The Plumbing Industry, especially with regard to the installation, replacement, and repair of geysers/hot water heaters goes through constant changes in regulations, compliance standards, safety standards, and guidelines.
As a result of these changes, lack of understanding and in some cases misinterpretation or misguidance, a state of confusion and further lack of understanding has crept into the industry sector.
With this confusion and the lack of compliance regarding the installation, replacement and repair of geysers/hot water heaters, insurers have become stricter with the use of non-approved plumbers (who don’t necessarily ensure that the geyser is up to current SANS Specifications).
Regulation No. 7079 dated the 8th June 2001 as Gazetted by the South African Government, requires all fixed electrical storage water heating systems to comply with SANS 10254 installation specifications (SANS – South Africa National Standards). This legislation requires that all new geyser installations and replacement geyser installations performed after 8 June 2001 must be in accordance with the specifications, which requires the installation to have a geyser drip tray with overflow pipe piped to the exterior of the building. In addition, vacuum breakers must be installed on the hot and cold-water supply and the overflow from the safety valve and expansion relief valve must be piped to the exterior of the building.
Problems with geysers are very common in the day to day running of sectional title schemes. The implication of not having compliance certificates, and a geyser burst, the Body Corporate’s insurance company is entitled to repudiate the claim.
The challenge body corporates face is the maintenance of geysers which often they are not responsible for. Prescribed management rule 68 (vii) states that an owner in addition to section 44 of the Act “shall maintain the hot water installation which serves his section, or, where such installation serves more than one section, the owners concerned shall maintain such installations pro-rata, notwithstanding that such appliance is situated in part of the common property and is insured in terms of the policy taken out by the body corporate.”
The owner of a section is therefore responsible for repairs and maintenance (including replacement) irrespective of where the geyser is situated. Geysers are however insured through the general building insurance cover of the body corporate.
Geysers installed, repaired, replaced or maintained in 2018 (or later), need a compliance certificate. Without a valid geyser compliance certificate in place, where the geyser was worked on in 2018 or later, and should something go wrong, an insurance claim may be rejected.
It has therefore become imperative for body corporates to educate owners and tenants in terms of the geyser compliance regulations.
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