hands until a registered plumber has certified its water installation. The sale agreement usually says who pays, and in most agreements it is the seller.
No. Any registered plumber can issue the certificate. It is reasonable to ask the recommended inspector for a reason against each remedial item, and to get a second opinion if the list looks long.
No. The electrical and gas certificates are separate documents with separate inspectors. If there is a gas stove, hob, fireplace or gas geyser, see the gas installations page for the gas certificate.
A failed item does not meet a stated requirement and has to be fixed before the certificate can be issued. An upgrade might be a good idea but is not required. They are listed separately so you can see the difference.
The certificate applies to the water installation serving the property being transferred. In a sectional title scheme some pipework is common property, and the report records which items belong to the unit and which to the body corporate.
A standard house is usually inspected in a single visit. The written result follows the inspection, and if everything passes the certificate can be issued without a second visit.
That is exactly the situation a thorough inspection is meant to prevent. Valves are operated and the system is tested under pressure so the certificate reflects the installation as it actually works, not how it looks on the day.
Get In Touch
Selling, or holding a remedial quote you are not sure about? Send the details and we will come back with a date and a fixed inspection fee.