Directly from the Building Control Office comes the following statement explaining building contravention. It is important that all homeowners take note of this.
The implications of selling a house without approved plans:
If you are selling your house and do not have approved plans you could find yourself in a lot of trouble. And if you are buying a house and don’t ask whether the seller has approved plans, you might end up inheriting some very expensive problems.
Legal implications of selling a house without approved plans:
Since the law requires everybody to have plan approved by the Local Authority, sometimes people only discover that there are no plans years after they have bought a property, either because they eventually want to do alterations, renovations or want to sell their property.
Other time people find at the point of sale that a house they are buying does not have plans and they want to know whose responsibility it is to have plans drawn up irrespectively (As build )
The reality is that alteration and additions have been carried out without municipal (Local Authority) approval, and the property is then sold it becomes quite a complex legal matter.
How the issue of ‘voetstoots’ affect building approval and plans:
The agreement made between two parties when a property is sold will in most instances include a ‘voetstoots’ clause. Essentially this clause indicates that the purchaser accepts the risk relating to defects existing at the time of sale patent or latent (but not visible). The expectations to this clause for instances where the seller deliberately and fraudulently conceals latent defects from the purchaser that he or she was aware of at the time, in which case the seller will remain liable for these defects, but of course the purchaser will have to prove evidence that the seller knew what was wrong.
Note that the position is somewhat altered if the Consumer Protection Act applies to the agreement between two parties, e.g. where the seller is a developer.
Our law takes into account that any property with building erected without municipal approval is a property with a latent defect. The ‘Voetstoots’ clause will normally cover latent defects and a seller will not automatically attract liability if he sells the property with unauthorised building works. But if the seller knows that there are no approved plans and he organised and did the renovations himself and he deliberately does not disclose these facts (with the intension to defraud the purchaser) the seller cannot hide behind the ‘voetstoots’ clause.
The Local Authority is also entitled to levy fines on any illegal building work that was done without plans. Failing to submit building plans will contribute non-compliance to the Building Act.
Why are inspections on all constructions required?
Inspections are conducted on several stages whilst under construction. The inspections are conducted to ensure that the building is standard and materials comply with the Building Regulations Act.
What is an occupation certificate and why do we need one to occupy the building?
An Occupation Certificate is to be submitted to the inspectorate once the building has been completed to confirm that the building has been erected in accordance with the Building Regulations and is founded safe for occupation.
Mr Kobus Tanner from Building Control again makes it very clear; structures that do not comply with all municipal rules and Building Regulations will bite the dust.
