Do I need approved building plans? And why.

One of the basic statutory requirements of the National Building Regulations is that no-one may start building a house without having had the building plans of the house approved beforehand by the relevant local authority. This ­requirement is applicable to ALL buildings erected within the boundaries of jurisdiction of all local authorities in South Africa.

Every prospective house owner MUST therefore submit a full set of building plans for approval to the local authority before building may commence. Since 1 July 2006, all persons practising architecture or submitting building plans to local authorities within South Africa are obliged to register with the South African Council for the Architectural Profession (SACAP) and certify the plans.

All building plans must comply with a minimum standard, and include the following ­information:

• a floor plan
• elevations
• at least one cross-section of the building
• the layout of the sewerage system
• a site plan, which is that part of the building plan that links the building to the owner’s specific stand. Stand-specific information such as the slope of the land, the direction of north and the sewerage connection point will therefore be indicated on the site plan.

You may assume that the higher the qualifications of, and the more experienced the person is who will be responsible for drawing up the building plans, the higher the standard will be, and ­unfortunately this also applies to the price!

With plans from Plans123, however, a person will be submitting building plans to his/her local ­authority that are of the highest standard, drawn up by SACAP registered architects only, and which comply with all the relevant National Building Regulations!

Since it is not possible for Plans123 to be aware of the particulars of each customer’s stand, a site plan is not included in the set of building plans provided. Each customer is therefore responsible for his/her own site plan, which can easily be drawn up according to the generic site plan included as an example with the acquired building plans. A site plan incorporates town-planning requirements. Should a customer not be able to draw up his/her own site plan, they can contract the original architects, who’s details are listed under ‘vendor details’ and negotiate an agreement under which the architect would develop the site plan and any other details that might be required.