Photos That Help an Electrician

An electrician needs to know which rooms are dead, whether anything is hot or wet, and whether the street still has power. They do not need a photograph of the inside of a distribution board taken by a tenant. ManjeProp will not ask you for that picture. If a contractor later opens the board, that file belongs on the repair, not on your camera roll.

This is what you should send from a safe place.

First, what not to photograph

Do not open the DB board to “get a better shot.” Do not remove a socket cover. Do not photograph exposed conductors. Do not stand on a wet floor with a charger in your hand. Do not send a video of someone resetting breakers they cannot name.

If you already opened something, stop, stay away, and say on the ticket that a cover is off. That is now more urgent, not more helpful.

Shots that are actually useful

The fitting from a distance. A scorched plug, a melted adaptor, a light that is dead, a gate motor housing from the outside, an appliance that smells. Include enough wall that we know which room.

The room context. Which side of the house, which kitchen wall, which passage. A door number if there is one.

The appliance identity. If a fridge, kettle or microwave is the only thing that failed, a photo of the model sticker on the back or the door. Unplug only if the plug and your hands are dry.

The prepaid display, if you can see it without forcing a lid or opening a board. Credit or no credit changes the job.

The street, if it matters: a photo that shows neighbour lights on while yours are off, taken from your gate. No need for a panorama of the suburb.

Water and electricity in one frame

If water is near a socket or a light, photograph from the dry. That combination is Emergency: phone +27 60 313 6961, mark the form Emergency, do not investigate further. The picture exists to stop the next person walking into it, not to win a detail award.

Words the pictures cannot carry

On Report a fault, category Electricity:

Property and unit
Which rooms or plugs are affected
Whether the street has power
Whether you checked prepaid credit
Smell, heat, trip, shock — use those words if they are true
Whether this started after a storm or after load-shedding ended
Whether anyone was hurt

Severity: Emergency for heat, smoke, shock, water on electrics. A single dead bedside lamp is Low. A whole house dark on a live street is at least High.

The on-screen checklist already says: do not open the board, check prepaid, tell us which rooms. Follow it. Do not add steps.

Gate motors and after-hours

A photo of the gate from outside, and a sentence that says whether people are locked out now, is the access half of an electrical job. If it is night and you are outside, phone. Do not film the manual release being forced.

Prepaid, municipal and “it was fine after load-shedding”

A photo of a prepaid display with zero credit is a different job from a scorched socket. Take the display photo if you can see it without forcing a lid. If you cannot see it, write “display not visible, lid not forced.”

If power returned after an outage and then a smell started, say the sequence. A photo of the fitting that is now hot, from a distance, is the useful frame. A photo of the dark street from two hours ago is optional context.

Do not reset a board to “test” for a better before-and-after. One honest now-photo is enough.

Staff and contractors

When the electrician attends, they may photograph the open board. That evidence sits on the repair log with the invoice. It is not a social post. It is not a training reel. Close the ticket only when the finished fitting is documented.

Do not ask a tenant to send a “better” board photo. Send the registered person.

If a tenant already sent a picture of an open board, do not ask them to go back for another angle. Treat the cover as off, keep people away, and attend.

Viewers

Do not open boards on a viewing. If a scorch is visible on a socket, photograph the socket from the room and write it on the enquiry form.

Useful electrical photos are boring, distant, and dry. The dangerous details are for the person who is allowed to open the cover.

Report a fault · +27 60 313 6961 · emergency services first if people are at risk.