SANS 10400

Danger of Tree Damage to Walls & Foundations – SANS 10400-H Annex-D Cracks and damage to walls and foundations are caused primarily by soils that contract and expand due to moisture content when the soil absorbs water and swells up and then shrinks when it dries out. This puts pressure on …

The NHBRC CAN Send You to Jail. If you are in the home building industry then this is a must read. Here are some important things you and housing consumers should take into consideration regarding the NHBRC and how it will affect your home building process. The National Home Builders …

What Are You Required to Do with the NHBRC as an Owner Builder? All new homes, by law, have to be registered with the NHBRC, some RDP houses are exempt from this. As an owner builder you may apply for an exemption from the Housing Consumer Protection Measures Act with …

What Is the SABS? What Does the SABS Do? The South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) was established in terms of the Standards Act, 1945 (Act No. 24 of 1945) and now operates under the latest edition of the Standards Act, 2008 (Act No. 29 of 2008). This national body …

NHBRC Review of the Technical Requirements A major revision of the Technical Requirements and Home Building Manual will affect the home builders and may affect the rights of housing consumers and those engaged in the housing supply chain. Housing consumers and key players in the housing industry will therefore also …

NHBRC Review of the Warranty Scheme The NHBRC recently embarked upon a review process of the Warranty Scheme which will result in three new documents being published, namely a set of Technical Requirements for issue as regulations by the Minister in terms of the Act; a Home Building Manual containing …

Here is a Classic Film Clip on How to Build a House This film clip that was made back in 1946 on how to build a house is a must watch for anyone contemplating doing any sort of building. Even though it was made so many years ago the process …

House Plan Submissions – What is the Process? The City of Cape Town have created an easy to follow infographic to explain how the process of house plan submissions work. Plans cannot be submitted by post or on-line, they have to be “walked through” personally by the owner or his …

The NHBRC has Deregistered from VAT and Adjusted their Fees We have recently had a number of enquiries about how the NHBRC calculates the fees that have to be paid when a proposed new house is registered with them. In 2011 the NHBRC was deregistered for VAT and they adjusted …

NHBRC Suspends the Payment of House Enrolment Fees-PA003 The National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC) announced at the beginning of November 2013 that the home registration fees, that must be paid on all new houses, will no longer be allowed to be included in the first progress payment that is …

How To Be SANS 10400XA Compliant – A Guide New Energy Regulations We get quite a few queries about the new SANS 10400-X and SANS 10400-XA on our website. Here are a few: Q: Hi, I have read through the regulations, but need clarification on whether an application is required …

Alterations and Additions to Your Home There are so many changes that have been made to the National Building Regulations in recent years that home owners may be forgiven for wondering what is and what is not allowed in terms of altering and making home additions. Some of the greatest …

A Concrete  Placing Guide   Concrete foundations This guide will help owner builders to cast foundations. These foundations are for external brick walls around a new house, or for extensions of an existing house. THE NHBRC (National Homebuilders Association Council) requirements for house foundations: For single storey buildings with a tiled or …

We Rely on Regulations Building regulations, and both international and national standards, are fundamental to successful building and construction projects, both big and small. It doesn’t matter whether you are building a garden shed out of timber, a modest family home from bricks and mortar, a skyscraper made by pouring …

About the NHBRC The National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC) was established in 1998 as a regulatory body for the home building industry. Their mandate is to protect house-building consumers and to make sure that building industry standards and regulations are followed. Their stated aim is to protect housing consumers …

A Table for Concrete Mixes by Weight in Kilograms, by Bag, and by Cubic Meter, for Various Strengths We have had numerous requests for concrete mix ratios by weight, by volume, and by mass. Here is a table that was released by the Cement and Concrete Institute for trial concrete …

The Housing Consumers Protection Measures Act 95 of 1998 Updated 2008 – EXPLAINED 1. The main purpose of the Housing Consumers Protection Act is to give protection to housing consumers. At the same time it created the NATIONAL HOME BUILDERS REGISTRATION COUNCIL (NHBRC), whose objective is to stand for the …

By-Law Definitions for Planning, Building and Zoning These definitions are mainly, but not exclusively, extracted from the Greater Metropolitan Area of Cape Town’s By-Laws Planning and Zoning definitions and explanations. They do and can relate to terms and phrases used nationally by other Municipalities and planning departments. We will be …

Definitions that are used in the Home Building Industry Words and definitions that are used in the home building industry are sometimes a little difficult to understand what is meant. Here we have a list of some terms that are used with an explanation of what it is the person …

City of Cape Town Zoning Scheme Regulations We have included this Cape Town Zoning Scheme Regulations document to assist you with accessing the the correct information so that you can make the right decisions when it comes to planning any construction, building and renovation or the purchase of property with …

The Assessment of Alternate Building Technologies This article from the latest issue of AKHANI, the quarterly magazine of the NHBRC, addresses the use of alternate building materials and the legal process as well as the pending changes to their manuals. It is well worth a read. Assessment of ABT Any …

Consolidated Johannesburg Town Planning Scheme, 2011 We have included this Johannesburg Town Planning Scheme document to assist you with accessing the the correct information so that you can make the right decisions when it comes to planning any construction, building and renovation or the purchase of property with developement in …

 An A to Z list of Environmental phrases and words Thanks to the City of Cape Town for providing the basis for this list to which we have added more entries. We will expand the list as and when we find more interesting and useful words and phrases. There is …

What the National Building Regulations say about Alterations and Additions to Existing Buildings In general, the National Building Regulations are not retroactive in their application. This means that if you are adding to or altering a building, you won’t have to ensure that the entire building complies with new regulations …

Building drywall system is not environmentally friendly The American timber and drywall construction method is brought under the spotlight in a Wikipedia entry “Drywall”. You just have to look at the sulfur dioxide emmission figures never mind the mercury released during manufacture. It appears that this method is NOT good …