Economy suffers with delays in approving building plans

“The J.B. Marks Local Municipality has become the single biggest obstacle to economic development and job creation in the city, through its lack of administrative capacity. It is failing to approve building plans for new developments in the private sector,” says Johan Zerwick, a Democratic Alliance (DA) councillor at the J.B. Marks Municipality.

According to him, the building control officer’s (BCO) position at the municipality’s Building Inspectorate, responsible for approving building plans, has been vacant since 1 July.

“The DA is inundated with complaints from developers, homeowners and service providers about the municipality’s slow process of approving building plans.

The delays have hurt developers, especially with the rising costs of building materials. They add an avoidable additional financial cost to the construction of new developments.

Rina Vos is a private homeowner who faces this dilemma. “I did my homework in April this year. I approached a real estate agent, contractor, architect, and engineer who said if I wanted to build a house at Waterberry Estate, the house would be ready by December. All the paperwork has been done; we only need the building inspector to sign off. But, after six weeks, it has still not been done. The delay has time and cost implications, which means the house won’t be finished by December and I will have to pay extra for rent since I have already sold my house.

Elri Bekker, an architectural designer from Potchefstroom, says some of his clients have even waited eight weeks to get their plans approved. “This wasn’t the case when Daan van Rooyen was still working at the municipality. It was an honour to work with him as the chief building officer (CBO). Since his retirement, the approval of building plans has come to a standstill. He was very quick and professional, always eager to assist with the process. The other personnel is also very efficient, but only the CBO can approve the final plans,” says Bekker. According to him, the bank can only make the first payment once the building plans have been approved. This must be done within a certain time frame. Normally, a standard building loan only allows nine months to complete the application. If this time frame is not met, the loan expires, and the client is obliged to carry the financial penalties. He says the commercial sector is also suffering because the rezoning also takes longer. Bekker says the prolonged building plan approval affects the commercial sector even more.

According to Zerwick, the delay in approving building plans is suffocating the entire construction industry value chain, from architects right through to contractors and building material suppliers. “It also contributes to the loss of employment opportunities for construction workers.

“This is unacceptable. The DA will approach the administrator Dineo Mongwaketse; the mayor, Ms Mapule Mataboge and the municipal manager, Ofentse Masibi to immediately begin the process of filling the vacancy and improving the process to address the existing backlog. It hampers job creation within the private sector. Despite the ANC’s best efforts to destroy this sector, it remains the single biggest roleplayer in job creation and economic development,” says Zerwick.

According to William Maphosa, the spokesperson for the J.B. Marks Municipality, the BCO and two other building inspectors’ positions have been advertised. Shortlisting will be done today (26 August). The appointments should be completed in two weeks and the unit will have its full personnel complement.

Maphosa says Mr Peter Tladi from the Ventersdorp region has been appointed to act in Van Rooyen’s position pending the said appointment.