The Staatskoerant PROCLAMATION 47 OF 2022 section 70 of the Property Practitioners Regulatory Act, 2019 (Act No 22 of 2019) which became law on 1^st February 2022.

The very first paragraph in this Act, on the Home page, spells out what the Act is about. This Act was specially formulated in respect of Property Practitioners Regulatory Act (Estate agents) and NOT for private Home Inspection companies and/or Private Inspectors. Home Inspection companies and Inspectors in SA does not resort under the PPRA and is not regulated but could become regulated in future. When such an Act is passed then, having a home inspection done when buying a property, will be mandatory. Private home inspections companies and the inspectors in SA are NOT required to register with the PPRA. Home Inspection companies are not mentioned at all in the Act.

The Property Practitioners Regulatory Authority recommends that homeowners should have an inspection done before they buy, Page 68 Clause 36.1, and they mention the reasons why in this article. This is done to protect the public at large with respect to the selling of a property in a poor condition for example.

At the time of writing this article, 2024, we could not establish if a legal Government Institution or a Governmental mandated body/institution/association exists where one needs to register to write exams and be officially certified as a Legally Qualified Home Building Inspector in South Africa. This topic was discussed in Government and will probably happen in future, but it is not yet law and not yet mandatory. The right to have an inspection done either by a seller or buyer, is mentioned in The Staatskoerant PROCLAMATION 47 OF 2022 section 70 of the Property Practitioners Regulatory Act, 2019 (Act No 22 of 2019) which became law on 1^st February 2022.

According to the Law Society of SA, the buyer of a property has the right to request that the “Voetstoots” clause be removed from the Offer to Purchase. Home inspections before people buy, are done by private inspection companies and private inspectors which can be done for either buyer or seller who must pay for the service and who should receive a comprehensive report of the condition of the house, including photographs.

Inspection for clients who buy and sell houses are done by private inspectors working for private companies like ours and must not be confused with inspections mentioned in the act where inspectors who are employed by the department must be certified by them and who will inspect the property for very specific reasons – totally different from what we do.

Inspections done by the departmental inspectors have nothing to do, and are not involved, with the buying and selling of a property. The condition of the house with respect to building regulations and good building practice is also not mentioned in the Act because that is NOT what the PPRA inspectors are mandated to do but IS exactly what we do.

Echard Fourie

Senior Inspector