One of the basic statutory requirements of the National Building Regulations (discussed under Statutory Information), is that nobody may start with the building of any house without the prior approval of the house's building plans 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 to the local authority a full set of building plans for approval, before starting with any building work. Such building plans may be drawn up by the owner him/herself (if competent), or by a suitably qualified draughtsman, or by a professional architect.

From 1 July 2006, all persons practising architecture or submitting building plans to local authorities will be obliged to register with SACAP.

View the notice.

inhouseplans.com will supply you with our registration number should you only order plans in hard copy. inhouseplans.com will only certify the building plans, excluding the site plan and or any other changes made to the original building plans. You could otherwise opt to get a draughtsman in your area to do the site plan and the approval at the local authority. Please see directory for contact numbers of SACAP and SA institute of Draughtsman.

All building plans must comply with a minimum standard, and indicate a minimum level of information. A floor plan, 2 or 4 elevations, and at least one section through the building as well as the layout of the sewer system are always required, as well as a site plan. The site plan is that part of the building plan linking the building to the owner's specific stand. Stand-specific information like the slope of the land, the direction of North and the sewer connection point is therefore indicated on the site plan.

One can expect that the better the qualifications and experience of the person responsible for drawing up the building plan, the higher the standard and design of such plan, but unfortunately, also the price!

With inhouseplans.com however, anybody can now submit to the local authority building plans of the highest standard, drawn up by a professional architect, and complying to all relevant National Building Regulations!

Since it is not possible for inhouseplans.com to be aware of the particulars of each customer's stand, a council 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 building plans.

Please note that inhouseplans.com has copyright on all building plans sold on this website, and the purchhase of a plan allows the purchaser the right to build only one house from the specific plan.

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