Housing regulator wields enforcement stick against 'rogue' builders

The housing regulator has opened 122 criminal cases against home builders who have contravened the Housing Consumers Protection Measures Act 95 of 1998 (HCPMA), in its efforts to tackle misconduct in the industry.

This includes offences such as carrying on the business of building homes without having registered and non-enrolment of homes, which is in contravention of the HCPMA, which requires everyone in the business of building homes to register with the NHBRC and that all new homes must be enrolled (or registered) with the NHBRC 15 days prior to construction.

NHBRC's CEO Mziwonke Dlabantu says the NHBRC continues to forge relations with various stakeholders such as the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), South African Police Services (SAPS) and housing consumers to ensure understanding of the Act and successful prosecution of these matters.

"Our mandate as the housing watchdog requires us to take a stand against non-compliance with the Act in order to protect housing consumers, and to this extent, the NHBRC will continue to engage with relevant stakeholders to ensure compliance and enforcement of the Act," said Dlabantu.

Over and above this, the NHBRC suspended 211 and prosecuted 506 home builders/contractors and/or developers who transgressed the building regulations. These include offences that relate to failure to rectify major structural defects, failure to rectify workmanship related defects, failure to enrol a home and contravening the code of conduct for home builders.

Provincial Builder suspensions were recorded as follows: Gauteng (70), Western Cape (66), KwaZulu-Natal (29), Limpopo (16), Mpumalanga (16), North West (5), Eastern Cape (3), Free State (3) and Northern Cape (3).

The NHBRC has the power to suspend a registered home builder's registration with the council or refuse to enrol such home builders' homes for the period that it deems necessary to investigate the matter or until the registered home builder has complied with the relevant provisions of the Act.

Prosecution cases recorded include: KwaZulu-Natal (141), Gauteng (106), Western Cape (84), Limpopo (44), Mpumalanga (39), North West (35), Eastern Cape (28), Free State (26) and Northern Cape (3).

The Act also empowers the NHBRC's Disciplinary Committee, after following due process, to impose the withdrawal of registration of a home builder; a fine not exceeding R25 000 or a warning in instances where a home builder has been found guilty.