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Dreamhouses.co.za : Submitting your building
plans to the local authority
Please note: Dreamhouses.co.za
published this guide for your comfort only and will not be held
liable for any losses incurred with the use of this document. |
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So,
you have found your dream house design had it tailored to your
exact specifications, and now you are ready to submit your
building plans to the local authority!…Sounds easy enough, but
this process has had many prospective
owner
builders close to tears out of frustration
before the actual building even started.
This document compiled by the Dreamhouses.co.za
team should enable you to go through this process with a little
more ease and would help you a little with understanding the
process and the documents required by most local authorities.
Please bear in mind that this document is a guide only and based
on the rules of the Gauteng areas and that requirements might be
slightly different in other areas.
Below is a list of all the documents typically required by a
town or city council and should accompany your plan set(s) upon
submission. We will go through the list in a little more detail
below.
Council checklist
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Plans copies signed by Engineer, Client / Architect
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Council Submission form
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Engineer Submission form
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Title Deed
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Copy of latest paid up Account
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Sewerage connection diagram
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Power of Attorney
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Fees for submission
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SG Diagram
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Zoning (Annexure B)
In rare instances a local authority might require for you to
submit an SDP (short for Site Development Plan) prior to
submitting the full building set. This is often described in
your title deed, but the safest would be to contact your local
authority and find you the requirements for your stand in that
specific suburb.
The list of documents typically required for SDP submission is
described below:
SDP Checklist
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Plans signed by Client / Architect
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Application form
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Motivational Memorandum
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Title Deed
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Copy of latest paid up Account
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Interpartite agreement
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Power of Attorney / Confirmation of appointment
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Fees for submission
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SG Diagram
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Zoning (Annexure B)
Council checklist description of items:
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Plan copies
The amount of plan copies required by different town or city
councils varies broadly, but all local authorities will require
at least one colour set of copies and some might even ask for it
to be printed on ‘Durester’ (high quality plastic-type of
paper), The amount of additional black & white copies could be
from nothing up to ten copies – all the plans & copies are to be
signed by your architect / or owner and the appointed structural
engineer.
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Local council plan submission form
These are in most instances a one page form to be filled out
with details about the size, type, zoning etc. of the proposed
building. The size of the building stated in the form will be
used by the council to work out the plan submission fees payable
for plan scrutiny and inspection(s)
In addition to the above the applicant will also be required to
fill in the details of his appointed and registered designer /
architect. Bear in mind that from 1 July 2006 no person
practicing architecture will be able to submit plans without
being registered with SACAP (The South African council for the
architectural profession.)
Download this form from the documents
database
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Engineer submission form
This will not be necessary in all instances, but again to be
safe find out from your local council before hand. This is a
form to be obtained from your local authority together with the
plan submission form but to be filled out by your appointed
engineer stating that he / she as a professional will take
responsibility for the structural soundness of the building and
do the necessary inspections on site.
Download this form from the documents
database
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Title deed
A document drawn up by the attorney handling the sale and the
transfer of a particular property to your name as the purchaser.
This document usually stays in the possession of the financing
institution until settlement of your loan, but you could ask for
a copy from them. If the property was bought without a loan, the
title deed should be requested from the attorneys.
This document should be scrutinized carefully as it often
contains a lot of additional information about the specific
property and possible registered servitudes that might exist.
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Copy of latest paid-up account
A copy of the latest water & electricity account for the said
property is required with the submission set.
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Sewerage connection diagram
This diagram is available from the services department at your
local authority at the cost of only the paper or sometimes no
cost. It’s a one page document outlining the stand with an
indication of the position of the municipal sewer connection on
the stand and the depth of the connection.
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Power of attorney
This will not be necessary if you as the owner of the property
is submitting the plans. If you would like to make use of a
third party or professional consultant to submit the plans and
get it approved, you will need to write a letter stating that
you as the registered owner permits the said appointed person to
act on your behalf regarding the above.
Download this form from the documents
database
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Plan scrutiny fees
The fee payable for plan scrutiny also varies widely from
council to council and may be anything from about R3/sqm to
approx. R6/sqm for the Mapumalanga area, R7,5/sqm for the
Gauteng area and even up to R13/sqm in some reqions of the
Eastern cape. (The above rated are estimated and based on rates
in mid 2006)
Sometimes the rates for different ‘use’ areas of the dwelling
could be calculated differently, ex: the garage area might have
a lower or higher rate as the rest of the house. Some council
also base their fee on the amount of sanitary fittings in a
house i.o.w the sewer load on the municipality.
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SG Diagram
This is document is also obtainable at your local council
usually from the town planning department and contains info
about the stand size, location, orientation, side lengths etc. A
small fee might be levied for the copy of this document but is
sometimes provided at no cost.
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Zoning (Annexure B)
This document can be obtained from you local council’s Land use
rights department – often located close to the town planning
department and contains information about the property’s use
rights or zoning. If you wish to build a second dwelling on a
particular property, the stand will need to be re-zoned and this
will be the department to deal with.
Most of the requirements for a SDP submission are the same but
should you have any problems
please
contact us and we will do our best to guide you in this.
We wish you good luck with your building plan submissions!
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