31 May 2018

Department of Architecture and Buildings in the Kgatleng District Council has of recent been overwhelmed by building permit requests for construction.

Speaking in an interview with BOPA, chief architecture and buildings officer, Mr Newman Nkosana said since Mochudi and surrounding villages were a spillover of Gaborone, many Batswana had begun construction of residential houses in Kgatleng. 

He said his department had a mandate to enforce the building Control Act together with the regulations.

Mr Nkosana further said the building control unit was responsible for monitoring of building development projects and their adherence to existing planning and construction regulations.

He said they were happy as the department that Batswana no longer built houses without approved plans because they understood the importance of placing value on the constructions they undertake.

He added that over many years Batswana were building house without any approved plans or following procedure, which at times led to conflicts between the owner and the constructor in the event of flaws.

Mr Nkosana said after submission of the plan, it is assessed and a decision made for issuance of building permit followed by inspections throughout the construction until completion after which an occupation permit is given.

He encouraged Batswana who still undertook their private developments to construct properties with approved plans.

The chief architect said they usually drew a budget as a department and they always overshoot the budget by 100 per cent, which shows that they were a busy district in terms of building control.

He said due to the overwhelming demands, the building control committee had to meet often in order to review submitted plans so that they do not delay their customers.

Mr Nkosana further said his department had received numerous building plans from the river villages, which showed that people were now moving to the other side, especially that Bokaa and Oodi were already congested.

He encouraged Batswana to engage professionals when building their houses including being assisted by registered architects. 

He said even though they were doing a great job, they were still faced with challenges, chief among them being shortage of resources which delayed progress.

He said once he had enough officers, some would be assigned to carry out inspection of illegal constructions until all Batswana understood the importance of complying with the building regulations.

Mr Nkosana also said they faced challenges with locating plot sites as they did not have maps.

Nevertheless, he said with the new plots, it was easy to find them and assist without any delays. 

He added that some of their customers did not come back after their plans had been assessed and asked to make corrections. ENDS