OHS Construction Regulations: What Applies to You

The Construction Regulations put duties on the client as well as the contractor, and most clients have never been told. Appointing a builder does not transfer them.

OHS Construction Regulations: What Applies to You — practical guidance from the team running construction work on the Garden Route. Below is what the regulations actually require, which duties are yours, what the health and safety file contains, and what an inspector looks at.

Who the regulations apply to

The Construction Regulations sit under the Occupational Health and Safety Act and govern construction work in South Africa. They apply broadly — not only to large commercial projects.

The client is the person for whom the work is being done. That is you, on your own house.

The principal contractor is the contractor appointed by the client to perform the construction work, and who takes responsibility for the site.

Contractors are the parties appointed by the principal contractor — the subtrades.

Designers carry duties too, to consider health and safety in the design and to inform the client of any hazard inherent in it.

The critical point: the client’s duties do not disappear because a contractor has been appointed. They are a separate set of obligations that exist alongside the contractor’s, and they are enforceable.

Two registrations sit behind the paperwork. Where the Construction Regulations require a construction health and safety agent, that person must be registered with the SACPCMP — the council that registers construction health and safety professionals — and appointing an unregistered one leaves the client’s appointment defective. Separately, every employer on site must be registered and in good standing with the Compensation Fund under COIDA, and the letter of good standing is the document you ask each contractor and subcontractor for before they come through the gate.

What the client actually has to do

Prepare a baseline risk assessment for the intended construction work — identifying the significant hazards the project will involve.

Prepare health and safety specifications based on that assessment, and give them to every tendering contractor. This means the contractors are pricing the same safety requirements rather than differentiating on how little they will spend on it.

Satisfy yourself that the contractor is competent and has the necessary resources to do the work safely. In practice: their safety record, their letter of good standing from the Compensation Fund, and whether their health and safety plan responds sensibly to your specifications.

Appoint the principal contractor in writing.

Ensure the contractor’s health and safety plan is in place before work starts, and that a health and safety file is maintained on site.

Stop the work where there is a serious risk to health and safety.

And receive the health and safety file at completion, which becomes part of the building’s record.

On a residential build most clients delegate the practical execution of this to a competent professional or to the contractor, which is entirely sensible. What you cannot do is be unaware of it.

Appointments, notification and permits

Written appointments are the mechanism the regulations use to make responsibility specific. A named person, in writing, who has accepted a defined responsibility. Depending on the work these include a construction supervisor and appointees for excavation, fall protection, scaffolding, lifting equipment, temporary works and other defined activities. A title on an organogram is not an appointment.

Notification. Construction work above defined thresholds must be notified to the Department of Employment and Labour before it begins.

Construction work permits. Above higher thresholds a permit must be applied for and granted before work starts — a heavier process with a real lead time, and one that catches developers who assumed notification was the only requirement.

Because the thresholds change and depend on project value and characteristics, the practical advice is to confirm which category your project falls into early, with someone who deals with it regularly. Discovering that a permit was required after work has started is a stoppage.

And a letter of good standing from the Compensation Fund is required from every contractor on site. Without it, an injury on your property becomes a problem you did not expect to have.

What an inspector looks at

A Department of Employment and Labour inspector arriving on site works through a recognisable list, and it is worth knowing it.

The health and safety file — present, current and on site. Not in an office somewhere.

The appointments — signed, current, and the appointed people actually present and aware of their responsibilities.

Letters of good standing for every contractor working on the site.

Risk assessments and method statements for the work actually happening that day, and evidence the workforce was inducted on them.

Physical conditions — edge protection, excavation support, scaffolding condition and inspection records, electrical safety, plant and lifting equipment certification, personal protective equipment in use.

Welfare facilities and first aid provision.

The consequences of falling short range from an improvement notice to a prohibition notice stopping the work, and in serious cases to prosecution. A prohibition notice on a build is a delay nobody has priced.

And after an incident, the file is the first thing requested — by the inspector, by the insurer, and potentially by a court.

Frequently asked questions

Do the Construction Regulations apply to a house?

Yes. They apply to construction work broadly, not only to large commercial projects, and the client duties apply to a homeowner having a house built or substantially altered. What varies with project size is the notification and permit requirements, not whether the framework applies at all.

What are the client’s duties under the Construction Regulations?

Preparing a baseline risk assessment, preparing health and safety specifications and giving them to tendering contractors, satisfying yourself that the contractor is competent and adequately resourced, appointing them in writing, ensuring a health and safety plan and file are in place before work starts, stopping work where there is serious risk, and receiving the file at completion. Most clients delegate the execution of this to a competent professional, which is sensible — but the duties remain theirs.

Can I transfer my duties to the contractor?

No. The client’s duties exist alongside the contractor’s rather than instead of them, and appointing a principal contractor does not extinguish them. You can and generally should have a competent professional or the contractor carry out the practical work of complying, but the obligation stays with you and it is enforceable.

What is a letter of good standing?

Confirmation from the Compensation Fund that a contractor’s contributions are up to date, which means their employees are covered for injury on duty. It should be current — they expire — and it should be obtained for every contractor working on the site, not only the principal one. Without it, an injury on your property becomes a liability question you did not anticipate.

Do I need to notify the Department of Labour?

Above defined thresholds, yes, before work begins — and above higher thresholds a construction work permit must be applied for and granted first, which has a real lead time. The thresholds depend on project value and characteristics and they change, so the practical step is to confirm which category your project falls into early. Discovering a permit was needed after starting means a stoppage.

What happens if an inspector finds problems?

It ranges from an improvement notice, requiring specified matters to be put right within a period, to a prohibition notice stopping the work entirely until they are — and in serious cases to prosecution. A prohibition notice is a delay nobody has priced and nobody can expedite. The file, the appointments and the letters of good standing are the first things checked, and they are all things that can simply be in order.

Related reading

• Site establishment, day 1
• Fall protection plans
• Red flags when vetting a SA contractor
• Construction company in George