Electrical COCs are not required for IS loops in South Africa

The exclusion is based on the fact the instrument loops do not form part of the “Electrical Installation” as per the “Electrical Installation Regulation”, which is the only part of the OHS Act that requires a CoC and associated test report from SANS 10142-1.

NEW  (added 05/08/2022): Please note that SANS 10142 Edition 3.1 with new checklist is available  https://store.sabs.co.za/catalogsearch/result/?q=sans+10142-1+ed+3  (There is a typo in webstore that says 3.01 instead of 3.1, which we will raise with them.). The specific mention of IS has been removed & the new report allows for all protection techniques to be included if the end user requires (i.e. they do not have a competent person on site).

If we look at the Electrical Installation Regulations it states the following exclusions:

Both points (b) and (d) can be seen to exclude instrumentation from the definition of an electrical installation. The Intrinsic Safety sub-committee engaged with government and this has been confirmed by Mr Pieter Laubscher of the Department of Employment and Labour.

He has stated at the SANS 10142-1 committee meetings that instrumentation loops typically form part of the Electrical Machinery Regulations, which does not require a CoC or Test report, but does require competent persons to do the design, installation and inspection.

In the latest SANS 10142-1 Edition 3, the Hazardous location test reports were updated to remove instrumentation and IS loops removed from the template, after the discussions with the DOL as above.

Contact gary@extech.co.za if you have any questions

Mr Laubscher has kindly offered to provide his contact details for any queries.

Pieter Laubscher : Specialist Inspector for Electrical Engineering

Directorate Electrical and Mechanical Engineering

Department of Employment and Labour

Tel: 012 309 4682/4378/4343

Cell: 082 774 6524

Web: www.labour.gov.za

E-mail: pieter.laubscher@labour.gov.za