Working out building plan approval in Johannesburg? FloorPlan.co.za puts owners and builders in Johannesburg in touch with draughtspersons and plan submission specialists who deal with City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality every week. Send one request and they quote you directly, free and with no obligation.
Building Plan Approval in Johannesburg
Plans for Johannesburg are approved by the municipality that covers your stand, and its building control office decides what counts as a complete submission. A draughtsperson who submits there regularly knows the forms, the circulation departments and the usual queries across Gauteng. Give the erf number so the quote can reflect local rules.
Want to know more first? Our building plan approval guide covers the options, the rules and what affects the price.
What to know locally in Johannesburg
Johannesburg plans go to the city's building control through regional offices, and a Parkview or Houghton stand may also carry title deed conditions or a scheme limit on coverage. Houses in Melville, Auckland Park and Orange Grove are often older than 60 years, so heritage permission may be needed before alterations. Ask your draughtsperson whether the Johannesburg town planning scheme allows a second dwelling on your erf before you design anything.
Homes and buildings in Johannesburg
Johannesburg is a patchwork of building types, and the plans differ with each one. In Parkview, Emmarentia, Melville and Linden, old stands of 1,000 square metres and more are being subdivided or filled with garden cottages, while Braamfontein, Maboneng and Jeppestown have offices and warehouses turned into flats. Soweto's Dobsonville, Meadowlands and Orlando West see families extending RDP and four-room houses, with backyard rooms for tenants. The ridges of the Witwatersrand give sloping stands, and mining ground in the south needs care. Plans are drawn by local draughtspersons, architectural technologists and architects, who quote you directly once your request reaches them.
The requests we see from Johannesburg usually come from:
- Families building a new house: a stamped approval before the first brick, then inspections and an occupation certificate
- Owners adding or changing rooms: approval for additions, with neighbour consent if a building line has to be relaxed
- Rental and granny flat investors: approval for a second dwelling or backyard rooms, with the zoning checked before drawing
- Developers and builders: a submission for each house type or cluster, with the town planning steps run first
- Estate agents, sellers and landlords: approval of existing work so approved plans are on hand when the sale goes to transfer
- Shops, offices and restaurants: approval for a shop or restaurant fit-out, including fire department comments
- Churches, schools and crèches: approval for a hall, church or crèche, with fire and access requirements dealt with
Local tips for Johannesburg
Plans for Johannesburg are mostly drawn like this: draughtspersons in most suburbs, architects in Parkhurst, Melville and the city centre. The requests that come up most: subdivision cottages, backyard rooms in Soweto and inner-city flat conversions. When you ask for quotes, ask for the stand's zoning and any title deed conditions before the first sketch.
Building Plan Approval usually suits new houses, additions, outbuildings and shops, drawn as drawings prepared and submitted to council. For families building a new house, the biggest group here, that usually means a stamped approval before the first brick, then inspections and an occupation certificate. On the ground: ridges and mine ground in the south: ask about a soil report and engineer's footings.
What to include in your request
- The erf number, suburb and municipality
- Whether drawings exist already, and who drew them
- Estate or homeowners' association rules
- Any rule you think the design breaks
- Whether you want the follow-up handled for you
A rough idea of the rooms is enough: the brief on this page turns it into a block plan and a floor area.
Service area: Johannesburg and surrounds
Our network covers Johannesburg together with Sandton, Randburg, Roodepoort, Soweto, Rosebank, Fourways, Melville. A street address or the stand number helps a plan submission specialist check zoning, building lines and servitudes before quoting.
- Building Plan Approval in Pretoria
- Building Plan Approval in Centurion
- Building Plan Approval in Midrand
- Building Plan Approval in Sandton
- Building Plan Approval in Randburg
- Building Plan Approval in Roodepoort
- Building Plan Approval in Krugersdorp
- Building Plan Approval in Randfontein
- Building Plan Approval in Germiston
- Building Plan Approval in Boksburg
- Building Plan Approval in Benoni
- Building Plan Approval in Kempton Park
- Building Plan Approval in Alberton
- Building Plan Approval in Vanderbijlpark
- Building Plan Approval in Vereeniging
- Building Plan Approval in Gauteng