Page 68 - Q&A

Should a homebuilder or developer not comply with the requirement of
registration at the NHBRC or enrol the homes which he is building, such a
homebuilder or developer will be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not
exceeding R1,5 million or imprisonment. This fine is considerably higher than the
current R25,000.00 penalty or imprisonment contained in the Act.
A final change that can be noted, is the duty that the Bill places on estate agents,
financial institutions, conveyancers and the Registrar of Deeds to confirm before
they proceed with a property transaction whether the property constitutes a
home as defined in the Bill and whether the home is enrolled with the NHBRC
and if it is not so enrolled, to notify the NHRBC accordingly. A conveyancer bears
an additional duty to also report the non-compliance to the Registrar of Deeds
and estate agents have an additional duty to notify a prospective buyer that
the home has not been enrolled according to the Bill.

If these parties do not comply with this duty, they may be reported to the
Estate Agency Affairs Board, the Financial Service Board, the Law Society or
the Auditor-General (as applicable). This extends the watchdog function over
homebuilders and developers further to also include these parties who now
Property have an obligation to confirm compliance with the Bill.

For the moment the Bill is still just draft legislation and the Act still applies,
including the exemption for a person who uses his own labour to build a home
and builds for his own occupation. Once the Bill becomes law in the format
currently proposed, the situation will change and you will need to register with
the NHBRC to build your own home.

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