There are two documents in South Africa that everyone calls a "CoC", and they are not the same document. The electrical one is a Certificate of Compliance. The gas one is a Certificate of Conformity. Different law, different register, different person signing - and a plumber who is qualified to replace your geyser is not, by that fact, allowed to touch your gas.
That distinction is the whole guide. Gas installation is the most requested plumbing job we see, and it is the one where hiring the obvious person is most likely to leave you with work nobody may lawfully certify.
Only a registered practitioner may do the work
SAQCC Gas is mandated by the Department of Employment and Labour to register gas practitioners. This is a legal register, not a trade badge.
Only that person may issue the certificate
A Certificate of Conformity may only be issued by a registered LP Gas installer, and the owner or user must hold one for the installation.
It does not expire on a clock
A CoC stands until the installation is modified, altered, repaired or maintained. Change the system and the certificate no longer describes it.
Selling the property needs a current one
For domestic and commercial installations a CoC is required for a sale or change of ownership. The new certificate replaces the old.
Which law this comes from
Gas installations sit under the Pressure Equipment Regulations, promulgated under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993. The regulations say what must be achieved; SANS 10087-1:2013 is the code that says how, for domestic LP Gas installations.
SAQCC Gas is the body appointed and mandated by the Department of Employment and Labour to register gas practitioners. That mandate is the reason its register matters: an installer being "experienced" or "been doing it twenty years" is not the test, and neither is membership of an association.
How to check, before anyone starts
Ask for the SAQCC Gas registration number
Ask before the quote, not after the work. A registered practitioner will give it without hesitation; it is the thing that lets them trade.
Check it against the SAQCC Gas database
SAQCC Gas publishes an online register of practitioners. Looking someone up takes a minute and is the only step here that cannot be faked.
Confirm who will sign the certificate
The person who does the work and the person who signs should be the same registered practitioner. If a firm offers to have 'someone else sign it off', that is the answer you needed.
Expect the whole system to be inspected
Before issuing, the practitioner must check the entire gas installation, not only the appliance they came for. An inspection that stops at the new hob is not the inspection the certificate represents.
When you need a new certificate
A Certificate of Conformity has no expiry date printed on a calendar. It describes an installation at a moment in time, and it stands until the installation stops matching the description.
After any modification, alteration, repair or maintenanceRequired
Adding an appliance, moving a line, replacing a regulator - the system is no longer the one the certificate describes, so a new certificate is required.
On sale or change of ownershipRequired
For domestic and commercial installations a CoC is needed for the sale of the property or a change of ownership. The new certificate replaces the previous one.
Have the installation looked at periodicallyRecommended
Not a legal renewal - there is no such thing - but an installation nobody has inspected for years is where sale-day surprises come from.
If you are the plumbing business, not the customer
Gas is the most requested job in this trade on our platform and one of the few where the customer cannot simply pick the cheapest quote - they need someone who may lawfully sign. Registration is what converts that demand into work you are allowed to take.
Register with SAQCC Gas before quoting gas workRequired
Quoting work you may not certify wastes the customer's time and yours, and the certificate is the part they actually need.
Never sign for work you did not controlRequired
The certificate is a statement about an installation you inspected. Signing for someone else's work is the fastest way to lose the registration the business runs on.
Common questions
My plumber says he can do the gas work. Is that allowed?
Only if he is registered as a gas practitioner. Plumbing and gas are separate registrations, and only a registered practitioner may perform an LP Gas installation or issue the Certificate of Conformity for it. Ask for the SAQCC Gas registration number and check it on the SAQCC Gas database before the work starts, not after.
Does a gas Certificate of Conformity expire?
Not on a date. It stands until modifications, alterations, repairs or maintenance are done to the installation, at which point the certificate no longer describes the system and a new one is required. There is no annual renewal requirement, and you should treat anyone selling one as a yearly product with suspicion.
I am selling my house. Do I need a new gas CoC?
For domestic and commercial installations a CoC is required for the sale of a property or a change of ownership, and the new certificate replaces the previous one. Because the practitioner must inspect the entire installation before issuing, this is worth starting before you are under deadline pressure from a transfer.
Is the gas CoC the same as the electrical one?
No, and the shared abbreviation causes real confusion. The electrical document is a Certificate of Compliance under the Electrical Installation Regulations; the gas one is a Certificate of Conformity under the Pressure Equipment Regulations. Different registers, different qualified people, and holding one says nothing about the other.
The installer only looked at the new hob. Is that a proper inspection?
No. Before issuing a certificate the practitioner must check the entire gas system, not only the appliance they installed. A certificate issued after a glance at one appliance does not represent what the document claims it represents.
How do I check whether someone is actually registered?
SAQCC Gas publishes an online database of registered gas practitioners. Ask for the registration number and look it up. It is the one check in this process that cannot be talked around.
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