Draft Construction Regulation for Public Comments.

[Neil Enslin]

The long awaited Draft copy for the proposed changes to the Construction Regulations was amendant on 11 May 2010 and the department of Labour are now calling members on the public to comment on the darft.

Comments or representation regarding the attached documents are to be lodge in writing to the following address.

The National Department of Labour

Director General

Private Bag x117

Pretoria

0001.


Or via e. mail to the following e. mail addresses:



phumi.maphaha@labour.gov.za and tibor.szana@labour.gov.za subject marked: Comments on the proposed Construction Regulations

You are welcome to mail either myself or Neels with your comments and we collect to forward them on the DOL.

See attached link below to veiw the document.

http://www.masterbuilders.co.za/reso...1_5_Labour.pdf

[Neels Nortje]

Hi All,

Just to start the ball rolling herewith a couple of things to chew on:

Definitions

"agent" ............................. in managing the overall construction work performed for that client.? Remember this is the OHS Agent we talking about here, how can he/she be responsible for the overall construction work?

"fall protection plan" .............(c) a rescue plan and procedures. This is great but does not require it in the actual regulations?

"medical certificate of fitness" means a certificate contemplated in regulation .....? Something is left out here, have a look at the old working draft document.

"occupational safety practitioner" We all know it will be the ROSPrac level of registration the only problem is that OHSAP still do not have SANAS accreditation? Also the word Occupational Safety Practitioner do nor appear in the regulations again? The word Construction Health and Safety Practitioner is mentioned in Regulation 6(1) I did brought this to DoL's notice in writing but they still published it like this.

2. Scope of application. Eish! It will never be possible! It implies that for even the smallest of jobs e.g. painting a granny flat the granny, who is the client, will have to apply for a permit and have the full Monte in place e.g.- baseline risk assessments, specifications etc.

3. Application for permit. Great concept and I believe it must stay, however the same problem exist here as with the scope of application above. It will have to be rewritten and re worded to exclude the all the small types of construction work.

4. Duties of client. The extra duties on the client is great!

Enough for now. Come on guys and girls this is your opportunity to pull the draft to peaces and to ensure we get the best Regulations out there for our industry!

HOPE TO HERE FROM LOTS OF YOU!

[Deon Bester]

Section 4(1) (p) refers to a copy of the audit report as contemplated in section 29(3) (d).

It would appear as if the DoL are looking to accredit or insist on the use of an accredited auditing system when auditing contractors.

currently the only national system available is the MBSA audit system.

I wonder if the DoL will look at accrediting this system as the national accepted standard.

[Neels Nortje]

Deon you raise a very interesting point here. Will have a look and share my views as well.

[Neels Nortje]

Herewith some comments received from Shane Lishman:

Some of the immediate and glaring ones include the -

AIA – what are the criteria, surely this person should at least be a ROSProf (construction), or a Professional civil engineer / technologist. And the role of the AIA, but not only being consulted in design.

The Agent – being a person and not an organization / company, will mean burden with regards to public and personal liability. Obviously this person will be taking on the role of client ( its not going to be cheap, and this person will also have to supply the means, RA’s, staffing etc) This person will obviously be a ROSPrac as defined in the draft regs. In short the AGENT, being in this case a natural person (qualifications required) and a Juristic person when it comes to taking over the role of the client is going to extremely challenging. Clear agreements between the client, natural person and juristic entity will govern the relationship. I know that I would not sign an agency agreement lightly without protecting myself both financially and legally.

[Neil Enslin]

Hi Neels and Deon,

Permit:

As we all have seen in the daft, is that the client will be required to apply for a permit before commencing construction work. Other than the Base Line Risk Assessments, Letter of Good Standing, Umemployement Fund of PC and Health and Safety Specification the client further has to:

Proof in writting the following:

1. Designer has copy of H&S Specifications,
2. Designer considered H&S Speciciations,
3. The provisions to alow for a AIA to be appointed to provide input in design stage either at begin stage or later stage.

