Document Checks
What you'll need to sell your property
These are the documents a conveyancing attorney and the Deeds Office will ask for. Requirements vary by property and municipality, and your conveyancer confirms which apply to yours.
What your conveyancer will need (FICA)
Your conveyancer is the one who has to satisfy FICA, not you. This is what they will ask for.
South African identity document
Foreigners: your passport.
A utility bill
Addressed to where you live, less than 2 months old.
Confirmation of your marital status
Which decides everything in the next section.
Your marital status changes the list
More than most people expect, and the answer is often not the one they assume.
Married
Your marriage certificate.
Married in community of property
Your spouse's identity document. Then, separately, their written consent, signed in front of two witnesses. The ID is not the consent, and the consent is the one that stops transfers. (Matrimonial Property Act 88 of 1984, s15(2)(a))
Divorced
The divorce order and the settlement agreement.
Widowed
The death certificate. Plus Letters of Executorship if the property was in a joint estate.
Married by customary law
The default is in community of property, which surprises a lot of people. (Recognition of Customary Marriages Act 120 of 1998)
Married outside South Africa
Which country's law governs your marriage follows the husband's domicile on the wedding day. This one needs an attorney.
Selling as a company, close corporation or trust
The person signing for the entity, and every director, member or trustee, provides everything above. Then add:
Companies registered before 2011
CM1 and CM22.
Companies registered under the current Act
CoR 14.3 (registration certificate), CoR 39 (change of directors), CoR 21.1 (registered address).
Close corporations
CK1, and CK2 if there have been changes.
Trusts
Letters of Authority, the trust deed and every amendment, and a resolution naming who may sign.
Beneficial ownership
Companies and close corporations file a return at CIPC. Trusts lodge a s11A register with the Master. Conveyancers ask for these now.
Compliance certificates
Not everything on this list is law. Here they are sorted by what actually compels them.
Required by law, every sale
Electrical Certificate of Compliance
Valid 2 years, and transferable. If the current one is still in date you can hand it over. (Electrical Installation Regulations 2009, reg 7(5))
Rates and municipal clearance certificate
The Deeds Office cannot register a transfer without it. Valid 60 days, covering what was owed over the preceding 2 years. (Municipal Systems Act 32 of 2000, s118(1))
Only if you have the installation
Gas certificate of conformity
For a fixed LPG installation. (Pressure Equipment Regulations 2009, reg 17(3))
Electric fence system certificate
Where a system is installed. (Electrical Machinery Regulations 2011, reg 12)
Sectional title and estates
Levy clearance
No transfer happens without it. Watch for special levies, which can be large. (Sectional Titles Act 95 of 1986, s15B(3))
Homeowners association clearance
Not law, but usually a condition written into the title deed, which makes it just as binding.
Depends where you live
Plumbing certificate
A City of Cape Town by-law. There is no national one, so a seller in Johannesburg, Durban or Pretoria does not need it.
Only if your sale agreement asks for it
Beetle certificate
No law anywhere in South Africa requires one. It is a clause in the offer to purchase, and customary at the coast.
Approved building plans
Not needed to sell, and their absence does not block a transfer.
The disclosure form
You may have heard about the mandatory disclosure form. It applies to agents.
The Property Practitioners Act 22 of 2019 (s67, and Regulation 36.1) says a property practitioner may not accept a mandate without a completed Immovable Property Condition Report. It binds the agent, not the seller. Selling privately, nobody compels you to fill one in.
It is still worth doing. It is the cleanest record of what you told a buyer, and hiding a defect you know about exposes you whether a form exists or not. Voetstoots has never covered deliberate concealment.
What it covers: defects you can see with the naked eye, and defects you know about that cannot be seen.
Start these early
None of these are certificates. All of them hold up a transfer if you leave them.
Bond cancellation
Tell your bank the day you decide to sell. They want 90 days notice, and less than that can cost you up to three months of penalty interest.
Your title deed
If the property is bonded the bank holds it and your conveyancer requests it. If it is unbonded and yours has gone missing, a certified copy takes time.
Your SARS income tax number
The conveyancer needs it for the transfer duty declaration.
Selling from abroad
On a sale over R2 million by a non-resident, the conveyancer must withhold and pay SARS 7.5% of the price for a natural person, 10% for a company, 15% for a trust. (Income Tax Act 58 of 1962, s35A)
A deceased estate, trust or insolvent estate
The seller is the executor, trustee or liquidator, and Letters of Executorship are needed.
A home you built yourself
NHBRC enrolment. (Housing Consumers Protection Measures Act 95 of 1998)
XP24 advertises properties. We don't collect, hold or check any of these documents.