Inferior or incorrectly constituted building materials can ruin building projects and in worst case scenarios can cause the failure of structures after they have been built. The Aggregate and Sand Producers Association of Southern Africa (Aspasa), as well as the South African Readymix Association (Sarma), warned consumers to be aware of unscrupulous and unregistered suppliers in the building material supply industry.

Nico Pienaar, director of both associations, says national standards exist to guide consumers and should serve as a basis for purchases of materials. These are upheld by the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS) and cover a wide range of technical regulations relating to all aspects of construction.  SA has become a dumping ground for all sorts of goods and those goods entering SA takes away opportunities for job creation in SA.

Legal protection

“NRCS has compiled detailed technical requirements for construction material based on exhaustive technical data in order to provide acceptable minimum standards. Simply speaking, suppliers that do not comply with these standards cannot guarantee their materials will perform as they are required to.

“Although the Consumer Protection Act provides ample protection for consumers in the event that materials do not conform to national standards, we advise that the best course of action is always to deal only with suppliers that do conform to all national regulations and that belong to industry bodies that require members to comply with industry related regulations,” says Nico.

Ongoing inspections

He continues that further protection will also be provided to consumers through the NRCS itself, which is also taking steps to address supply of non-conforming building materials through its own surveillance inspections. These can be undertaken at any time without prior notification on any premises (excluding private dwellings) where the commodity in questions is manufactured, sold, used, stored imported or exported.

“Consumers themselves may report non-compliant suppliers. In order to ensure action can be taken they will need to provide the name and details of the supplier, as well as proof of purchase, the product itself and any accompanying documentation. In instances where infringers are reported the name of the reporter will not be divulged, thereby giving consumers further protection,” concludes Nico.

The priority is to find non-compliant suppliers and commodities and take action to immediately remedy the situation. This is usually done through withdrawal of approvals, directives, confiscation or destruction of goods, legal prosecution and the public notification of infringements in the media.