Anger at Cape Town building plan delays

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07-12-2015
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IOL
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Delays in Cape Town's building plan submission and approval system has sparked anger among drafters and architects - some of whom claim to have waited up to eight months before starting construction.

The first phase of the Development Application Management System (Dams) was introduced in April last year.

According to the City of Cape Town website, Dams is "an integrated system that links the City's Property Value Chain (PVC) and account system (SAP) improving service delivery to developers and property owners through full spatial integration with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and making the standardised processing of development applications possible, ensuring visibility and transparency at every step of the process".

City of Cape Town spokeswoman Priya Reddy said it was developed to aid electronic submissions of development applications and payment, among others. "It entails a complete system overhaul and is a dynamic process," she said.

But more than a year later the system appears to be delaying the process.

The Cape Argus visited the Athlone District Municipality office where the system backlog was mostly experienced.

Phaldie Rinquest, a Kenwyn homeowner, said it was his fifth visit to the council offices.

"Everytime I come here I think I have everything they want and then they send me back for something else," he said.

Rinquest submitted his plans earlier this year but, due to the delays, he was forced to lay off his contractor. The frustrated homeowner said he had considered doing the renovations without council approval.

Mogemat Behardien said he had to take a day off work to sort out the "building plans mess". Behardien submitted his plan to renovate his home three weeks ago but had not received any feedback. "The longer we wait the more expensive the material will be," he said.

A draftsman, who declined to be named, explained the process to the Cape Argus. "With the old system, submissions used to be checked in one day. Now it takes up to six months to get the land use done. You then need to wait for the instruction approval and then the plan examiner's approval which can take another four months," he said.

"Clients can't wait that long. This is costing the country. Construction companies are frustrated. It has to be sped up.”

A group calling itself the Concerned Architectural Professionals said in a statement: "Whatever problems the Council is having due to the introductions of the new Dams system and the continuous changes to the process is really not the problem of the public. It is the duty of the Council to ensure that service to the public is efficient as it will have an economic impact on this region and province as most of the workforce is within the build industry.

"The delays mean the public are now encouraged to start the building work without plans being approved.”