Built Simple for South African builders
Free calculators and guides for South African builders, written against SANS 10400 and the NHBRC scheme, plus construction management software that runs the job from your phone. No account needed for anything on these pages.
How the rules fit together in South Africa
The National Building Regulations and Building Standards Act 103 of 1977 is the law, and the National Building Regulations are made under it. SANS 10400 is the deemed-to-satisfy route: meet the relevant part and you are taken to have met the regulation. It runs from Part A to Part XA and is sold per part under the Standards Act 8 of 2008, which is why these pages cite parts and clause numbers and explain what they require rather than reproducing a table. Anyone offering the whole standard as a free download is not offering you a lawful copy.
Building plans go to the local authority for approval before work starts, drawn by a competent person and checked against the regulations. If the work is a new home, the builder also has to be registered with the NHBRC, and the home itself enrolled before construction begins. Registration is R745.61 once off with a R526.32 annual renewal, both before VAT. Enrolment is per home, is a separate step with a separate fee, and enrolling late, once the walls are up, brings an inspection, repairs at the builder’s cost and security under section 14A of the Act.
Where to start
- Pricing a small house. The house material list takes a 1, 2, 3 or 4 room plan and returns bricks, cement, sand, stone, footings, slab and roof sheets, priced at dated Cashbuild prices you replace with your own quotes.
- Pricing walls and a roof. The building cost calculator works from about 50 stock bricks per square metre for a single skin, 100 for a double and 35 for maxi, with 5 per cent waste, and gives mortar cement as a range because it is one.
- Choosing a roof pitch. The roof pitch calculator checks against tile, thatch and sheeting minimums. The underlay changes the tile minimum, thatch has its own standard in SANS 10407, and sheeting minimums come from the manufacturer, not from SANS at all.
- Registering as a builder. The NHBRC guide has the fees, the five step process and the technical assessment.
- Working out the enrolment fee. The NHBRC enrolment fee calculator applies the sliding scale to the selling price of a new home, with the R34,000 cap and both VAT readings.
- Getting plans approved. Part A covers plans, minor building work, inspection notices and competent persons, and Part S covers access for people with disabilities, including the buildings it does not apply to.
Three things this section corrects
A cost per square metre is a comparison tool, not a budget: the figure our calculator returns is a shell cost, and a full build figure includes plan approval, NHBRC enrolment and VAT, which it does not. Sheeting roof minimums are manufacturer figures and not a SANS clause, however often a supplier’s website says otherwise. And NHBRC registration and home enrolment are two different things with two different fees, and being registered does not enrol anything.
Built to South African standards, not translated from somewhere else
Every guide and calculator in this section is written to SANS 10400 and the National Building Regulations. The maths in a calculator does not change between countries, but the rules it has to satisfy absolutely do, so these are separate pages with separate figures rather than an Australian page with the currency swapped.
| Calculators | Figures in rand and metric, checked against South African practice. |
| Standards | We cite SANS parts and clause numbers and explain intent. We do not reproduce paid tables, and neither should anyone else. |
| Prices | Dated and attributed, and editable. There is no free live price feed in South Africa, so we show our source rather than pretending. |
| The app | Scheduling, estimating, team tracking and defects. Not localised to South African payroll or tax, and billed in Australian dollars. |
Run the whole job, not just the numbers
Built Simple handles scheduling, estimating, team tracking and defects in one place. The calculators are free forever on the starter plan.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are these calculators written for South African standards? Yes. Roof pitch minimums follow SANS 10400-L and SANS 10407, and costs are in rand with South African material conventions.
Why do you not publish the SANS tables? SANS 10400 is a paid standard protected under the Standards Act 8 of 2008. We cite parts and explain what they require, which is lawful. Reproducing the tables is not.
Do I need an account? No. Every calculator and guide here is free and needs no signup.
Is Built Simple a South African company? No. Built Simple is Australian. These guides are written specifically for South African practice, but the app is billed in Australian dollars, converted at checkout.
