CITY ADVICES OF REGULATIONS FOR DOMESTIC GENERATORS
By City of zcape Town - May 31, 2015
With more and more residents investigating the options for keeping their lights on during periods of loadshedding, the City of Cape Town would like to outline the conditions that need to be met to ensure that generator installation is safe and legal.
Permission from the City’s Electricity Services Department is only required if their stand-by generator is going to synchronised or connected to the City’s electrical network. If the generator is to be operated in isolation from the City’s network, as will be the case in the vast majority of residential generator installations, permission from Electricity Services is not required.
The City does, however, recommend that a qualified electrician install the generator and issue a certificate of compliance to the property owner if the generator is to be connected to the existing internal wiring of the property. This is to prevent possible damage to appliances if it is not properly installed.
From a noise pollution perspective, residents must ensure that noise emanating from their property does not cause a disturbance. If the noise travelling into the neighbours’ property exceeds 50 A-weighted decibels (dBA), or exceeds the residual noise level by more than 5 dBA and the City receives a complaint, a notice to cease will be issued.
‘I appeal to residents with generators to please take extra care to soundproof their devices. In times of loadshedding, when tensions are already running high, this kind of noise disturbance can test even the most patient among us,’ says the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Utility Services, Councillor Ernest Sonnenberg.
Furthermore, residents should please be considerate in terms of any emissions that their generator might give off. If any resident feels that the smell or smoke of their neighbour’s generator is causing a nuisance, they are welcome to submit a complaint. An inspection will then be performed by the City’s Environmental Health Department.
All complaints can be submitted to the City’s general enquiries call centre by phoning 0860 103 089, or by sending an e-mail to contact.us@capetown.gov.za.
Published by the City of Cape Town.
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