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Compliance by state

How to issue an electrical certificate of compliance in South Australia

In South Australia the electrical contractor must issue an electronic certificate of compliance (eCoC) through the Office of the Technical Regulator's eCoC system and give it to the customer within 30 days of finishing the work. It confirms the licence, the testing, compliance with the Australian Standards and any existing hazards you found.

Last checked 25 Sep 2026 against the sources listed at the end of this page.

Official name
Electronic certificate of compliance (eCoC) for electrical work
Regulator
Office of the Technical Regulator, Department for Energy and Mining
Who issues it
The licensed electrical contractor, with every other contractor involved in the work also signing off
When
Completing electrical work
Deadline
Given to the customer within 30 days of completing the work
Lodgement
Completed and submitted online through OTR's free eCoC system
Keep records for
The eCoC system stores submitted certificates online. The OTR pages checked for this guide do not state a separate retention period for contractors, so keep your own copy on the job.
Penalty
The OTR and ABLIS pages checked for this guide do not publish a penalty figure for a late or missing certificate. OTR audits contractors, including on certificate submission, under the Electricity Act 1996 and the Electricity (General) Regulations 2012; check the regulations before relying on a figure.

Homeowner? If you had electrical work done in South Australia, your electrician must give you an electronic certificate of compliance within 30 days; contact the Office of the Technical Regulator if you do not get one.

What the certificate must show

Recent change

OTR replaced paper certificate of compliance books with the electronic eCoC system for electrical, gas and plumbing work.

Produce it from a ServiceM8 job

  1. In Settings > Forms > Add Form, create a form called SA electrical eCoC capture, so the details you need for eCoC are recorded on site.
  2. Add Text (Multi-line) for Description of work, Date for Date completed, and a Multiple Choice question per test performed (for example insulation resistance, earth continuity, polarity, RCD operation) with Pass / Fail / Not applicable.
  3. Add a mandatory Multiple Choice question, Existing safety concerns found, with Yes / No, and a Text (Multi-line) and Photo question to record what you found and that you told the customer.
  4. Add a Text question for Other contractor involved (name and licence number), so you know who else must sign off in eCoC.
  5. Attach the form to a job badge (for example SA eCoC) and set the badge requirement so it must be completed before the job can be checked out.
  6. At completion, enter the recorded details into the eCoC system and submit; the diary PDF from the form is your on site record of what was tested.
  7. Add a follow up task or reminder on the job dated 30 days after completion, so any certificate still waiting on another contractor's sign off is chased before the deadline.

One regulator, three trades

South Australia does things differently from the eastern states. Electricians, plumbers and gasfitters are all licensed under one Act, the Plumbers, Gas Fitters and Electricians Act 1995, and the technical side of all three trades is watched by one body, the Office of the Technical Regulator (OTR), part of the Department for Energy and Mining.

For electrical work the certificate itself rests on the Electricity Act 1996 and the Electricity (General) Regulations 2012. Plumbing certificates sit under different legislation and a shorter deadline, which is why the plumbing version has its own guide. If your business does both trades, do not reuse one template for both.

Paper is gone: it is the eCoC now

OTR replaced the old paper books with the electronic Certificate of Compliance (eCoC) system. It is free for electrical, gas and plumbing contractors and workers, and lets you complete, submit, store and look up certificates online. Submitting through eCoC is what gets the certificate to the regulator, so there is no separate lodgement step to remember.

Where more than one contractor worked on the job, you and every other contractor involved must sign off on the same certificate. Plan for that on jobs where you bring in a subcontractor for part of the installation, because the certificate cannot be finished until both of you have signed.

The 30 day deadline

The customer must have the certificate within 30 days of completing the work. That is a longer window than the plumbing rule in the same state, and it is easy to let it drift when invoices are chased separately. The simple habit is to raise the eCoC from the job at completion, so it goes out with or before the invoice.

What the certificate vouches for

An SA electrical eCoC is not just a test sheet. It certifies four things: that the person who did the work holds the right licence, that the completed work has been tested, that it is safe and meets the Australian Standards, and that you told the customer about any existing safety concerns you noticed at the installation. That last item is unusual. If you spot an old switchboard with no RCD protection or a damaged fitting outside your scope, record it and tell the customer, because the certificate says you did.

OTR audits: random and targeted

OTR's electrical trades section can audit electrical installations, electrical workers and electrical contractors, either at random or in response to complaints. Its published audit program includes contractors picked at random from a database, and audits for specific reasons such as submitting certificates of compliance, calibration of testing equipment, and rescue and resuscitation training.

In practice that means the certificate is the first thing an auditor pulls. A certificate that matches the job record, with test results that were actually taken on site, is your best defence. Keep your test instrument calibration records with the same care.

Sources

  1. In South Australia you must issue an electronic certificate of compliance (eCoC) if you have carried out electrical work, and you and any other contractor involved in the work must both sign off on it. Australian Business Licence and Information Service (ABLIS), Electrical Work Certificate of Compliance, SA, checked 25 Sep 2026.
  2. The certificate confirms the tradesperson is correctly licensed, the completed work has been tested, is safe and meets the Australian Standards, and the contractor has informed the customer of any existing safety concerns. Australian Business Licence and Information Service (ABLIS), checked 25 Sep 2026.
  3. Certificates of compliance must be provided to the customer within 30 days of completing the work; the governing legislation is the Electricity Act 1996, the Plumbers, Gas Fitters and Electricians Act 1995 and the Electricity (General) Regulations 2012. Australian Business Licence and Information Service (ABLIS), checked 25 Sep 2026.
  4. OTR moved from paper certificates of compliance to the electronic eCoC system, which is free for electrical, gas and plumbing contractors and workers and lets them complete, submit, store and refer to certificates online. SA.GOV.AU, Certificates of compliance, checked 25 Sep 2026.
  5. OTR's electrical trades section may audit electrical installations, workers and contractors at random or in response to complaints, under the Electricity Act 1996 and the Electricity (General) Regulations 2012, including audits of contractors selected at random and audits for submission of certificates of compliance, calibration of testing equipment and rescue and resuscitation training. Department for Energy and Mining, Office of the Technical Regulator, Electrical trades, checked 25 Sep 2026.
  6. Completed ServiceM8 forms convert to a PDF saved to the job diary, where they can be emailed; form answers are placed into a Word document template using Template Field Codes. ServiceM8 Help Center, checked 25 Sep 2026.