There is mounting concern over building developments worth millions of rands that are going up in Durban and surrounding areas without the necessary plans being approved.
However, the municipality's Town Planning and Development Department intends to "bring all perpetrators to book".
Architects and developers said this week that some investors were taking short cuts because of a plans backlog caused by the biggest building boom the city has seen in 20 years.
Lihle Phewa, deputy head of Town Planning and Development at the eThekwini Municipality, said delays in plan approvals were a result of increased volumes, staff shortages, substandard drawing submissions and corruption in the building designer/architectural industry.
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| 'As we go month by month, the problem is compounding' |
The so-called "right to a view" precedent set by a recent court ruling had also resulted in "a flurry of frivolous objections".
"Over the past five years the city has experienced a 55 percent general increase in the number of building plan submissions. Between July 2003 and December 2003, 7 504 building plans were received, whereas in 2004, 9 758 building plans were received for the same period," said Phewa.
He attributed the increase to economic growth and the property boom, tariff standardisation which had reduced fees in some areas, and an influx of plans from townships and social housing developers.
Architects, designers and developers who spoke to The Mercury said they were concerned that the council's town planning offices in Durban, Hillcrest and Ballito were insufficiently staffed to meet this demand. The problem had been going on for months, they said.
The frenzy of building activity along the coast had made it a "nightmare" to obtain satisfactory assistance from the Ballito office.
Graham Braum, a spokesperson for the South African Institute of Building Designers, which represents about 90 companies, said the backlog remained problematic despite a meeting with the department head to address concerns last month.
"There is a building boom but there is also a plans crisis. As we go month by month, the problem is compounding. In the plans control office there are 400 plans lying there and there is nobody to punch them into the computer," he said.
Braum said it was taking nine to 12 weeks for plans to be approved. However, in the past it had taken two to three weeks for smaller developments and six weeks for bigger projects to be approved.
Durban architect Graham Fuller said designers had been told by officials that plans were waiting in a pile to be signed.
"We have to beg and plead for favours. There are boxes on the floors and your plans could be in one of those boxes. They are hopelessly understaffed," Fuller said.
He said there were very high cost consequences to the delays.
"Building costs are going up every day and prices (on quotes) only last 30 days or you lose the builder because he gets a job elsewhere," Fuller said.
However, Phewa said the department was meeting its target of 20 days for minor building works, 30 days for dwellings, 60 days for commercial/ industrial developments and 40 days to approve plans for minor and dwelling works that had to be circulated to other departments.
Major developers said they had not been affected by the backlog because they had negotiated with the council to start developments while waiting for plan approval.
Other designers said if they were confident there were no areas of controversy, they would advise clients to start building because the losses incurred by waiting for approval far outweighed the cost of fines.
Phewa said the council was aware that some developers had begun building without approved plans but they would face the full might of the law.
"In the interests of a healthy, safe and sustainable built environment, our building inspectors and enforcement officers will bring all perpetrators to book," he said.
Phewa said the department would employ 18 new staff by the end of this month, who would be deployed in offices around the municipality.
He said senior assessment officers in the central office were temporarily authorised to approve plans, and submission staff were undergoing multiskilling training to ease the backlog.
The department would also engage industry professionals to clamp down on unqualified people submitting plans, and measures were being considered to blacklist corrupt plan drawers.
"Sub-standard plans are deliberately submitted to buy more time, because these get referred with a long list and innocent clients and developers get charged more fees to address referrals," said Phewa.
"The blame is shifted to municipal officials who get accused of not knowing what they want. Some plan drawers often forge submission documents and, when these cases are investigated, plans are set aside pending the outcome."
Meetings to identify areas of improvement in the plans submission-and-approvals system were ongoing, he said.
- This article was originally published on page 1 of The Mercury on May 17, 2005
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