The Construction Regulations 2014 are made under the Occupational Health and Safety Act and apply on top of it, not instead of it. They set out what the client must do before work starts, what the principal contractor must do on site, and which activities need a permit or seven days’ notice.
They are subordinate legislation made under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993. Everything the Act already asks of an employer — safe systems of work, trained employees, appointed representatives, first aid and fire provision — still applies on a construction site. The Construction Regulations add duties specific to construction work on top of that.
So the question on a site is never “Act or Regulations?”. It is both, and the Regulations are the part that decides who is appointed, what gets notified and what has to be in the file.
Two separate gates sit in front of construction work, and which one applies depends on the project.
Regulation 3 covers the application for a construction work permit, made to the provincial director. The application has to be accompanied by the documents the regulations name, including proof that the client has met the duties in regulation 5 — which is where the good standing requirement bites.
Regulation 4 covers notification of construction work that falls below the permit threshold. A contractor must notify the provincial director in writing at least seven days before work starts where the work will:
Regulation 4 also covers construction of a single storey dwelling where the client will reside in it, using a form similar to Annexure 2, again at least seven days beforehand.
Read that list against your programme rather than your job title. Plenty of work that nobody calls “construction” involves an excavation or a fall risk.
Regulation 5 puts real duties on the client, not just on the people doing the work. Two of them come up constantly.
| Regulation | What the client must do |
|---|---|
| 5(1)(j) | Ensure that every principal contractor is registered and in good standing with the compensation fund, or with a licensed compensation insurer, as contemplated in the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act 1993. This is why you are asked for a letter of good standing before you get on site. |
| 5(1)(s) | Ensure that the health and safety file contemplated in regulation 7(1)(b) is kept and maintained by the principal contractor. |
The practical effect is that a client who waves you through without checking is carrying their own exposure, which is why the request is rarely something you can talk your way past.
Regulation 7 sets out the duties of the principal contractor and contractor. Two sub-regulations do most of the work in an audit:
Regulation 7 also requires each contractor to be appointed in writing for the specific part of the project they are doing. Verbal arrangements do not survive an inspection.
Regulation 8 deals with management and supervision. Under regulation 8(1) the principal contractor must appoint one full-time competent construction manager, with an alternate. Regulation 8(5) deals with the appointment of a construction health and safety officer, full-time or part-time, decided after consulting the client and taking the size of the project and the accumulation of hazards into account.
Four of the twenty-nine drive most of the training a site actually books.
| Regulation | What it covers | The course |
|---|---|---|
| 9 | Risk assessment for construction work — which drives what everything else on site is trained on | SHE Representative |
| 10 | Fall protection | Working at Heights |
| 16 | Scaffolding | Scaffolding and scaffold erector and inspector |
| 29 | Fire precautions on construction sites | Fire fighting courses |
Cranes are regulation 22 and construction vehicles and mobile plant are regulation 23, so a site running lifting equipment or plant picks up lifting machinery and earth moving tickets as well.
Send us your programme and the trades on site and we will tell you which certificates the Regulations point at, and what it costs to get them in place. We train at your site anywhere in South Africa, or at our Mokopane centre.
Training for employersUseful when you are checking whether something on your programme has its own regulation.
| No. | Heading | No. | Heading |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Definitions | 16 | Scaffolding |
| 2 | Scope of application | 17 | Suspended platforms |
| 3 | Application for construction work permit | 18 | Rope access work |
| 4 | Notification of construction work | 19 | Material hoists |
| 5 | Duties of client | 20 | Bulk mixing plant |
| 6 | Duties of designer | 21 | Explosive actuated fastening device |
| 7 | Duties of principal contractor and contractor | 22 | Cranes |
| 8 | Management and supervision of construction work | 23 | Construction vehicles and mobile plant |
| 9 | Risk assessment for construction work | 24 | Electrical installations and machinery on construction sites |
| 10 | Fall protection | 25 | Use and temporary storage of flammable liquids on construction sites |
| 11 | Structures | 26 | Water environments |
| 12 | Temporary works | 27 | Housekeeping and general safeguarding on construction sites |
| 13 | Excavation | 28 | Stacking and storage on construction sites |
| 14 | Demolition work | 29 | Fire precautions on construction sites |
| 15 | Tunnelling |
No. They are made under the Act and operate on top of it. A construction site has to meet the general duties in the Act — safe systems of work, trained employees, safety representatives, first aid and fire provision — and the construction-specific duties in the Regulations at the same time.
Regulation 4 requires written notification at least seven days before work starts where the work will include excavation work, working at a height where there is a risk of falling, the demolition of a structure, or the use of explosives. It also applies to a single storey dwelling where the client will reside in it.
The principal contractor opens and keeps it on site under regulation 7(1)(b), and hands a consolidated file to the client on completion under regulation 7(1)(e). The client has their own duty under regulation 5(1)(s) to ensure the principal contractor is actually keeping and maintaining it.
Because regulation 5(1)(j) makes it their duty. The client must ensure every principal contractor is registered and in good standing with the compensation fund or a licensed compensation insurer. It is a legal duty on the client, not a preference, which is why it is rarely waived.
Not automatically. Regulation 8(1) requires a full-time competent construction manager with an alternate. Regulation 8(5) deals separately with a construction health and safety officer, appointed full-time or part-time after consulting the client and taking into account the size of the project and the accumulation of hazards. The two appointments are not the same thing.
