SA Building Regulations (NBR) Introduction

1,269 Comments

1. Janita you asked about health and safety standards, but now seem to be referring to building standards. I am really not at all sure what you want to know. If a property owner does not comply either to the health and safety standards, or to the National Building Regulations, and someone for example falls and is injured as a result (perhaps slips on a bathroom floor or gets scalded by a shower), then the owner might be sued and held responsible for injuries. This will be up to the court to decide.
   A plumbing certificate shows that the plumbing is up to standard. I’m not sure what you mean here? If the plumbing isn’t up to standard then the owner is liable.

2. Hi Penny:

   That does not seem to answer the question I have. More specifically, if I am renting a house from someone what is the basic standards of safety which the bathroom needs to comply with before the owner is held responsible for transgression of the safety standards. This would pertain to the plumbing certificate issued when a house is sold. I hope that makes more sense?

   Kind Regards,
   Janita

3. You can download the Occupational Health and Safety legislation HERE.

4. Hi:

   I am looking for more information on the health and safety regulations pertaining to bathrooms, during and after construction (legislation on the subject). If anyone could point me in the right direction on that, I would really appreciate it very much.

   Kind Regards,
   Janita

5. They never handed in a plan for the building. It has just an office inside rest is floor space. We use it for funiture manufacture.

6. rent ing building on plott Kelly’s view Bloemfontein. The owner gave us the go ahead to put up “Af dak”
   next to building. it is latch on to building. They say now after 2 years they need building plans for “af dak”. is this true

7. We are in the process of buying a home in Monteseel, Durban. There are no plans what so ever with town planning and the current owner has added a front patio and extended the kitchen. We are looking at doing the plans ourselves once we have bought it and getting plans drawn up and approved so that we have a legal building. How do we protect ourselves in terms of if any fines are given by the town planning, or if they find something they consider illegal? When there are NO PLANS ANYWHERE? Inspect a home had seen the home a year ago and were happy. In terms of the small extention to the kitchen, we had a building person look at it and didnt see any fault anywhere. Where likely do they find illegal problems that get to the point of getting it demolished?

8. Debbie, it depends on the size of the carport. Please read this article – CLICK HERE – that explains about minor building works. The other issue is the building line as you cannot simply build up to your boundary. Here’s another LINK at our sister site ownerbuilding.

9. Hi Rose,
   You have also asked this question on our “contact us” page so I will answer them both here. First of all, the carport installer needs to advise clients correctly as to what is required by law. The National Building Regulations has a clause that relates to “minor building work” that specifies “open-sided car, caravan or boat shelters or carports that do not exceed 40 square metres in size” are regarded as minor building work and do not need plans. So your 3×3 metre (9 sq m) carport certainly is within the law in terms of minor building work. BUT the other part of the same regulation states that any structural building work that is defined as “minor building work” requires you to notify your local authority’s building control officer before you commence with any work. You need to be aware that they have the right to demand plans if they deem them to be necessary. However, if you had make an application and receive the necessary permission from the local authority, you DO NOT NEED PLANS.
   My suggestion is that you go and speak to the Cape Town planning department very nicely and explain that the people who built the structure for you advised you did not have to do anything. Let them decide what you need to do next. You might also approach the company who did the work for you and ask them to assist in sorting out this matter, because if they don’t it could play out in a negative manner for them as you’ll have to advise the City which company was responsible and how it seems they are misleading the public. Make sure you emphasize to City officials that you understood these people were the experts in their field, and that you believed you were doing everything according to the law.
   Let me know if you need further advise – and please let us know what happens. Good luck.

10. I applied for a carport last year and was erected. the size was 3 x 3meters at a cost of R5000. This was done by a well known company. I’ve asked the salesperson as well as the manager of the company if we do require a plan to be drawn and they told me as long as your neighbours is ok with it.. then its fine. Now, a year later.. ive been approached by the City of Cape town for a plan to be submitted. However, i’ve been sold a carport under false pretences eventhough i’ve requested if this plan was necessary as i had money at the time and was able to pay for it… what do i do… i personally don’t feel that im the one responsible. please advise.

11. Dear Penny,

    Do you require plans if you are erecting a carport on the side of your house?

12. Hi Erika,
    You should be able to obtain a copy of the plans from the City of Johannesburg (the local authority). Go to the Planning Department and apply for these. I am not sure of the exact procedure (all local authorities have their own way of doing things), but you will have to give them the erf number and probably proof of ownership. If you got a bond from a bank when you bought the house then the bank will have the title deeds and possibly also the plans. They normally have properties inspected before approving bonds to make sure that the registered plans and what is standing are the same. If someone buys a property for cash then the property probably won;t be inspected unless the purchaser wants this done, or there is a dispute about outstanding rates and taxes with the local authority (in which case their inspector will do checks). We advise all people buying any property to ask the estate agent to supply them with copies of all existing house plans (ie the original plans a well any plans for later additions, including a pool) so that they can make sure that they are the same as what has been built. Once you have purchased the house then the onus is on you as the new owner to update and submit new plans at your cost.

