NHBRC Registration

How to get NHBRC Registration for your Construction Company in SA (easy step-by-step guide)

In this post, we will walk you through what NHBRC Registration is, why you need it if you want to offer construction or home building services in South Africa, and what steps you need to take to get your business registered with NHBRC.

This post is for you if you have a business in the construction industry in South Africa where you need to build houses. This post will help you understand why NHBRC registration is important for your construction company. You will also find this post helpful if you’re looking to veer into Tenders, Contracts and RFQ’s.

This post is specifically geared to help you get the fastest and the easiest solutions for your business’s NHBRC Registration. We will also touch on other ways to get NHBRC Registration in South Africa – just keep in mind these routes may be time-intensive and complicated. We specialize in expert, fast-tracked support to ensure you have exactly what you need when you need it, so that will be the central focus of this piece.

Here are the basic questions we’ll be covering (just select the questions you’re interested in)

Expert Tip: Save time by calling our Toll-Free number below to start with your NHBRC Registration.

NHBRC is an acronym for the National Home Builders Registration Council.

The NHBRC is a South African organization that was created to protect consumers who want to hire builders to build their homes. It offers consumers support should their homes not be up to industry standards and it keeps builders accountable by requiring every new home to be registered, inspecting new structures and imposing penalties or halting construction when standards aren’t upheld.

In simple terms, it’s an organisation who aims to regulate the industry of homebuilding in South Africa.

Everyone involved in services that construct home dwellings is required to register and adhere to the NHBRC’s standards by inspections. For example:

• Builder compliance with NHBRC’s Home Builders Manual, which sets minimum quality standards.
• NHBRC quality inspections during construction.
• Major structural warranty cover for up to five years from the date of occupation.
• NHBRC mediation between consumer and builder.
• Recourse through their complaints, arbitration and remedial processes.

If you’re involved in building a structure that’ll be used residentially, odds are you need to register with the NHBRC in South Africa.

NHBRC Registration applies to anyone involved in building Residential Homes, Town Houses, Rented Houses, Flats, Maisonettes or Employee/Corporate Houses.

That means if you have a construction company, a company that offers some of the workmanship for a home-dwelling or if you’re subcontractor, you’ll have to register.

As we mentioned this post focusses on the fastest and easiest way for you to get NHBRC Registration for your construction company – and that’s essentially working with us: We have a team of highly trained experts to send you a simple checklist of every piece of documentation you need for your NHBRC Registration to be successful in the fastest possible time. And additionally, we can also assist you if you require any other piece of company documentation, for example Company Registration, Vat Registration, BEE and much more.

There’s no need to struggle by yourself.

Just book a FREE consultation.

Your other option is going directly through the NHBRC. However, this can be a long and tedious process DIY. What you don’t pay in Rands, you’ll pay in your time and energy.  You can work through the NHBRC forms if you choose to go this route.

Once you’ve registered your potential clients will be able to confirm your registration on the NHBRC’s website.

The most significant pro’s to signing up with the NHBRC is that it helps you:

• Comply with South African legislation on Home Building, specifically the Housing Consumers Protection Measures Act, 1998 (Act No.95 of 1998).
• Get access to NHBRC training programs and resources.
• Be an accredited home builder which helps you apply for financial backing.
• Apply for Construction Contracts, Tenders and RFQs in South Africa, because NHBRC Registration is often a requirement.
• Win new clients, as the NHBRC is a widely trusted organisation and adds that extra layer of credibility with your clients.

The Housing Consumers Protection Measures Act, 1998 (Act No.95 of 1998) is South African legislation that sets out the role of the NHBRC in South Africa.

According to this act, the role of the NHBRC is to take care of the interests of anyone looking to build their home.

The NHBRC does this by offering warranty protection against any faulty new houses registered with the NHBRC. They also do this by setting standards and regulations and following through with inspections on new houses, to ensure the structural quality and the level of safety of new homes.

According to the NHBRC, these are the responsibilities of any Home Builder in South Africa:

1. Register and renew your membership with the NHBRC every year.
2. Create a contract of a written agreement with a client before kinking off your work.
3. Make sure you enroll your home within 15 days before the construction begins at the NHBRC.
4. Ensure your construction aligns with the requirements, the terms and the specifications of your contract.
5. Make sure you rectify any faults, deficiencies or non-compliance in your work or materials if your client notifies you about it – within the first 3 months of their occupation.
6. Ensure you correct any roof leaks that are connected to your work, your design or your materials if your client notifies you about it – within the first 12 months of their occupation.

• The scariest consequence is possible imprisonment or a hefty fine. If you don’t register for the NHBRC and you’re not exempt from registration, you may be charged in terms of South African Legislation, Section 21 of the Act. If you’re found guilty you can get a fine of up to R25 000 or imprisonment for a year for every charge.
• Other consequences are your inability to get financial backing because legislation requires that you have an NHBRC Certificate before financial backing can legally be offered.
• It may cost you a few clients too. The NHBRC is a form of security to your clients as it offers some compensation to the consumer should things go wrong.
• Many Construction Tenders, Contracts and RFQs in South Africa require an NHBRC certificate, so without it, you’re cut off from these opportunities.

There are a few exceptions that usually relate to homes that consumers build themselves. However, if you’re involved in a business offering a service that relates to the completion of a structure used as a home, you’ll probably have to apply. The NHBRC was specifically established to regulate the work that home builders do for local-based consumers. You would need to do an owner-builder exemption application prior to construction start.

If you’re registered with the NHBRC and if you register the homes you build with the NHBRC (as the council requires) you’re held accountable when you don’t fulfil technical standards. The NHBRC can halt your work if it’s not up to scratch, but even after your work is completed you’re kept accountable.

The NHBRC can impose penalties, hold you accountable and offer your clients remedies, even after the home is built, under the following instances:

• A client reports a big defect in their home to you, within 5 years after moving in, and this defect relates to you not complying with the NHBRC’s technical standards and requirements within those 5 years.
• There’s something the NHBRC or your contract with your client instructs you to correct and you fail to do so.
• There’s some valid and legal reason you can’t fulfil your contractual obligations to your client in terms of building their home.

You can read more about other instances where the NHBRC can step in. 

If you’re a Home Builder or related to these services, it’s your responsibility to make sure you:

1. Take out and renew your NHBRC Membership every year.
2. Have a written agreement or contract with your clients before you start working.
3. Enroll a new home 15 days or more before you start working.
4. Build your homes according to the NHBRC’s technical requirements, terms, plans, but also in terms of your client agreement/contract.
5. Correct anything small that doesn’t comply with the NHBRC’s requirements – even if it relates to the design, the workmanship or the materials – within three months that your client-tells moves into their home and informs you about it.
6. Repair any roof leaks – if it’s caused by your workmanship, design or materials. However, as opposed to the 3 months mentioned above, the client has a space of 12 months after moving in to tell you about such faults.
7. Correct any big structural defects that your client tells you about up to 5 years after they’ve moved in.

Yes, if you’re involved in building a home (with the exclusion to a few exceptions) you need to register as a home builder, but you also need to enroll every new home you build. Your clients cannot obtain loans for their homes if you’re not registered as well as their homes.

Yes, almost all Building Tenders, RFQs and Contracts require NHBRC Registration.

It’s a piece of documentation that proves that your home is enrolled and covered by the NHBRC.

As an NHBRC registered company, the certificate is a testament to quality and compliance. It ensures that construction companies adhere to the highest standards, protecting homeowners from potential defects and issues.

An NHBRC Certificate is valid for 5 years after your client moves into their home or contractually accepts the construction as their finished home.

You can view our NHBRC Registration brochure here.