Contents

• Preparation of Building Plans
• Submission of Building Plans
• Room Dimensions and Height
• Natural Lighting and Ventilation
• Guidelines for Refuse Storage Rooms

The Environmental Health section of the City of Cape Town is directly involved with
the scrutiny of building plans related to mainly industrial, commercial and private
applications. The purpose of this service is mainly regulatory and preventative in
nature and ensures that all new buildings are made to comply with environmental
health legislation, policies, specifications and protocols that are designed to ensure
the protection of the health and safety of the City of Cape Town's citizens.

The service extends to the following:-

• Inspection and investigation service.
• Plan scrutiny procedures.
• Pre-scrutiny and advisory service to architects, engineers & members of the public.
• The issue of health clearance for plan approval.

Preparation of Building Plans

If you are doing alterations to your home or business premises, the law requires that
plans be submitted to the City of Cape Town's Building Development Management
branch for approval. Once your building plan has been submitted, it will enter a
tracking system and can be monitored at each stage of the approval process. An
approval or rejection decision must be made within 30 days for buildings smaller than
500 m² and within 60 days for buildings larger than 500 m² - this is a national
statutory requirement. "Special departures", such as a change of land use etc, will
mean that your plan will follow a different route and will require land-use management
approval.

Once, and if your plan is approved, you are required to begin building work within 1year
of plan approval. Once building, a minimum of 3 inspections will take place, at foundation
trenches stage, drainage stage and completion stage.

These instructions, which have been specifically drawn up to assist those contemplating
the preparation of plans for submission to the City of Cape Town, set out the main
requirements of the National Building Regulations and Standards Act No. 103 of
1977, which should if necessary, be consulted for full details.

Any person intending to erect a building (this includes altering or adding to a building) must submit the following together with the prescribed application form:

1. A site plan.
2. Layout drawings.
3. Drainage installation drawing (where necessary).

These may be on one or more single sheets not smaller than A4 size (210mm x 297mm),
and not larger than AO size (841mm x 1 189mm). For Minor Works Permits not larger than
A3 size (297mm x 420mm).

In addition, where any structural design, (for instance reinforced concrete, structural
steelwork or structural timber) is involved, plans showing the structural arrangement and
details, together with a certificate of appointment must be submitted with the plans.

Where artificial ventilation or lighting is involved, the necessary details, together with a
certificate of appointment must be submitted with the plans.

For the erection of any building other than a dwelling house, a fire protection plan, if
relevant, must be submitted with the plans.

Plans must be drawn to a suitable scale selected from the following:

1. Site plan: 1:100 or 1:200 or 1:300 or 1:500 or 1:1000
2. Layout drawings: 1:100 or 1:50 or 1:20 elevations may be 1:200
3. Drainage installation drawings: 1:200 or 1:100 or 1:50
4. General structural arrangement drawings and structural details: 1:100 or 1:50
   or 1:20 or 1:10 or 1:5 or 1:2 or 1:1
5. Fire protection plans: 1:200 or 1:100 or 1:50 or 1:20

The scale(s) used must be clearly stated on the plans

Plans must be in 4 sets. All sets to be white paper prints. For Minor Works Permit
applications 3 sets are required.

The requirements for colouring of plans are as follows:

1. Entirely new buildings:- Only to the extent set out in (3) below.
2. Alterations and additions to existing building:- Coloured as detailed in the
   table below.
3. In all cases:- The drainage installation and the fire protection plan to be coloured
   as detailed in the table below.

The application forms and the plans must be signed by the owner in black ink. Any
alterations must be similarly signed and dated.

The site plan must show:

1. The North Point.
2. The distance to the nearest named cross road and the name of such cross road.
3. The name of the street or streets upon which the property fronts.
4. "The dimensions of the site on which the building is to be erected, the boundaries
   of such site (fully dimensioned), the dimensional position of any building line and
   the position and width of any servitude or right of way to which such site is subject.
5. Proposed buildings (coloured red), existing buildings, structures and pools on the
   site (uncoloured), and buildings which are proposed to be demolished in dotted
   lines. The distance of all buildings, new and existing, must be fully
   figure-dimensioned in relation to the boundaries.
6. Ground levels of the site, and the levels of the lowest floor in relation to the
   abutting road.
7. The erf number of the site.
8. The position of any municipal service and any connection point thereto, and of any
   drain, stormwater drain, or surface channel on such site.
9. Any existing and intended point of access from any public street and the position
   of any street tree, street furniture, apparatus or equipment relative to such access.

The layout drawings must show:

1. Sufficient plans, sections and elevations to make clear the construction and layout
   of every portion of every building, (The position of section lines must be indicated
   on the plan view, and all plans, elevations and sections must be fully dimensioned).
2. The intended use of every room or compartment.
3. The sanitary fixtures.

The drainage installation drawings must show:

1. The position, size, gradient of and any connection point to any drain to a datum
   established on site and the ground level relative thereto including finished floor level.
2. The position of any point of access to the drain.
3. The position of any trapped gully and sanitary fixture.
4. The position of, and size of, any soil pipe, waste pipe and ventilating pipe.
5. Any symbols to signify details in accordance with the table attached to Regulation
   A3 of the National Building Regulations.

The application documents and plans must show the name of the person who prepared them
and in the case of an architect, land surveyor or professional engineer, his registration number.

Land Surveyor's Certificates in duplicate must accompany all plans, except where this is
deemed unnecessary by the Department.

