VerifiedElectrician is the one trade on this site where the trade certificate is only half the qualification. To certify an electrical installation as safe, which is what the paid work largely consists of, you must be a registered person under the Electrical Installation Regulations. That is a separate registration, applied for separately, and a trade certificate on its own does not give it to you.
The three registration categories
The regulations recognise three:
- Electrical tester for single phase. Registered to verify and certify single-phase installations at the point of control, excluding specialised installations.
- Installation electrician.
- Master installation electrician.
Registration is applied for under regulation 11(1) to the Occupational Health and Safety division of the Department of Employment and Labour. To register you must satisfy the chief inspector that you have sufficient knowledge of the rules applicable to electrical installations and appropriate practical experience in installing, verifying and certifying the type of installation you are applying for.
An electrical certificate of compliance carries a unique number obtainable from the chief inspector and may only be issued by a registered person. Confirmed 23 September 2026 in the Electrical Installation Regulations, 2009. Plan the registration from the start of your apprenticeship, not after it.
Where the trade sits
Electrical trades sit across three SETAs depending on where you work: the merSETA for manufacturing and engineering, the EWSETA for the energy and water sector, and the MQA at a mine. Choose the apprenticeship for the sector you want to work in, because the practical experience is what the chief inspector assesses later.
The trade test route itself is on our artisan bursaries page.
Bursaries that fund electrical trades
- Mining Qualifications Authority (MQA)
- merSETA
- Gibela
- Jindal Africa
- Kouga Wind Farm
- Tsitsikamma Wind Farm Trust
- Siza Water
- Thebe Foundation Dr EJ Mabuza Scholarship
- Bridgestone
- Bitou Municipality
- Drakenstein Municipality
- Eastern Cape Department of Education
Municipal schemes fund trades for residents: City of Cape Town, Cape Winelands District Municipality, Ndwedwe Local Municipality.
The two wind farm trusts are worth noting: renewable energy projects carry community development obligations, and electrical trades are the skills they most often fund.
See also our electrical engineering bursaries page for the degree route, and millwright bursaries.