************ Plumber

I approached licensed plumber Keyashen Vittie, licensed registration number 9362/22, seeking a plumbing certificate of compliance, as I am selling my house.

He quoted as follows: • R2,000 evaluation to obtain a certificate of compliance • R950 certificate of compliance I thought that a paper version came at a cost of around R211. The above price is 350.23% more expensive.

Post his evaluation, he quoted for the following to comply with the mandatory requirements (so I was told) for a certificate of compliance:

• Installing water in the house: R1,000 Note that the kitchen tap, bathroom basin, and outside tap was working. So, what exactly this was for, I am uncertain.

• Remove broken toilet and install second hand toilet I provided: R1,500 I was under the impression that the toilet just needed to flush properly to comply with the certificate of compliance requirements and since there were two toilets, I'm unsure as to the necessity to replace this toilet.

• Installation of 3 IEs for drainage system including material: R3,000 I don't know what an IE is and don't know why it was required when 3 toilets have worked properly in all the years that the tenants have stayed here. Also, the material used was not broken down in the quote received and I thought this was required.

This work was conducted over two days.

I asked for information purposes as to the cost to install a shower for which he quoted: • Shower: R5,000 I don't know why this is so much when the original house plan had a shower here. Plus the material was not detailed in the quote.

• Geyser: R2,500 There already is a geyser. Only the element is problematic.

Since I did not budget for such exorbitant costs, I decided not to give an instruction to do this.

Yesterday he proceeded to insist that a geyser must be put in or the solar geyser must be fixed because there must be hot water and there must be a shower. None of these items were advised to be compulsory when we had the initial discussions agreeing to only do what was pertinent to obtain the relevant document.

I hereby express my dissatisfaction on: • Keyashen as the expert not properly explaining what a certificate of compliance covers and what the mandatory requirements are to comply with from the outset, as this is the only work, I was prepared to do. • Receiving a certificate of compliance that is not compliant in all respects, which defeats the very purpose of this whole exercise. • Being unable to clearly communicate, as his phone is never audible to have a decent conversation. • Not getting the complete picture from the start. Instead, it was received piecemeal with a lack of clarity as to the why and how with the goal post shifting every day. • Being bul**** to make money off me for unnecessary work. • Being pushed to make immediate payment and incur extra bank charges of R13. • Paying R8,450, a significant amount of money, for so little work of any real meaning, and that does not meet my immediate need since I don't have a compliant certificate of compliance. • No final invoice was received despite payment being made in full. • CoC installation details – Two toilets are referenced but which ones are we talking about since there are three? The bathroom basin was left off here. How come nothing about the drainage was mentioned since it was “fixed”? • CoC pre-existing non-compliance conditions – One toilet is referenced but which one are we talking about since there are three? Can someone confirm back to me in writing about whether a shower, hot water and a geyser are required?

The standard of work and nature of advice are not commensurate with the large sum of money paid.

As a registered licensed plumber of the Plumbing Industry Registration Board, Keyashen is held to a higher standard, which he has failed to meet. If this is the calibre of persons that they allow to roam the streets to be ************, then I'm severely disappointed in their reputation as a professional body.

In my opinion, there is a material breach of duty and trust, which has caused me a financial loss. Not only of the money I have spent paying Keyashen but because of the additional costs to be incurred to source a reputable plumber to finish the job to get a compliant certificate of compliance. I have signed an offer to purchase, which is subject to me providing a clean plumbing certificate of compliance. This act by Keyashen has now delayed and frustrated the process. As such, I asked for a good portion of the payment to be returned to me, as this would be fair in the age of treating customers fairly where we cannot have dishonest tradesmen cheating hard working innocent people that rely on the reasonable expert to provide sound guidance of a transparent and honest nature. I have yet to receive a response from Keyashen and the PIRB but wanted the public to be made aware.