Electricity is part of daily life, which makes it easy to forget just how powerful, and potentially dangerous, it can be when basic precautions aren't followed. Electrical repairs and maintenance should always be handled with care, and only by qualified electricians. Here's what every Cosmopolitan Projects homeowner should know to keep their home, family, and warranty protected.
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Every home has a distribution board, commonly called a DB board. Inside it, you'll find various circuit breakers or switches clearly marked for plugs, lights, geyser, main supply, earth leakage, and more. Knowing what each switch controls means that if something goes wrong, you can act quickly and confidently rather than guessing which breaker to flip.
The main breaker is the master switch controlling the electrical supply to your entire home. This is your first port of call if you ever need to cut power completely for safety reasons or during electrical work.
The earth leakage relay is one of the most important safety devices in your home, designed to prevent electrical shock. It works by detecting current leaking to earth and cutting the power before it can harm anyone.
Never force it back up with tape or any other method if a circuit breaker or the main switch keeps tripping. This is extremely dangerous. Breakers are engineered to trip precisely when there's a safety threat, protecting you and your home from electrical shock or fire. A switch that keeps tripping is doing its job; the fault needs to be found and fixed, not bypassed.
Sometimes a switch trips simply because too many appliances are drawing power from the same circuit at once. The breaker will trip to protect the circuit if several plugs are in use simultaneously and the combined current draw is too high. Spreading high-draw appliances across different plug points can help avoid this.
Learn more about your electricity with our Prepaid Electricity Meter guide.
Cosmopolitan Projects provides a one-year warranty on all electrical fittings in your home, valid from the date of occupation. This is a valuable protection, but it comes with an important condition:
Any work or changes made to the original electrical structure will invalidate this warranty.
Always use a qualified electrician and request a Certificate of Compliance (COC) if you need electrical work done, whether it's a repair, an upgrade, or an addition. A COC confirms the work meets South Africa's electrical safety regulations, protecting both your home and your legal position.
Refer to your homeowner's information pack for full details on your warranty terms and what's covered. See Home Repair and Emergencies for a quick guide on what to do when you experience urgent faults.
| Do | Don't |
| Know where your DB board is and what each switch controls | Force a tripping breaker back on with tape or pressure |
| Test your earth leakage switch regularly | Attempt electrical repairs or alterations yourself |
| Use a qualified electrician for any electrical work | Skip requesting a Certificate of Compliance (COC) |
| Keep your Certificate of Compliance on file | Overload multiple appliances on a single circuit |
| Refer to your homeowner's information pack for warranty terms | Assume unauthorised changes won't affect your warranty |
Discover more Top Tips for a First-Time Homeowner.
A distribution board, or DB board, is the central panel in your home containing the circuit breakers and switches that control power to different areas, such as plugs, lights, and the geyser, as well as the main breaker and earth leakage switch.
Press and release the test button on the earth leakage switch. It should trip immediately, cutting power as designed. Always switch it back on afterwards. Contact a qualified electrician if it fails to trip or won't reset properly.
A breaker that keeps tripping is detecting a genuine safety threat and cutting power to protect you from electrical shock or fire. Forcing it back on with tape or any other method bypasses this protection and is extremely dangerous.
Yes. Cosmopolitan Projects provides a one-year warranty on all electrical fittings, valid from the date of occupation. Any unauthorised work or changes to the original electrical structure will invalidate this warranty.
A Certificate of Compliance confirms that electrical work carried out on your home meets South Africa's safety regulations. You should always request a COC for any electrical work done on your property, both for safety and to protect your warranty.