The National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC) has
deregistered 17 contractors and builders from its database of approved
homebuilders following the outcome of a disciplinary hearing.
The names of the affected contractors have been published in the Government Gazette of March 15.
The offences committed by these builders/contractors included the
failure to enrol or register new homes, and failure to comply with the code of
conduct and building standards.
“The NHBRC will continue to ensure that building standards are upheld
and consumers are protected from poorly constructed buildings through its stringent
requirements and regular inspections of all NHBRC registered home building projects,” said NHBRC CEO Mziwonke
Dlabantu in a statement on Tuesday.
For the 2016/17 to 2018/19 financial years, the NHBRC
suspended 482 home builders who contravened legislation and prosecuted 1 482
home builders for various contraventions, including shoddy workmanship, failure
to enrol new homes and contravening the Code of Conduct for home builders.
Further, the NHBRC has also opened 357 criminal cases against home
builders who have failed to register and enrol new homes.
In this regard, the NHBRC is collaborating with the National Prosecuting
Authority and the South African Police Service to ensure that all the
criminal cases opened are successfully prosecuted.
Home builders who fail to fix the non-compliances issued by the NHBRC
home inspectors within the required period get suspended pending prosecution by
the NHBRC Disciplinary Committee (DC). These DCs are adjudicated by external and
independent chairpersons.
During the period of suspension, the home builder is not allowed to
build any homes in the country.
Should the home builder be found guilty following a DC process, the following
penalties may be imposed – a fine not exceeding R25 000 per contravention; a
warning; or withdrawal of registration.
Dlabantu implored housing consumers to support the organisation’s efforts in this regard by ensuring that they appoint NHBRC registered builders and subcontractors and ensure the enrolment of homes before starting construction of their homes.
