Sectional title housing
By D . S . Brink , Pr . Eng .
DESIGN : DEAR MR PLUMBER 21
Sectional title housing has been a very important part of housing in South Africa for many years , and all over the world . It can be a great solution , but also a big pain and it depends on how the building and services was designed and by whom .
It is common practice that the architect draws a generic drawing for the drainage and the water and submits it to the council for approval as a ‘ deem-to-satisfy-rule ’ ( dtsr ) design .
The design consists of a ‘ group ’ – a group of fixtures , such as the wc , whb , bath , shr , whb , and sink ; or more than one group for each unit of residence as per the dtsr – and if the designer has followed these rules , then there should be no problems .
However , in many cases the designer ignores the boundaries of the unit , or does not understand that there are specific boundaries .
The legal boundaries of a unit / flat are as per the registered Title Deed , which are normally from the center of the walls and the center of the floor to the center of the floor above . This is the private property of the owner . Beyond this is common property , and falls under the responsibility of the ‘ Body Corporate ’ ( BC ) of the complex .
The services of one unit must not penetrate another unit . This requirement is often ignored in many cases , and causes serious problems when service technicians must enter another private property to carry out maintenance or other work on another owner ’ s property .
Some owners are not permanent residents at their property , and then the maintenance workers cannot gain access , and this creates legal issues as some owners do not want other people to enter their property while they are not there .
The Sectional Title Act was amended to require that the body corporate of a Sectional Title complex shall institute a reserve budget for maintenance and replacement of the buildings and services . The body corporate is responsible for the services in the common property and for the operation and maintenance thereof .
The owner is responsible for the services inside his / her own unit , which is from the middle of the external walls and the middle from the floor to the middle of the roof directly above the unit . For this reason , the services of a flat cannot penetrate through and into the flat below , which is private property .
All the services beyond the flat , such as a sanitary drainage or rainwater system or electrical service , is the responsibility of the body corporate , and not for the cost of the owner .
The sanitary drainage system must be designed as per SANS10400-P and SANS10400-A and the rainwater system in compliance with SANS10400-R . Any blocked drain in the common property , not inside the space of a flat , as explained above , is the responsibility of the body corporate .
Dear designer , the above-mentioned information for the design of the services of a Sectional Title Development is critically important .
Vollie Brink is one of the industry ’ s longest-serving wet services engineers . He continues to serve on SABS committees and has been involved in the Green Building Council ’ s Green Star rating system . Brink continues to consult for various organisations while enjoying a wellearned retirement .
Please note the following :
1 . A ‘ drain ’ is the sanitary drainage system from the building to the municipal sewer connection , and this is the responsibility of the body corporate .
2 . A ‘ sewer ’ is the municipal sanitary drainage system outside the property in the street or in a service reserve , and this is the responsibility of the municipality .
3 . The owner of a sectional title deed flat is only responsible for the services within the boundaries of the flat . Outside of these boundaries , the body corporate is responsible .
4 . A very important design element is to provide service ducts which are close to the fixtures so that the piping of the bath and shower and such do not have to drop into the flat below or above . If the architect does not provide such ducts , then the plumber cannot keep the piping in the ‘ space ’ of the unit .
The body corporate is responsible for appointing a competent person to develop a programme to maintain and replace the buildings and services , and to develop a budget and fund for it . It is very important that the buildings be designed with appropriate access for the future replacements , operation , and maintenance and to be cost-effective .
It is also very important to use good quality materials to ensure an acceptable lifespan and appoint a competent person to develop the maintenance programme and budget .
Many older buildings were designed before the popularity of sectional title properties and the services are not ideally separated into appropriate common property areas and ducts , and in many cases the water piping was installed through and inside the units , which makes it extremely difficult for maintenance and replacements and water metering and even blockages of the sanitary drainage system .
There are many old office buildings which are converted into sectional title flats and the design of the services is in many cases difficult to penetrate through the concrete slabs .
The important message is that the building and the services must be designed with care , and consideration given to the challenges to design the building to accommodate the services with appropriate access and keep the services of the flat inside the flat and not penetrate the flat below or above or next door . PA
April 2021 Volume 27 I Number 2 www . plumbingafrica . co . za