BUILDING CONTROL ACT, 1995 ARRANGEMENT …

1 BUILDING CONTROL ACT, 1995 ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONSPart I - title and II- Board, BUILDING Authority andBuilding CONTROL to the of the Board6. Meetings of the of and other to make , allowances, etc of the CONTROL of a BUILDING CONTROL on adequacy of certain measures and on certain BUILDING on use of certain methods or of the Minister in respect of certain BUILDING authoritiesPart III - Duties and Powers of BUILDING by BUILDING authorities of application in respect of BUILDING of draughtsmen of plans, specifications, documents and by BUILDING authorities in respect of BUILDING if a BUILDING authority fails to of BUILDING operations subject to time BUILDING against decision of BUILDING operations in certain circumstances subject to prohibition or or alteration of certain by BUILDING CONTROL officers and certain other persons to buildings and of occupancy in respect of of BUILDING authorities relating to taxes, fees and other of certain moneys to BUILDING of BUILDING authority part IV - of and exemption from the BUILDING of duty by the BUILDING V- Powers of the regulations part VI- Repeals and AmendmentsBUILDING CONTROL ACT 1995 ACT NO.

2 8 OF 1995An Act to provide for the promotion of uniformity in the law relating to the erection ofbuildings in Lesotho; for the prescribing of BUILDING standards; and incidental by the Parliament of I - PreliminaryShort title and Act may be cited as the BUILDING CONTROL Act 1995 , and shall come into operation on thedate of its publication in the this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, application means an application referred to in section 18(3); architect means a person who is registered as an architect by the Ministry of Works orunder any subsequent legislation governing architects; Board means the Review Board constituted under section 3; BUILDING includes,(a)any structure, whether of a temporary or permanent nature and irrespective of thematerials used in the erection thereof, erected or used for or in connection with,(i)the accommodation or convenience of human beings or animals;(ii)the manufacture, processing, storage or sale of any goods;(iii) the rendering of any service;(iv) the destruction or treatment of refuse or other waste materials;(v)the cultivation or growing of any plant or crop;(b)any wall, swimming pool, reservoir or bridge or any other structure connectedtherewith;(c)any fuel pump or tank used in connection therewith;(d)any part of a BUILDING , including a BUILDING as defined in paragraph (a), (b) or (c); BUILDING authority means any council or other body appointed by the Minister under section11 and which is authorised to issue BUILDING permits and certificates of occupancy referred toin sections 20 and 28 respectively; BUILDING CONTROL officer means any person appointed or deemed to be appointed as buildingcontrol officer by the BUILDING authority in terms of section 12; BUILDING operations means any function related to the erection or demolition of anybuilding, including temporary works relating to any permanent BUILDING , alterations,additions, plumbing, drainage and erosion protection.

3 BUILDING regulations means regulations made under section 39; council means council as defined in section 3 of the Urban Government Act, 19831; demolish in relation to a BUILDING , means to remove any BUILDING entirely from the land onwhich it stands or such part or parts as may be necessary or approved; directive means a directive made in terms of section 39(9); dwelling means all or any part of a BUILDING lawfully used or constructed, adopted ordesigned to be used as a residence and includes such out-buildings as are ancillary thereto; dwelling house means a BUILDING designed for use exclusively as one self-containedresidence together with such out-buildings as are ancillary thereto; earthwork means any excavation below natural ground levels or fill above natural groundlevels for the BUILDING to stand in or on, or any temporary or permanent excavation or fill asbefore not being for the BUILDING operations but on land within the ownership or CONTROL of theowner of the land where BUILDING operations are taking place; engineer means a person who is registered as an engineer by the Ministry of Works orunder any subsequent legislation governing engineers; erection in relation to a BUILDING , includes the alteration, conversion, extension, rebuilding,reconstruction, or subdivision of or addition to any BUILDING , and erect shall have acorresponding meaning; local authority means a local authority as defined in section 3 of the Urban GovernmentAct, 19832; Minister means the Minister of Local Government; Ministry means the Ministry of Local Government.

4 Occupier means a person in actual occupation of land or premises without regard to the titleunder which he occupies it; owner means the person having the primary legal interest entitling him to possession ofland whether such title is by way of a lease held by the State or by way of an allocation; parastatal organisation means any incorporated body the equity capital of which is atleast fifty-one percent owned by the Government of Lesotho and includes units ofGovernment Ministries which operate revenue generating and self-accounting businessactivities; planner means a person who is registered as a planner by the department of Lands, Surveyand Physical Planning or under any subsequent legislation governing planners; press means any publication or newspaper published and circulated in Lesotho; privatebuilding means any BUILDING which is not a public BUILDING ; public BUILDING means any BUILDING to which the public has a right of access to thebuilding during all reasonable times for which the BUILDING is used for its prescribedoccupancy; regulations means the regulation made under section 40; standard means any standard published by any national or international standards institutionrelating to the quality of materials, methods of design, specifications and workmanship or anyother aspect relevant to BUILDING operations; surveyor means a licensed surveyor or an officer in the public service authorised by theChief Surveyor to carry out surveys in terms of the Land Survey Act, 1980~ this Act includes the BUILDING regulations and other regulations made and directives II- Board, BUILDING Authority andBuilding CONTROL OfficerReview Board3.