What is your thoughts on that?

[Neels Nortje]

Section 4(1) (p) refers to a copy of the audit report as contemplated in section 29(3) (d).

It would appear as if the DoL are looking to accredit or insist on the use of an accredited auditing system when auditing contractors.

currently the only national system available is the MBSA audit system.

I wonder if the DoL will look at accrediting this system as the national accepted standard.

Neil e-mailed me regarding this and also went and had a good look at it. Although I can grasp the concept of referring to a report or system which might be be accredited by the TC, there is currently no relevance between Regulation 4(1) (p) and Regulation 29(3)(d).

If anything you spotted another correction to be made, well done!

[Tshepo Moleko]

Hi all,

CR 4 is confusing the hell out of me. I'm hoping somebody out there will be able to assist. Here's my argument.

- CR 4(1) clearly define the responsibilities of a client. I'm happy with this.

- CR 4(2) tells us that the client MAY appoint an agent to act as his representative and that the duties imposed by these regulations on the client shall apply to the agent. I'm happy with this as well.

- CR 4(5) tells us that the agent will inherit the client responsibility as well as those listed under this clause. I'm not happy with this at all.

MY ARGUMENT

Why go and define the responsibility of an agent if the agent represent the client whose responsibilities are already defined by the regulation? What happens to the responsibilities of an agent if the client decides NOT to appoint one? Are we saying that if the client chooses not to appoint an agent then CR 4(5) provisions need not be complied with?

Remember, it is NOT a must for a client to appoint an agent. The way the regulation has been written, a cleint who does not appoint an agent does not have to comply with CR 4(5) and he would be right.

MY SOLUTION

All responsibilities of an agent must be added as responsibilities of a client under CR 4(1). CR 4(4) will remain as a clause linking the agent to the client. In order words, the responsibilities of an agent must not be outlined because the agent inherits them by virtue of his appointment by the client.

Think of a client who happens to be an AIA. Will he go out and seek services of someone to act as an Agent if he possesses those competencies himself? So, in the case where he chooses NOT to appoint any agent, what happens to the requirements of CR 4(5)? I'm worried that clients will end up not appointing anybody as a scapegoat to bypass their responsibilities.

Tshepo Moleko

[Carlos]

i have been readin all these comments. Firstly we need to look at the role of the Safety practitioner in the construction regulations. the practitioners role is to ensure compliance with the OHSact. the entire OHSA act and regulations. Not specifically the construction regulations because each regulation redirects to another. Practitioners are legal consultants when it comes to construction regulations. it is not their job to ensure do construction work. there are qualified fitters, mechanics, drivers, chem eng., OHNP. these people are all qualified in their field of work and it the duty of the practitioner to ensure that they are qualified. No practioner can study all these fields, then you may as well be a director. As much as the construction regulations are a vital role in the construction industry, all other regulations are as important and should be looked at in conjuction with the other regulations. there are lots of repetition in OHSA, like PPE etc.
OHSA states that the employer takes overall liability and responsibility. so irrespective of the construction regulations, The act keeps the owner liable. Remember OHSA practitioner are like lawyers. our jobs is to prevent loss of any kind. Also remeber that Reasoable practicable plays a major role in OHSA compliance.

My question is this. iam studying toward a degree in safety and have at least eight years experience in this field. i will be registered with the board of education and my degree will be a valid one to any company. why would i need to register and rewrite and exam after writing so many other exams. What benefits will i be recieving from registering.

[Neels Nortje]

why would i need to register and rewrite and exam after writing so many other exams. What benefits will i be recieving from registering.

I take it you are referring to the registration with an institution which are accredited with SANAS as stipulated in the definitions of the Draft Regulations?

It is not going to be a question of what benifits we as practitioner will be getting from it rather than the fact that practitioners that want to practice in this field will have to do as it will be law once the Regulations are promulgated.