In certain cases, depending on the nature of the proposed work, additional information
(eg. coverage and floor area calculations, reinforced concrete detal's) is required to be
submitted.Plans may not be submitted through the post as they must be walked through the system by the author thereof.

No tippex. stickers or omissions are permitted on any plans.

Failure to observe any of these instructions will cause a delay in the consideration and approval of plans.

Room Dimensions and Height

Room Dimensions

The plan dimensions of any room or space shall be the horizontal dimensions between unplastered wall surfaces. Any floor area shall not include any area occupied by any built
in cupboard or any dividing wall or partition. The height of any room shall be the vertical dimension from the top of the finished floor to the underside of the ceiling. Any habitable
room other than a kitchen shall have a floor area of not less than 6 m² and the minimum horizontal dimension within such area shall not be less than 2 m.

Room Heights

 

Natural Lighting and Ventilation

Natural Lighting

Any habitable room, bathroom, shower-room and room containing a WC pan or urinal or
any room which is a parking garage shall be provided with adequate means of lighting
which will enable such room to be used at all times, without detriment to health or safety
or causing any nuisance, for the purpose for which it is designed. All habitable rooms use
either natural lighting or alternatively, artificial lighting.

If a room is to use natural lighting, the following requirements apply:-

• Any habitable room in any dwelling house or dwelling unit or any building used for
  residential or institutional occupancy shall, notwithstanding the provision of artificial
  lighting, be provided with at least one opening for natural light.
• Where such opening is glazed it shall be glazed with transparent or approved translucent
  glazing material or when not glazed the design of such opening shall be such that the
  ingress of rainwater will be prevented and there will not be significant interference with
  natural lighting.
• The area of any such opening or total area of any such openings, inclusive of frames and
  glazing bars, shall not be less than 10% of the floor area of the room or rooms served by
  it or 0,2 m², whichever is the greater.

Every such opening shall be either:-

• An openable glazed window in an external wall or in a suitable position in the roof.
• An opening in an external wall so designated as to exclude ingress of rain.
• If any opening opens into a roofed and enclosed balcony, gallery or verandah, a portion
  of the outer wall of such balcony, gallery or verandah shall have an opening of at least
  10 % - 15 % of the combined floor area of the room concerned and the balcony, gallery
  or verandah.
• Where any enclosed court is covered, the requirement for lighting of any room that opens
  onto such court shall be that the cover to such court be adequately translucent.
• Where such court is to be occupied for any purpose, whether or not there are openings
  onto such court, the cover shall be translucent.

PLEASE NOTE: All commercial buildings do have both natural lighting and the necessary
artificial lighting.

Natural Ventilation

Any habitable room, bathroom, shower-room and room containing a WC pan or urinal or
any room which is a parking garage, shall be provided with adequate means of ventilation
which will enable such room to be used at all times, without detriment to health or safety or causing any nuisance, for the purpose for which it was designed. All habitable rooms are
either to be ventilated naturally or alternatively, artificially.

If a room is to be ventilated naturally, the following requirements apply:-

• All habitable rooms shall be provided with one or more openings that allow the inflow of
  fresh air from the outside.
• The position of these openings (doors, windows, skylights, vents or louvers) shall be such
  that an adequate through flow or cross flow of fresh air from outside is possible when
  these openings are open.
• An opening in the ceiling or at the top of an internal or external wall, connected directly to
  a vertical ventilating flue, where the area of such opening or total area of any such
  openings, shall not be less than 5% of the total floor area of such room or 0,2 m²,
  whichever is the greater.
• Openings shall ventilate directly to the outside air and not borrow air from (open into) an adjacent room or enclosed space (balcony, verandah, gallery or any other room), unless
  such enclosed space has a opening in it’s outer wall equal to or more than 5% of the
  combined floor area of the room concerned and the balcony, verandah or gallery.

Guidelines for Refuse Storage Rooms/Areas

All risk businesses i.e. medical waste, and all food premises shall be provided with adequate refuse storage areas or rooms, where the refuse is stored in such a manner that it does not create a health nuisance.

• The refuse storage area must be large enough to store all refuse produced on the premises, including all material intended for recycling.
• Unrestricted space shall be provided and provisions must be made for easy manoeuvring of wheeled refuse containers.
• With regard to blocks of flats and townhouses, one wheeled refuse receptacle is required for
  two flats.
• A minimum of 25-litres of storage capacity per person working or living in the premises is to
  be provided.
• A general guideline is that the refuse storage area must have room for future expansion.
• All refuse receptacles must be supplied with close fitting lids or covers, to prevent the
  ingress of flies, rodents or any other vermin, and to retain any refuse odours within the
  refuse receptacle.
• All refuse receptacles shall be cleaned on a regular basis and shall be maintained in a clean
  and hygienic condition at all times.

A refuse room shall be constructed: -

• Of brick or similar material with the internal walls cement-plastered to a smooth surface and painted in a light coloured paint.
• The floor shall be of concrete, cement rendered to a smooth finish, and rounded to a height
  of 75 mm around the perimeter. There shall be no ledges at the junction of the floor and the walls.
• The floor shall be graded and drained to a 100 mm floor trap discharging to an outside gully, which in turn shall be connected to a sewer.
• The room shall not have a floor to ceiling height of less than 2,6 m.
• The room shall be adequately ventilated to the outside air by means of louvers or other acceptable means.
• The room shall be provided with a solid door, which shall be fitted with an effective self-
  closing device and shall have the lower 150 mm protected by sheet metal on the outside surface.
• No such door or louver shall be less than 3 m from any door or window of any occupied habitable room.