National Home Builders Registration Council

The National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC)is a statutory body with the main responsibility of providing protection in terms of the Housing Consumer Protection Measures Act, 1998 (Act. No 95 of 1998). Its mandate is to provide protection for housing consumers against defined defects and to regulate the home building industry.

NHBRC products and services

In order to fulfil its mission the NHBRC is structured to provide a variety of valuable final products (VFPs) and services. These are:

• Enrolment of new homes
• Home-builder registration
• Home-building inspections
• Rectification and forensic engineering investigations
• Home-builder training and development
• Home-building dispute resolution
• Litigation and legal advisory services
• Geo-technical and materials engineering
• Enrolment of new homes

The Housing Consumers Protection Measures Act 1998 requires all new homes to be enrolled with the NHBRC 15 days prior to construction. The home enrolment insures consumers against poor building practices and permits the NHBRC to conduct building inspections at key stages of construction. Enrolment of homes is subject to a fee which is scaled according to the value of the home.

The enrolled home will be covered by the NHBRC warranty scheme on major structural defects, from the day of occupation for a period of five years.

Home-builder registration

Every builder who is engaged in the process of building a home must be registered with the NHBRC. Home builders undergo an assessment test to ensure that they meet the requirements. Registration allows access to funding from financial institutions, access to NHBRC home building materials, training programmes and intervention by the NHBRC to maintain a healthy working relationship between the builder and client.

Home-building inspections

Inspection services are provided to registered builders with enrolled projects/homes to assist them in building homes with structural integrity, resulting in low levels of housing consumer complaints.

NHBRC inspections are designed to mitigate building risks for the consumer and to protect against poor workmanship during construction. Depending on the enrolment values of the home, a newly enrolled home can be subject to a minimum of four and a maximum of eight inspections. Where necessary, the NHBRC will provide dispute resolution on site between the builder and consumer. In the situation where the NHBRC inspector identifies a deviation from NHBRC building guidelines, a non-compliance certificate will be issued to the builder.

The builder will be obligated to rectify such non-compliance within a given timeframe. If the builder is unable or unwilling to rectify it, the NHBRC has the mandate to stop construction and undertake disciplinary action against the builder.

Home-builder training and development

The NHBRC provides technical training and skills development to builders in order to build their skills capacity. This entails developing and managing systems and processes for the delivery of training and developmental activities to emerging home builders, to assist home builders, through training and inspection to achieve and maintain satisfactory home building technical standards.

Complaints and conciliations

The complaint procedure aims to resolve disputes between housing consumers and builders by ensuring that builders meet their obligations. The NHBRC deals with three types of complaints:

1. Three month non-compliance period
Complaints relating to minor structural defect identified within three months of occupation of the home.
2. One year roof leak period
Complaints relating to roof leaks identified within one year of occupation of the home.
3. five-year major structural defects period

Complaints relating to major structural defect identified within five years of occupation of the home.

Suspension of Home Builders

The NHBRC may withdraw the registration of a builder where it has found that the builder is guilty of failing to meet obligation in terms of the Act or where the building company has been placed under voluntary liquidation. Following an investigation and/or reasonable time to afford the builder an opportunity to affect corrective measures, the NHBRC may suspend a builder's registration and/or the right to enrol homes where it has found that:

• The builder has failed to rectify reported building defects
• The builder has failed to rectify non-compliance issued by the NHBRC.
• A situation requires immediate intervention and that such is in the best interest of the consumer.

Suspended home builders are subject to the NHBRC Disciplinary Hearing Process which can result in the disciplinary action or prosecution.

Head Office

Map

Regional contact list

Eastern Cape (Port Elizabeth)

East London

Western Cape

George

Northern Cape (Kimberley)

Free State (Bloemfontein)

Free State (Bethlehem)

North West (Rustenburg)

Klerksdorp

Mafikeng

Limpopo (Polokwane)

Bela Bela

Tzaneen

Thulamela

Mpumalanga (Nelspruit)

Witbank

Gauteng

Johannesburg

Pretoria

Soshanguve

KwaZulu-Natal (Durban)

Newcastle