How long does it take to get my certificate?

Your certificate is issued within 12 hours of the treatment being completed and payment being received. In most cases we email it the same working day. If your inspection is booked for the following morning, tell us when you book and we’ll prioritise the paperwork so nothing on site is held up. Settling the invoice on the day is the one thing that keeps the clock running — so if the certificate is urgent, get the payment away as soon as you have the invoice and we will do the rest.

Is soil poisoning required by law?

The National Building Regulations and Building Standards Act 103 of 1977, and the SANS 10400 standards issued under it, require protection against termite attack for buildings in termite-prone areas. Local authorities in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng generally treat a soil poisoning certificate as the evidence of compliance at foundation inspection stage. Practically speaking: if you don’t have the certificate, your foundation inspection won’t pass, and the build stops. It’s worth getting it done properly the first time.

Explained

What is a soil poisoning certificate?

A soil poisoning certificate is the document that proves a registered operator applied a termite barrier to your site, using a registered product, at the correct rate, on a specific date.

What it’s for

Two things. In the short term it’s what your local authority’s building inspector wants to see at foundation stage, and without it the inspection doesn’t pass and the build stops. In the long term it’s your evidence — if termite damage appears years later, the certificate is what establishes who treated the site, with what, and when.

That second purpose is the one people forget, and it’s the reason a cheap certificate from an unregistered operator is worse than useless. It only gets tested at the moment you need it to hold up.

What a proper certificate contains

The property address and the specific area treated
The date the treatment was carried out
The termiticide used, including its Act 36 of 1947 registration
The application rate and total volume applied
The operator’s name and Department of Agriculture registration number
The warranty period and what it actually covers
A signature from the person responsible for the work

If a certificate you’re handed is missing the registration numbers or the application rate, ask why. Those are the fields that make it verifiable.

Who can issue one

Only an operator registered with the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, using termiticides registered under Act 36 of 1947. This isn’t a formality. The registration is what makes the document mean something, and it’s checkable.

When you need it

At foundation inspection stage on a new build, in most of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng. Also commonly requested on additions and alterations, and sometimes by banks or conveyancers during a property transfer, though the certificate usually asked for at transfer is an entomological or beetle certificate rather than a soil poisoning one. If you aren’t sure which you’ve been asked for, send us the request and we’ll tell you.

How long it takes

Ours is issued within 12 hours of the treatment being completed, usually the same working day. We can send it to your architect or principal agent directly as well, so the paperwork isn’t sitting in someone’s inbox while your inspection date arrives.