Compliance
What the Construction Regulations add to the OHS Act
The Act makes somebody responsible. The Regulations decide who, in writing, before anybody starts, and two of those documents belong to the client.
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All resources
Property management
Compliance
OHS prohibition notice on a building, and who fixes it
In Soweto the notice went to the tenant, the repair runs through the landlord, and only an inspector can say the building may reopen.
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Cost & decisions
Landlord repair obligations, and the tenant's repair bill
A landlord may have to pay a tenant back for an urgent repair, and the Rental Housing Tribunal's ruling carries the force of a court judgment.
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Property & facilities
Burst pipe at night in Johannesburg: who fixes what
The water meter is the line. Johannesburg Water fixes its side, you fix yours, and a leak on your side is billed to you until it stops.
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Property & facilities
Emergency repairs in a body corporate, after hours
The trustees cannot meet at 2am, and the Act and the management rules already say who may authorise the repair, who may enter a unit and who pays.
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Property & facilities
Burst geyser: what to do in the first ten minutes
Switch off the power, shut the water, protect the ceiling, then photograph everything before you phone the insurer. Here is the order and why.
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Compliance
Construction work permit, and whether your job needs one
It does not come from the municipality and your approved plans do not cover it. Two different duties sit with the Department of Employment and Labour.
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Compliance
How long an electrical CoC is valid in South Africa
It never expires. But it cannot carry a transfer once it is two years old, and it does not cover anything added or altered after it was issued.
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Cost & decisions
Commercial property investment pack, and what net hides
Broll's Wynberg lot shows R2,14m gross, R1,03m recoveries and R2,06m net. Those numbers fit two very different investments, and the listing does not say which.
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Property & facilities
Nine centres changed hands. Who maintains them?
Dipula is buying nine shopping centres for R2 billion, and on the day of transfer somebody has to know who fixes the air conditioning.
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Cost & decisions
What to check before hiring a contractor
Britain's new trusted trader scheme is voluntary. South Africa already has five registers, and a deposit rule that only bites once the money has gone.
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Property & facilities
Approved contractor list, and who builds one
Eighteen panels on one September day's tender board, and a landlord with 18.6% of its Gauteng offices empty. Both sides were building lists.
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Compliance
Geyser drip tray requirement, and who pays without one
Refuse the tray, sign the amended quote, and the plumber's non-compliance note moves the cost of the next failure from their insurer to your cupboards.
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Cost & decisions
Find vetted contractors in Johannesburg, trade by trade
Start with the trade, because the shortage is uneven. Here is what our network could put on a Johannesburg site on 21 September 2026, and where it could not.
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Property & facilities
Maintenance contractors for bodies corporate
The Act makes trustees maintain the common property. It does not say how to find the contractor, compare the quotes or check the registers first. This does.
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Property & facilities
Who approves the quote in a sectional title scheme
There are 130 female sectional title owners for every 100 male owners, and the quote your contractor wrote is still addressed to a single homeowner.
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Compliance
The borehole registration deadline closed in July
Every commercial borehole had to be registered for water use by about 23 July 2026, and the sanction for missing it is criminal rather than administrative.
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Cost & decisions
Municipal tariffs rose 8,1% and 10,2% in July 2026
Headline inflation fell to 4,3% while the services a building actually buys went up by twice that, which is why the maintenance budget broke.
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The Arabella Brief
What changed this week, and what it costs you on Monday.
One email on a Friday, covering the week from Friday to Thursday so the week is closed when it is written. What actually changed, everything with a date on it, one development run through what it means for a contractor with forty people, and what we got wrong. A thin week is a short issue.