COC photos: how to build a photographic record of every job

By the EZ COC team. Published 1 October 2026. 6 min read.

Take photos of the distribution board before and after your work, mark the board with the COC number, and photograph each installation section. Give every photo a section and a short description, then keep them with the certificate. The ECB recommends photos; we found no source making them mandatory.

What the ECB recommends photographing

The ECB recommends before and after photos and marking the distribution board with the COC number. You can read the guidance on the ECB certificate of compliance page. The wording is a recommendation. We found no source confirming that photos are legally required for a COC, so treat them as good practice that protects you, not as a box the law makes you tick.

That distinction matters when you explain to a customer why you spend ten extra minutes on site. The honest answer is that the photos protect both of you. They show the condition of the installation on the day you signed it off.

Before and after shots of the DB

The distribution board is the single most useful thing to photograph, so take it twice. The first photo shows the board as you found it, with the cover off, before you touch anything. The second shows it as you leave it, with the circuits labelled and the cover back on.

Stand square to the board and make sure the whole thing is in frame and in focus. A blurry photo taken from an angle in bad light proves very little. Use your torch, and take a second shot if the first has glare on the breakers.

Marking the DB with the COC number

Write the COC number on the board in a permanent way, and photograph it. The ECB recommends this, and the benefit is plain. Years later, anyone standing at that board can tie it to a certificate, and you can prove that the board in the photo is the board you certified.

Include the marked number in your after photo, so that one image shows the finished board and its certificate reference together.

Tying each photo to a section and a description

A photo without context is just a picture of a wall. For each one, record which section of the installation it covers and a short description of what it shows. A section might be the main distribution board, the kitchen circuit, the geyser, the outside lights or the earthing at the main supply.

A good description says something checkable: "Geyser isolator and bonding, after replacement". A weak one says "geyser". Six months later you will be glad of the extra words.

This is how EZ COC treats photos. When you add a photo to a COC record, you give it a section and a description. That way the photos can later be grouped under the section they belong to rather than sitting in one long unsorted roll.

One annexure in one PDF

Photos are far more useful when they travel with the certificate. EZ COC can generate one page-numbered PDF with the certificate first, then a photographic-record annexure grouped by installation section. The agent or conveyancer gets a single file, and nobody has to ask where the photos went.

We cover the layout in how to combine a COC and test report into one PDF. If you are still deciding how to organise everything, how to store electrical COCs covers naming and searching.

One caution on what we can claim. We have not verified whether the ECB or ECA(SA) tools store photos in an annexure, so do not assume your issuing platform keeps them. Keep your own copy.

A routine you can keep

The best photo habit is the one you actually follow. Take the before photo as you arrive, the after photo as you finish, and label everything in the van before you drive off. Ten minutes of discipline on the day saves hours of guessing later.

Common mistakes

• Only taking after photos. Without a before shot you cannot show what you inherited, which matters if a defect was already there.
• Leaving photos on one phone. A lost or broken handset takes the evidence with it. Upload the same day.
• No labels. Fifty unlabelled images are nearly as bad as none.
• Photos that cannot be read. Glare, motion blur, covers half on. Retake it while you are still on site.
• Not photographing the number. If the COC number is not visible in at least one image, the link between board and certificate is only your word.
• Keeping photos and certificate apart. They only prove something together.

The fix for all of them is a short routine: photograph as you work, label before you leave, file the same day.

General information, not legal advice. Confirm requirements with the regulations and your registered electrician.