House Plan Submissions – What is the Process?
The City of Cape Town has created an easy-to-follow infographic to explain how the process of house plan submissions works.
No online submissions
Plans cannot be submitted by post or online, they have to be “walked through” personally by the owner or his appointed qualified professional.
The infographic takes you through the way a house plan is handled step-by-step starting at the front counter where the clerk will make the initial assessment and then pass it on to the relevant department for scrutiny and capturing into the system. At this stage a Tax invoice is generated if there are no amendments required then the fees have to be paid and the plans then move on through the system.
Clock system
Cape Town has a handy clock system to monitor how the plans move through the process and where they are at any given moment. If amendments are to be made for any reason, a notification will be sent out and the plans will have to be collected, amended, and re-submitted. The plans are then returned to the department that requested the amendments and they re-enter the system. Once the plans have been finally approved a notification will be sent out and they can be collected.
Plan – Approve – Then Build
No building work is allowed to start until the plans have had their final approval.
This is the way that the City of Cape Town handles its plan submissions and each province has its own way of processing plan submissions. Whereas in broad terms this is what will happen I suggest that you contact your local Municipal Planning Department and ask them what is needed.
The stages of the building site inspections will be dealt with in another post.
Graphic chart of the process
