Raubex Building has notched up another successful RDP housing project in Gauteng, completing 480 units at Riverside View south of Diepsloot in the Fourways area near Johannesburg.

The company’s work on the R75 million Riverside View RDP Multi Storey project – implemented for developer Valumax – began in June 2016 and ran through to October 2017. According to Raubex contract manager, Jacques Vermaak, the smooth process of construction was testimony to the strong collaboration between all stakeholders.

“Working closely with the community, the City of Johannesburg and our client Valumax, the Raubex Building team was able to ensure that we worked together like a well-oiled machine,” says Vermaak.

“Everyone played their part with great pride, striving for the highest quality in everything we did; this was a recipe for a rapid rate of production, with enviable standards that must rate among the best in any RDP construction project.”

“We work particularly closely with the community on these projects, as we need to implement a target of 60% locals in our workforce,” he says. “This means engaging some inexperienced workers, and then guiding and training them through the whole project. We also employ a highly skilled community liaison officer to facilitate the resolution of any issues that may arise.”

The client’s requirement was for 15 four storey buildings to be constructed at Riverside View, with 32 units per building. In fact, these were the first four-storey buildings erected for RDP housing in Johannesburg, according to Vermaak making it a flagship initiative for future multi-storey RDP units that are planned.

“This meant that there were a lot of eyes on us, and a number of inspections carried out during a lengthy procedure before a block of flats could be handed over to the client,” he says. “Quality control was an important aspect of this project, with the buildings’ quality and finishes being inspected regularly by engineers, the National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC), the City of Johannesburg, building inspectors and Valumax’s own quality control team.”

He says the cooperation of all these role players helped to ensure that the buildings maintained the highest levels of quality inside and out, with the quality and finishing comparable to rental units.

Each Riverside View unit consists of two bedrooms and an open plan kitchen, with a living room and one bathroom; in line with the specification, the walls were skimmed and painted inside, and a bath, toilet, basin and stand-alone sink installed. The units have their own water meters, electrical prepaid meters, and high pressure solar geysers on their roofs.

Vermaak emphasises that there is always keen competition for this volume of work, but Raubex Building is able to demonstrate its extensive record of building good quality projects – and especially its ability to manage excellent turnaround times within the customers’ deadlines.

The company’s reputation has also built on a number of previous projects for Valumax, including RDP multi-storeys (two floors) and gap houses in Clayville, Midrand, as well as gap houses at the Riverside View site.

Raubex Building’s credibility is also enhanced by its position as a member of the JSE-listed Raubex Group. It started as Raubex Housing in 2012, and the company broadened its horizons beyond just housing into commercial developments in 2015, hence its current name.

He says Raubex Building’s completion of the 480 units is helping to put a serious dent in the housing back-log in the Johannesburg area, and the company is looking to complete over 400 more units there early in 2018 – with hopefully many more to come. Valumax’s ‘mega-project’ at Riverside View will see a total of over 9 600 residential units in that development, a real contribution to meeting the country’s ever-growing housing needs.