When do you need a construction work permit in South Africa?
Under the Construction Regulations 2014, the client applies in writing to the provincial director for a construction work permit at least 30 days before permit-scale work starts, and no one starts that work until the permit is issued. Work with no permit that includes excavation, work at height, demolition or explosives needs a written notice 7 days before.
Permit or notice
Permit-scale work needs the permit, applied for at least 30 days before the work starts, and no one starts it until the permit is issued. Other work that includes excavation, work at height, demolition or explosives needs the written notice at least 7 days before.
Which work is permit-scale, as gazetted and then as narrowed, in the library's words:
- As gazetted, r 3(1) applies where the work will exceed 180 days, involve more than 1,800 person days, or the works contract is worth ZAR 13 million or more or CIDB grading level 6.
- The Chief Inspector's temporary exemption, Notice 850 of 2018 (Government Gazette 41839, 17 August 2018, read in the OpenGazettes archive copy), narrows the trigger for work starting from 7 August 2018 to work that will exceed 365 days and involve more than 3,600 person days, or whose tender value limit is CIDB grade 7, 8 or 9.
- Of the Chief Inspector's exemption notice, the library notes: No later notice withdrawing or replacing it was found, and whether it is still in force was not confirmed.
| Duty | Window and section | If missed |
|---|---|---|
| Apply in writing to the provincial director for a construction work permit at least 30 days before permit-scale construction work is to start | 30 daysr 3(1), (2) | an offenceLapsed compliance |
| Do not start permit-scale construction work until the permit is issued and the site specific number assigned; display the number at the main site entrance and keep a copy of the permit in the health and safety file | none setr 3(4), (6), (7)A standing duty with no window. | an offenceLapsed compliance |
| Notify the provincial director in writing at least 7 days before construction work that includes excavation, work at height with a risk of falling, demolition or the use of explosives | 7 daysr 4(1) | an offenceLapsed compliance |
What the library notes on each duty
Quoted a whole sentence at a time from the library's note on each row.
Apply in writing to the provincial director for a construction work permit at least 30 days before permit-scale construction work is to start
r 3(1), (2) · 30 days · an offence
- The duty is the client's, and where a permit is needed the client must also appoint a competent agent in writing (r 5(5)), registered with the statutory body the Chief Inspector approved (r 5(7)(b)).
- As gazetted, r 3(1) applies where the work will exceed 180 days, involve more than 1,800 person days, or the works contract is worth ZAR 13 million or more or CIDB grading level 6.
- Regulation 3 commenced 18 months after 7 February 2014 (r 34(2)).
- The Chief Inspector's temporary exemption, Notice 850 of 2018 (Government Gazette 41839, 17 August 2018, read in the OpenGazettes archive copy), narrows the trigger for work starting from 7 August 2018 to work that will exceed 365 days and involve more than 3,600 person days, or whose tender value limit is CIDB grade 7, 8 or 9.
- No later notice withdrawing or replacing it was found, and whether it is still in force was not confirmed.
- The provincial director must issue the permit within 30 days of the application (r 3(3)).
- Regulation 2(2) excludes a single storey dwelling for a client who will live in it.
- Regulation 33 makes a breach an offence: a fine or up to 12 months' imprisonment, and for a continuing offence a further ZAR 200 or one day for each day it continues, the extra imprisonment capped at 90 days.
Do not start permit-scale construction work until the permit is issued and the site specific number assigned; display the number at the main site entrance and keep a copy of the permit in the health and safety file
r 3(4), (6), (7) · none set · an offence
- Regulation 3(7) binds anyone who would start or carry out the work, not only the client.
- The client must ensure the principal contractor keeps the copy in the occupational health and safety file for an inspector, the client, its agent or an employee (r 3(6)).
- The number is conspicuously displayed at the main entrance (r 3(4)) and is not transferable (r 3(8)).
Notify the provincial director in writing at least 7 days before construction work that includes excavation, work at height with a risk of falling, demolition or the use of explosives
r 4(1) · 7 days · an offence
- A contractor's duty, for work that does not need a permit under r 3(1), in a form similar to Annexure 2.
- Regulation 4(2) adds the same 7-day notice for building a single storey dwelling for a client who will live in it.
After the permit
The copy of the permit goes into the health and safety file, which the principal contractor keeps on site.
What this page is, and is not
It is the section text this library holds for South Africa's Construction Industry Development Board Act, 2000 (Act 38 of 2000), Construction Industry Development Regulations, 2004, Construction Regulations, 2014, General Administrative Regulations, 2003 and Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1993 (Act 85 of 1993), with the window and the consequence. It is not legal advice, and it is not a substitute for reading the Acts, the Regulations and the contract you signed.
Demiton does not yet track South African projects. These pages set out the duties; the product does not run these checks on a South African job today.
No library of law is complete, and Demiton never says this one is. An obligation the library does not hold, and you did not add, is not protected. You can add your own to any job.