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DESIGN: DEAR MR PLUMBER
The institutional framework
The institutional framework in terms of the National Building
Regulations (NBR) is of critical importance and needs to be
followed carefully to prevent legal consequences.
By Vollie Brink, Pr Eng
Many years ago, I worked for the largest consulting
engineering company of the day — before all the
old companies were taken over by the large global
enterprises. I worked with an elderly engineer who was
also a director. He would come into your office and look
over your shoulder while smoking his pipe, and then
after a while, he would say, “Young man [or lady], you
must be very, very careful about what you do.”
Vollie Brink
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 well-earned
retirement.
It is now my own duty to mentor and train young
engineers, technologists, and technicians, and I always
tell them, “Please remember that all the work you do
has potential legal consequences.” This is also relevant
for the contractor and the plumber and everybody in the
building industry, from the manufacturer and supplier to
the developer — the bodies who are responsible for the
administration and the relevant authorities.
It is crucial to know the relevant Acts, regulations, rules,
and legal requirements that relate to your work and your
contractual responsibilities.
I have found that there are many people in this industry,
from the designer to the administrators and the
construction company, who do not know, or just ignore,
the legal requirements and just ‘bend the rules’, so to
speak, to suit themselves.
What follows is my understanding of the hierarchy,
as presented to me by legal professionals who were
involved with the NBR Act and, in some cases, who went
to the review board, which I understand has now been
disbanded.
The NBR hierarchy consists of the constitution, the Act,
regulations, rules, standards, and then the local by-laws
at the bottom of the ladder.
The basis of the NBR is health, safety, and economy
for affordable housing and the regulations, which are
compulsory, describe the performance that is based
on these three principles. These regulations give a
clear, concise description of how the end product must
function/perform.
March 2019 Volume 25 I Number 1
HOW TO COMPLY
The next important element of the regulations is the ‘how
to comply’ sections. These sections are fully addressed
in the ‘performance regulations’ and it makes provision
for three options on how to comply:
1. Deem-to-satisfy rules design option
Every part of the NBR has a set of deem-to-satisfy
rules, which deem to satisfy the performance
regulations, if fully applied. The reason for these rules
(which are not compulsory as it is not a regulation)
are “so that you don’t need an engineer for the
design of a non-complicated installation such as a
house” — these were the exact words given when
the NBR came out in 1977. However, if you apply
the ‘recipe’, then you must still be careful because
there are situations that could require the input of a
professional, for instance when the soil conditions
are not suitable for building. The gap in this solution
is that it does not specify any competence or
“competent person” to be able to apply the recipe; in
other words, the deem-to-satisfy rules.
2. Rational design option
This option of design is for complicated buildings
with complicated services that require the
competence of the engineer and where the deem-
to-satisfy rules cannot be used to satisfy the level of
competence required.
3. Agrément certificate option
The Agrément certificate design and construction
is normally a patented design and construction
system and not commonly used in the plumbing
industry. The owner is the body or legal person who
decides which design method to use, unless the
local authority feels that for certain reasons, they
require a rational design.
The sequence, from concept and planning to design
and NBR approval, is all part of the pre-tendering
process, long before the contract goes out to tender
and the contractor gets involved. Once the design,
specifications, and contract documentation have
been completed and approved by all the relevant
authorities, only then can the contractor come on
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