What homeowners need to know about their electric fences

Marike van Niekerk, Manager- Legal and Compliance at MUA Insurance Acceptances.

Electric fence regulations in South Africa have been around since 1988 despite many homeowners not necessarily giving the regulations the attention that they deserve. According to Marike van Niekerk, Manager- Legal and Compliance at MUA Insurance Acceptances, this is changing. “Homeowners need to ensure that are aware of these regulations, as local authorities are starting to clamp down on offenders.”

She says that this follows amendments to the regulations as set out in the Electrical Machinery Regulations published on 25 March 2011 under the Occupational Health and Safety Act that came into effect on 1 December 2012. “According to these amendments, owners of properties with an electric fence are required to obtain a Certificate of Compliance (COC) issued by a registered installer.”

Van Niekerk points out that homeowners are expected to use registered or qualified installers to erect electric fences at any type of property in order to comply with the regulations. “Non-compliant electric fencing is illegal and any homeowners can be held liable for injuries to another person due to faulty or non-compliant fencing. Non-compliance could also lead to severe statutory penalties such as fines or imprisonment.”

For example, van Niekerk says that should a child, animal or member of the police or fire fighting service get injured due to non-compliant electric fencing, any related liability insurance claim will be excluded from the insurance policy and not be paid out.

She explains that this is also the case should the property owner lease the premises to another person. “The owner does not only run the risk of huge legal liability suites, but they also risk being criminally prosecuted.”

Should a homeowner’s fence need maintenance repairs resulting from damage and further investigation establishes that the electric fence was installed by an unregistered party, the insurance claim will be rejected on the grounds of defective workmanship, says van Niekerk. “Furthermore, the fence will be taken down or shut off until all maintenance to the fence is done by a viable service provider.”

It is important that homeowners also adhere to additional requirements, as set out by the regulations. Van Niekerk states that this includes erecting warning signs that are visible from the pavement and driveway to caution any visitors, fences may not hang over into neighbouring properties and walls are also required to be a minimum height.

In the event of change in the ownership of the property, the regulation specifically addresses a “user and lessor”. It stipulates that the COC must be obtained by the “user or lessor” when a change in ownership takes place after implementation date of the regulation (1 December 2012). Van Niekerk advises that it might be a good idea to stipulate the responsibility in the offer to purchase in an effort to avoid issues during the time of transfer.

“Should a property inspection occur and it is found that the electric fence (which is subject to the new regulations) was not installed or altered by a registered installer, the fence might be taken down or instruction will be given to the new property owner to have it rectified by a registered installer,” says van Niekerk.

Loadshedding

In addition to these regulation and with loadshedding set to stay in South Africa for the near future, consumers need to ensure that their electric fence continues to function properly during power cuts by having a back-up battery in place.

Van Niekerk says that these frequent power cuts can dramatically reduce the lifespan of the battery, so homeowners need to ensure they replace the battery or have it checked by their security provider on a regular basis to avoid insurance claim repudiations due to loss or damage resulted from defective electric fences.

“At MUA, we will not reject an insurance claim based purely on technical issues, but each case will be considered in its own merits,” she explains. “Consideration will be given to surrounding circumstances such as the reasonableness of the insured to make use of a specific installer, where warning signs are erected etc.”