EDITOR’ S COLUMN
Time to get clever
We hear so many horror stories of buildings collapsing due to poor workmanship and contractors cutting corners. Price is often cited as the reason and it seems accepted practise when money is tight, to use inferior substituted products that haven’ t necessarily been tested and certified by the SABS and other regulating bodies.
It appears the affordable housing sector suffers as much, if not more so, from this problem. Money is tight and contractors are doing what they can on already tight profit margins … But it doesn’ t make it right.( Yes, I’ m getting preachy, I know, but it’ s true.)
The reality is that prices aren’ t going to come down – let’ s not fool ourselves. So instead, we’ ll have to find clever ways of doing things – without compromising the quality or the integrity of the structures.
‘ Desperation breeds innovation’ the famous quote goes. Maybe it’ s time to stop making excuses and rather see how products can be innovated to be more cost effective, yet still be reliable and sustainable.
To see how you can save money when working with bricks, our main feature looks at building in a cost effective way, without compromising quality( page 18).
Also check out our feature on affordable modular housing on page 14.
This edition also looks at some impressive local projects in the affordable housing sector: Watervalspruit( page 24) and Bridge City( page 26) are some good examples.
Let’ s set the trend for a sustainable, but affordable future.
Ilana Koegelenberg Managing editor | ilana @ interactmedia. co. za
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