Councils Must be Ruthless with Restricting Occupation of Unsafe Buildings I think it must be terrifying to be woken at 04:00 in the morning by a thunderclap that makes the whole building shudder. Then, in a confused state, you realise your bed’s still shaking and, no, it wasn’t thunder, it was the building falling down….
How Construction Laws, National Building Regulations and South African National Standards Affect Homeowners Prior to 1985, various provinces and municipalities in South Africa had their own construction laws and regulations which, although similar, were not the same. Over a period of years, a committee of experts, including architects, builders, developers, and the Bureau of Standards (SABS) professionals researched and compiled…
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…
City of Cape Town Planning Departments Now Accept Plans On a Memory Stick After at least two years of development, the City of Cape Town has implemented and introduced its new DAMS (Development Application Management System). This new Development Application Management System allows all new development applications to be made and processed through the new DAMS and…
Plumbing Projects You Can Tackle Legally Do you know that almost all the municipalities now require a plumbing COC (Certificate of Compliance) before they will approve the sale of any house in their area? The question is what DIY plumbing work can you do yourself that is legal and will not affect your COC? Plumbing…
The PAJA: The SA Law that Protects Your Rights We get questions daily about buildings blocking views, balconies overlooking neighbours’ bedrooms, building approval without neighbours’ consent, developers not putting in correct storm-water drains; complaints that the neighbours wall is on “my” property; the list goes on and on. People also want to know who they…
How to contact your Local Authority and Municipality in your District Here is the most up-to-date National Municipality Contact list We get requests almost on a daily basis about “How do I contact my local Municipality?”, “Where is my local Authority?”, “Where do I take my plans?”, “Where can I contact the Building Inspector?” Well…
A to Z Glossary of Definitions and Terms Used in the National Building Regulations Code of Practice Every industry has terms and definitions that are specific to that industry, and the building industry is no exception. This glossary of National Building Regulations definitions forms part of the National Building Regulations and Building Standards Act (Act…
What is “Minor Building Work”? Whatever you construct on your property needs plans, unless it is defined as “minor building work”. Even so, the Act states very well in Part A: General Principles and Requirements (this was previously Part A: Administration), that any structural building work that is defined as “minor building work” requires approval…
Understanding the Concept of Competent Persons & Competency When South Africa’s National Building Regulations were updated in 2008, several new definitions were added to the legislation, and some were rewritten. One of the most important changes was to the term competent person, because a “competent person” is now required to draw up plans and submit them…
Fenestration and Glazing Guidelines, Procedures, and Calculations. Window area guidelines below The guidelines featured in the pdf below give an idea to anyone wanting to calculate the Fenestration Compliance Procedures in terms of Sans 10400-XA:2011 and SANS 204:2011, what is required, and what is involved. Step-by-step There is a step-by-step guide to area (nett floor)…
ELECTRICS & LIGHTING – WHAT’S INVOLVED Electrics & Lighting & Electronics are Related Fields. While both these related fields are specialised and take considerable training to be tackled in their entirety, there are projects involving both electrics and electronics that anyone with a reasonable aptitude and understanding can tackle. These range from wiring a plug…
SANS 10400 Governs the Design, planning and supervision of all construction work Each section of SANS 10400, the Code of Practice for The application of the National Building Regulations (NBR) is presented with the relevant extract from the building regulations (which is the law), and is then followed by a general commentary explaining how the…
How far from the boundary wall must I build? We get a number of questions asking “What are my building lines” and “How close to the boundary am I (or my neighbour) allowed to build?” The site plan above is a sample and is only a guide to the approximate building lines and distances that…
Building Regulations Part-U Refuse Disposal Part-U of the SANS 10400 Refuse disposal states that ‘Any building, excluding a dwelling house’ that has refuse generated in that building will provide ‘adequate’ storage areas for rubbish containers. Over and above this the planning and building must provide access from the street so that the containers can be…
Regulations for Foundations-Part HA Focus on Safety Foundations, Part H, of any structure, large or small, must be built to safely transmit all loads of the building to the ground. If foundations are not correctly built, walls may crack and at worst, could even collapse. While the National Building Regulations specify general requirements for foundations,…
Site Safety during Demolitions-Part E If you have to do some demolition work before you build, Part E is the section of the National Building Regulations that you need to familiarise yourself with. But really all it states is common sense and caution. There are only three elements that are covered: 1 – demolition itself,…
