Electrical System Compliance Certificate: What It Is and When It's Needed

The certificate of conformity for the electrical system certifies that the system is safe and compliant with regulations, and is mandatory for new systems or major modifications.
If you are planning to sell your house, you will find yourself having to deal with the certifications to provide to future buyers to complete the sale. These include the declaration of conformity of the electrical system, the document that guarantees that the property's system complies with current legislation established by Ministerial Decree 37/2008, an evolution of Law 46/90. The declaration of conformity of the electrical system is not an essential certification for completing the sale: a property, in fact, can be sold even without a compliant electrical system. It must be said, however, that this document affects the economic value of the apartment, therefore it is worth obtaining the certification before proceeding with the sale.

What we talk about in this article:

• Declaration of conformity of the electrical system: what it is and when it is mandatory
  
• Declaration of conformity of the electrical system: how obtain it and where to request it
  
• Electrical system certification and sale of a property
  
• What are the costs of the declaration of conformity of the electrical system
  

Declaration of conformity of the electrical system: what it is and when it is mandatory

The The electrical system declaration of conformity, also known as the DiCo, is an official certification drawn up by the installation company attesting that the work was carried out according to the rules of the trade and in full compliance with current regulations. In the documentation, the professional reports the characteristics of the system and the materials used, the details of the property owner, the company, and the technician who carried out the work, as well as the diagram and project report.

Once the work is completed, the company will keep the certification in its archives and provide a copy to the Single Building Office of the relevant Municipality and to the property owner.

Therefore, if you have decided to make changes to your apartment and intend to intervene on the electrical system, the company you hire will be required to provide you with the declarations of conformity once the work is completed.

This is just one of the situations in which the law requires the certification. Let's now see in which other occasions it is necessary to take it into account for electrical systems:

• renovation or modification of the system or its power;
• installation of a new electrical system;
• any renovation of the apartment including the electrical system;
• change of destination of the property (for example from home to commercial premises);

• connection of new utilities.

To establish whether the certificate of conformity is necessary or not, it is also important to consider the date of construction of the system.

• Systems installed before 1990: are considered compliant if equipped with sectioning and protection against overcurrents placed at the origin of the system, protection against direct contact, protection against indirect contact or protection with a differential switch with a nominal differential current not exceeding 30 mA [DM 37/2008, Art. 6 Paragraph 3];

• systems installed between 1990 and 27/03/2008: the DiCo certification is not required, but the Declaration of Conformity (DiRi), compiled by a certified technician.

If the system in your property was installed after 27/03/2008 you will instead need the declaration of conformity for the electrical system: let's see how to obtain it and where to request a copy.

Declaration of conformity for the electrical system: how to obtain it and where to request a copy Request it

Have you contacted a specialized company to work on your electrical system? Make sure they are qualified professionals and that, upon completion of the work, they provide you with the necessary document to certify that the work was carried out in compliance with the law.

If, however, you are not planning any work, but do not have the declaration of conformity for the electrical system and would like a copy, you can request it from the company that carried out the installation. If the company is unable to provide you with the document (which it should have by law anyway), you can request it from the Chamber of Commerce where the company is registered.

Electrical system certification and sale of a property

As we have seen, unless the property to be sold has a compliant system, the electrical system certification is not among the documents that the law requires the buyer to provide.

This means that you can sell a property with a compliant system only by providing the DiCo to the buyer and that you can carry out the sale even if the system does not comply with the law. In the latter case, the parties involved will decide how to proceed.

The buyer, in fact, could demand that the system be regularized and certified by the seller, or agree to buy the property without a compliant electrical system and bear the cost of the work. The notary will finally take care of including the agreement reached in the deed of sale.

As you can imagine, this choice affects the final price of the property. For this reason, we recommend obtaining the declaration of conformity before selling the house: it will allow you to limit the room for negotiation on the purchase price of the property.

What are the costs of the declaration of conformity of the electrical system

Now that you know the advantage of having a compliant electrical system, it will be useful to make sure you have the necessary certification to attest to it. If, however, your system does not comply with current legislation, it is time to involve an installation company and regularize the situation.

In the case of a new system, the cost of the intervention is usually included in the overall price, but the company may choose to divide the items, bearing in mind that the declaration of electrical system conformity is not an optional option.

For the certification of a system, however, the average price is around €200.00, which can rise up to €600.00 in the case of adaptation intervention.

The cost also varies based on whether or not it is necessary to involve a registered engineer. In fact, for a property with a surface area of less than 400 m2 or a system with a power output of less than 6 kW, the presence of a qualified technician is sufficient. Otherwise, the signature of an engineer will be required, and the price of the electrical system compliance declaration can reach up to €35/m2.

Since there is no single price for this type of intervention, our advice is to always request more than one quote and evaluate the offers of the companies involved.

Make sure you have the declaration of compliance for your home's electrical system and, if you don't have the document, make sure to obtain it before selling: it will represent a decisive added value for the final price of your property.