13. Hi Earnest,
    We do not do conflict resolutions between builders and owners. The people you need to contact are at the NHBRC (National Home Builders Registration Council) > CLICK HERE <, they have offices in all areas.

14. The builder of my house did not complete and is like running away because he no longer respond to my call or come back. My problem is that he handled the plan and indicated it will be registered when all modifications are completed.

    Help me out please

15. If somebody buys a house jointly with someone else, they remain liable for their portion of payments after their partner dies. The deceased person’s share in the property will depend on the conditions of their will. I am puzzled what sort of insurance would pay for a house when one partner dies; I can only assume it was a life insurance policy that covered the outstanding bond? If this is the case, as a part owner of the property, he should have checked to see what happened at the time of his wife’s death.
    I also don’t follow how the building company who originally sold the house would have anything to do with the matter now. If he BOUGHT the house (and it sounds like they got a bond from Nedbank to pay for it) what role would the building company still play? Nedbank is probably the only party that can help you. The title deed would have been transferred to them if they became the bondholder.

16. My husband bought a house years ago in a joint ownership, his wife
    passed away and he stoped paying the house because it had insurence.
    He stopped receiving any invoices from Nedbank and he went to the
    building company who sold him the house and he found out that they
    were liquidated. I don’t know what’s happening wwith this house
    because no one can give information. We don’t know if it has been
    settled or not. If the company has been liquidated and maybe if they
    have found frodulent dealings with their buildings what happens to the
    house owners do they own the houses or what pls help

17. Your local council will advise whether you need plans. You might just need to submit a rider plan. But in any case you are going to need to employ a qualified and registered plumber to do the connection. He would know what the legal planning requirements are. Alternatively give IOPSA (the Institute of Plumbing) a call – there are contact numbers for the different regions on their web site. I have given you the link.

18. Brian I presume that the local authority/municipality approved the house when you built it – it sounds like it. In which case if there is a problem, it’s their problem as well. I would insist on them telling you where the supposed infringement is. But put your demand in writing and get a signature for the letter – I’d deliver it by hand if possible – otherwise send i registered mail AND send it via email and ask for acknowledgement of the mail. But in your letter that you reject their submission that you will be billed for anything at all. Say that if need be you will take them to Court (i.e. call their bluff).
    If they approved the house I don;t see how they can now – without employing a surveyor – decide it isn’t legit. What is the issue anyway for goodness sakes… ???
    Your letter should state also that the land was surveyed prior to building – the house was architect designed – and that the municipality did all the checks that were required. Ask what their problem is and demand to know exact details of the infringement. Let me know what happens.

19. I suggest that you ask whoever drew up the plans for you to amend them. You will, in any case, need to have the plans passed by your local authority before you can build.

20. You need plans for a retaining wall. If the precast wall is no higher than 1,8 m you don’t need plans, but you do need to notify your municipality/local authority that you are erecting the fence. See also Minor Building Work.

21. Mark you couldn’t find your post because it hadn’t been approved and/or responded to. As far as I can see the only issue there might be with this structure is the distance from the boundary – though if this is a street boundary you’ll probably be okay. Although having said that, if you have attached the fencing to the structure so that it is no longer “open-sided” that could also be problematic.
    If you look at this link to an article on minor building work, you will see that the basic structure – and possibly the fence – are both defined as minor building work:
    “open-sided car, caravan or boat shelters or carports that do not exceed 40 square metres in size,
    any freestanding wall built with masonry, concrete, steel, aluminum, or timber or any wire fence that does not exceed 1,8 m in height at any point above ground level and does not retain soil,”
    Your best bet would be to contact your local authority and ask if they require you do make changes.
    You can also read about boundary walls and fences at https://sans10400.org.za/boundary-walls-and-fences/ (it will be up later this afternoon).

22. Hi Penny,

    We live in a complex, and would like to convert our room under the stairs into a guest loo.
    For this we would need to knock a window through an existing outside wall, and connect new pipes to the existing plumbing.

    Please advise if we require any council planning?

    Kind Regards

23. Apologies if this pops up as a duplicate but I cant find my first post? Anyway… my dad has a boat house that is less than 40 square meters.. at this stage it is not free standing but we can change it to be (it started as a pergola and we used to put a canvas over it when the boat was parked under it so one side is fastened to the house, the other stands on wooden beams) – then later we added fencing to the sides to prevent stuff being stolen off the boat, if the fencing is an issue we can maybe replace it with strand / electric fencing? Lastly the boathouse is probably about half a meter from the boundary of the property. Are there any issues with this setup and how would we make it acceptable / legit. Thanks

24. Hi

    My property sits higher than my neighbors, which makes privacy a problem for both of us. The only option is to build a retaining wall and to erect pre cast fencing. We both agree to this and will share the cost, the retaining wall is going to be between 1.2 and 1.5m high with a precast fence erected next to the last retaining block (at the top) Do we need plans or is a mutual agreement enough?

25. Hi thr I gt a plans for a dubble garage infront by my house nd a low wall not happy with the low wall I want it full inclose I would lyk to put a window thr on the low wall so tat thr cn still cum in light nd air as long as it it fully inclose at nite thanks