The National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC) has deregistered 17 contractors and builders from its database of approved homebuilders, following the outcome of a disciplinary hearing.

The names of the affected contractors were published in the Government Gazette of March 15.

The offences committed by these builders or contractors included failure to enrol or register new homes, and failure to comply with the code of conduct and building standards.

“The NHBRC will continue to ensure that building standards are upheld and consumers are protected from poorly constructed buildings through its stringent requirements and regular inspections of all NHBRC-registered home building projects,” said NHBRC CEO Mziwonke Dlabantu in a statement.

For the 2016/17 to 2018/19 financial years, the NHBRC suspended 482 homebuilders who contravened legislation, and prosecuted 1 482 homebuilders for various contraventions, including shoddy workmanship, failure to enrol new homes and contravening the code of conduct for home builders.

Further, the NHBRC has also opened 357 criminal cases against homebuilders who have failed to register and enrol new homes.

In this regard, the NHBRC is collaborating with the National Prosecuting Authority and the South African Police Service to ensure that all the criminal cases opened are successfully prosecuted.

Homebuilders who fail to address the noncompliances issued by the NHBRC home inspectors within the required period are suspended pending prosecution by the NHBRC Disciplinary Committee (DC). These DCs are adjudicated by external and independent chairpersons.

During the period of suspension, the homebuilder is not allowed to build any homes in the country.

Should the homebuilder be found guilty following a DC process, a fine not exceeding R25 000 per contravention may be imposed; a warning may be issued; or registration may be withdrawn.

Dlabantu implored housing consumers to support the organisation’s efforts in this regard by ensuring that they appoint NHBRC-registered builders and subcontractors and ensure the enrolment of homes before the start of construction.