WHAT DOES LOA MEAN?
A LOA, or Letter of Authority, is a document issued by the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS). It certifies that a particular product, such as an electrical appliance, meets the mandatory safety, quality, and environmental standards set by the government before it can be sold within the country.
The LOA is crucial for manufacturers and importers as it signifies compliance with South African regulations. Without a valid LOA, electrical goods cannot be legally sold in South Africa, and they may be subject to impoundment by customs authorities. This applies to a wide range of products, from industrial machines to everyday household items that plug into a wall socket.
Obtaining an LOA involves submitting proof of compliance with the relevant South African standards or equivalent international regulations. The process ensures that all electrical products entering the market are safe for consumers and meet the required performance criteria.
An LOA (Letter Of Authority) is issued by the NRCS to confirm compliance with the Compulsory Specifications. The LOA is valid for a period of three years. You can’t use someone else’s LOA. It is not transferable.
The NRCS will NOT accept self-affirmed certificates such as the CE mark. The test report has to be done to IEC standards. The presence of the logo on commercial products indicates that the manufacturer or importer affirms the goods’ conformity with European health, safety, and environmental protection standards. It is not a quality indicator or a certification mark.
FAQ
Apart from back and forth communications with the supplier, you can expect to be charged between US$450 and US$1000 per item sent for testing (as well as the costs of the item itself, and the shipping of the item to the test laboratory). This could easily amount to R10 000 – R22 000 per item.
You will have to register your company with the NRCS (which costs a couple of thousand Rand, and could take up to 3 months), and then each item you submit for LOA approval will need to be accompanied by a payment to NRCS of R2045.55.
Depending on how busy the test laboratory is, you can count on at least 2-3 weeks to get a draft report (which you will have to approve) from the lab. Should there be a single thing in the report that NRCS does not like, be prepared for a back and forth to get it rectified. You will have 30 days from initial submission to NRCS to get it corrected and resubmitted.
Once the submission has been accepted, NRCS can take anything from 30 – 60 days to start working on it. If all is ok, you can expect to get the LOA within about 2 – 3 months after that.
The first time (and the first few times) is a nightmare. The NRCS website portal is not self-explanatory and it is easy to make mistakes. That is why to keep your sanity, we can do it all for you.