Report illegal buildings – CoE

Can you build additional accommodation on your property? Can you list your home on online rental market places as a holiday or temporary accommodation? Can you use your home as a private party venue?

In an attempt to shed light on the use of residential buildings, the NEWS requested the assistance of the City of Ekurhuleni (CoE) to highlight the laws around building additional accommodation, using private residential property as a party venue and listing homes online as temporary accommodation.
Spokesperson for the city Zweli Dlamini said residents are encouraged to report illegal activities and developments to ensure the city is an attractive and orderly urban space.

He said residents should report officials who are corrupt or take bribes in order to “fast track” applications of members of the public. Dlamini said a building or alteration can be considered illegal when a property owner executes any building work without an approved building plan or written permission from the local authority, in this case CoE.

He added that neighbours need to consult council policies and the architectural requirements.

“Members of the public can register their concerns at their nearest building control office. Building control will conduct investigations and the outcome of the investigation will be communicated to the affected neighbour.”

Dlamini said illegal buildings have an impact on the city. Some of the concerns the city has around illegal buildings include the possible loss of life should the illegal structure collapse. Loss of revenue as the structure is illegal and not on the city revenue database and failure to comply with the National Building Standards Act were also listed as concerns for the CoE.

Dlamini added that illegal buildings make the built environment disorderly and they have an impact on municipal services for electricity, water, sewer and waste services. Once the city identifies an illegal building, the homeowner will be issued with a contravention notice.

“The notice affords the property owner a certain period to rectify the contravention either by submitting building plans or demolishing the illegal additions and restoration of the structure to its original condition. “The process, if not followed, could result in services consequences.”

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Dlamini said the correct process for anyone to follow when considering alterations to their property should start with the appointment of a practitioner who is registered with the South African Council of Architectural Profession to draw up a building plan.

Residents then need to submit the building plans for consideration and approval to CoE.

“After approval, the owner must notify CoE of the intention to commence with the building work.”

Then inspections are booked with the building and other compulsory inspectors. Inspections should be booked two days in advance.

“On completion of the building, the owner must request a certificate of occupation,” Dlamini said. He added that residents are allowed to register their properties with online rental market places as a holiday or temporary accommodation. “The residents may use their private homes for temporary paid accommodation, but they first need to obtain the rights from the municipality.”

To do this the property owner must consult the town planners for the city before submitting any application at the relevant customer care area (CCA). CCA offices are available in Benoni, Boksburg, Edenvale, Germiston, Kempton Park, Thembisa, Alberton, Springs and Nigel.

“It is important to remember that all uses must comply with the council laws for building,” Dlamini said. He added that residents may not turn their private homes or accommodation into private party venues. “This is still a residential property and respect for others should not be compromised at all.”

Dlamini said residents who would like to host parties at their homes need to consult with city officials. “Any gatherings must be in line with by-laws of relevant departments in terms of land use, building control, EMPD, fire and safety.”

He added that to host parties, approvals are required and need to comply with otherwise “the use of the property is against municipal by-laws”.

Residents are encouraged to contact the CoE online or by visiting one of the CCA’s for more information, application forms and assistance.

*As your trusted community newspaper, the NEWS receives a number of service delivery complaints. Although the local media is a news platform and not a service delivery complaints platform, we take pride in being your community watchdog that holds those in power accountable. Through regular liaising and relationship building with our local authorities, we are often able to update readers on municipal matters in the public interest.
At the NEWS, we want to ensure consistent and quality feedback from the City in response to our media queries. To monitor this, the NEWS is introducing a 5-star rating system. Once we relay our readers’ pressing questions to the CoE, we will be rating their response according to a 5-star scoring system allocated as follows.
Two stars will equate to all questions answered (either direct or indirect); two stars will equate to the relevancy of answers to questions posed, and the remaining star will be attributed to adherence to the deadline for comment.
As Dlamini served in this discord, the NEWS has rated this reply with five stars = two stars for questions answered; two stars for answer relevancy; one star for deadline met.

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