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TECHNICAL
TECHNICAL
Amongst all the
laws – which one
should I comply
with?
By Patrick Gordon
Before 1977 there were no common
national building regulations in
this country.
Since 1977 we have had the National Building Regulations
and in 1990 revision was published, and the different parts
have been revised as recently as 2011.
The building regulations are very much the law by which we must
abide when doing any designs and building work. The regional
municipal bylaws cannot take away any of these laws, but can, and
often do, add to the minimum requirements set out by the NBR
(National Building Regulations).
The law does allow for a rational design when we are faced
with design obstacles. These rational designs may not detract
from safety:
Extract from SANS 10400 –
RESPONSIBILITY FOR DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION
Any rational design of a structural system shall be done or
checked by a professional engineer or other approved competent
person, and such person shall certify that such design complies
with the requirements contained in regulation B1: Provided that
nothing shall be construed as precluding the use of rule HH1,
JJ1, KK1, LL1, or NN1, as the case may be, where the use of
such rule is appropriate.
The NBR also points to the other SANS regulations pertaining to the
specifics of the installations. An example of this is SANS 10254 for
geyser installations and repairs.
The City of Cape Town for instance has in their Bylaws made rules
pertaining to water conservation much stricter than the NBR. So, you
will be expected to comply fully with the National Water Regulators
and the Municipal Bylaws when you do any installation in the
Western Cape.
The inputs of a panel need to be considered when listening to
the requirements of a customer, but the result may not be in
contravention of the regulations.
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April 2020 Volume 26 I Number 02