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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The trustee's guide to getting work done.
For the trustee, the managing agent and the estate manager with a roof, a wall, a geyser or a gate in front of them. What the Act makes the scheme maintain, who may approve the spend, what to check before a contractor starts, and what this year's numbers do to the levy. Written from the Act and the registers, kept current by the engines.
What you have to maintain
decision 1 of 4Maintenance contractors for bodies corporate →
Section 3(1)(l) of the Sectional Titles Schemes Management Act makes the body corporate maintain the common property and keep it in good repair. Common property is everything that is not a section: the structure, the roof, the boundary walls, the reticulation to the point it enters a unit, the driveways, gates, pool and plant. Since 2016 the regulations require a written ten-year maintenance, repair and replacement plan and a reserve fund to pay for it.
Who approves the quote
decision 2 of 4Who approves the quote in a sectional title scheme →
Repair is maintenance and the trustees may approve it within the budget. Replace a precast wall with a higher brick one and it is an improvement, which needs a resolution of the owners, special or unanimous depending on whether the regulations would call it luxurious. A quote that makes the line visible is a quote that survives the meeting.
What to check before anyone starts
decision 3 of 4The registers, and how to look a firm up →
Five registers, four of them free: the cidb register and its removals notices, National Treasury's restricted suppliers, the trade registration the work needs (Department of Employment and Labour for electrical, PIRB for plumbing, SAQCC Gas for gas), and a letter of good standing from the Compensation Fund valid for the duration of the job.
The certificate is the deliverable
decision 4 of 4Who may issue an electrical CoC in South Africa →
An electrical certificate of compliance for the gate motor and common lighting, a PIRB certificate for the geyser, a certificate of conformity for the gas, the engineer's sign-off on a structural repair. Insurers ask for them after a loss and conveyancers at transfer. The quote should name the certificate and the final payment should wait for it.
This year's numbers
checked 18 Sept 2026Prices →
Rand per US dollar16,24 ZAR/USD
Repo rate7,00 %
Prime lending rate10,50 %
Diesel 0.05% wholesale, Gauteng29,11 R/litre
Brent crude103,25 USD/bbl
Prime at 10,50% is what a reserve fund earns against and what a special levy borrows at. What the July tariff increases did to a callout, with the Stats SA figures: municipal tariffs rose 8,1% and 10,2%.
On the clock
dated items a managing agent should know aboutThe clock →
24 Oct 2026
NCC comment closes on PIRB's application to be an accredited Consumer Protection Group: decides whether a PIRB registration carries a complaints route
31 Oct 2026
COIDA: outstanding 2025 and prior-year Returns of Earnings must be submitted, or the Commissioner may assess on estimate (s 83(6)(a)) and add up to 10% (s 83(6)(b))
Written for the scheme
Every property piece →
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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The panel
A body corporate through the panel sees one quote from one company for the scope the trustees set, with the contractor checked against every register above, the certificate named, and payment at 85% on award and 15% on sign-off.