5 (1)There shall be established a Review Board, appointed by the Minister.(2)The Board shall consist of,(a)a representative from each BUILDING authority;(b)a representative of the Physical Planning Department;(c)a representative of the Lesotho Architects, Engineers and SurveyorsAssociation;a representative of the Lesotho Chamber of Commerce;(e)a representative of the Lesotho Electricity Corporation;(f)2 representatives of the Department of Works;(g)a representative of all the technical institutes of Lesotho;(h)a representative of the Lesotho Builders Associations;(i)a representative of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare;(j)3 representatives of the Ministry of Natural Resources;(k)2 other members with knowledge and skill in the BUILDING industry.(3)The composition of the Board shall be published by the Minister by notice in theGazette.(4)A member of the Board shall hold office for a period of two years but may be re-appointed for a further period of two years.(5)The Board shall, at its first meeting in every two years, elect one of their numberto be Chairman, who may not hold office as Chairman for more than fourconsecutive years.

6 (6)The appointing authority may, in terms of subsection (2), appoint anotherrepresentative where its original representative fails to serve on the Board for anyreason.(7)A member of the Board who misconducts himself or who abuses his position maybe censured by the Board or if the gravity of the matter is sufficiently serious, theBoard may, by a vote of two-thirds majority of the members present and voting,with the approval of the Minister, remove the member from the Board, and suchremoval shall be published by notice in the to the Board4.(1)The Minister may, by notice in the Gazette, appoint a Secretary to the Board, whoshall not be a member of the Board.(2)The Secretary shall perform all administrative functions of the of the Board5. The functions of the Board shall be:(a)to keep the provisions of this Act under review;(b)to keep developments in new BUILDING materials and construction techniques underreview so as to ensure compliance with the provisions of this Act;(c)to advise the Minister with regard to the revision of the BUILDING regulations orany other regulation or provision made under this Act;(d)to advise the Minister in respect of any matter referred to in sections 14, 15, 16,17,28,39 and 40;(e)to prepare reports commissioned by the Minister under section 14;(f)to hear and determine appeals lodged against any decision of a BUILDING authorityas provided in section of the Board6.

7 (1)The Board shall meet at least twice in each year and as often as its businessrequires.(2)The Chairman shall preside at all meetings of the Board and in his absence themembers present shall elect one of their number to preside at its meetings.(3)The quorum at a meeting of the Board shall be seven members.(4)Decisions of the Board shall be by resolution of the majority votes of memberspresent and voting and in the case of an equality of votes, the person presidingshall, in addition to his deliberative vote, have a casting vote.(5)Any member of the Board who fails, without prior notice to the secretary, to attend3 consecutive meetings of the Board shall cease to be a member of the Board.(6)Subject to this section , the Board shall regulate its procedure at its of a member of the Board or a member of his family has any pecuniary interest, direct orindirect, in any transaction, project or any other matter in which his private interests conflictwith his duties as a member of the Board and which is the subject of consideration by theBoard, he shall, as soon as he becomes aware of that interest, disclose the facts relatingthereto to the Board and he shall not sit or take part in any deliberation or decision of theBoard with respect to that transaction, project or matter, nor shall he sit on any committee orpanel appointed to advise the Board with respect to that transaction, project or and other committees8.

8 (1)The Board may,(a)appoint a professional conduct committee from amongst persons who arepractising architects, engineers, planners or surveyors, who need not bemembers of the Board, as the Board may consider appropriate fordetermining allegations of professional misconduct against any architect,engineer, planner or surveyor;(b)appoint such other committees as it may deem necessary, and may delegateto them such duties and powers, except the power to hear and determineappeals under section 5(f), as it may deem desirable for the proper conduct ofthe business of the Board.(2)All committees of the Board shall report to the meetings of the Board activitiesand decisions undertaken by such committees and the Board may ratify or modifysuch decisions as it deems to make Board may, by notice in the Gazette, make rules or codes of practice, not inconsistentwith regulations made under section 39, which shall define good design or constructionpractice or acceptable use of materials or any other matter relating to BUILDING , allowances, etc.

9 , of the shall be paid out of the Consolidated Fund such sums as the Minister may, inconsultation with the Minister responsible for finance, determine, in respect of,(a)costs, expenses, and other disbursements relating to the functions of the Board;and(b)sitting allowances payable to members of the Board or of any committee thereofwho are not public officers or employees of a parastatal Authority11.(1)The Minister may, by notice in the Gazette, appoint as a BUILDING authority inrelation to an area,(a)any local authority; or(b)where there is no local authority, any department of Government or anycommission.(2)The notice of appointment referred to in subsection (1) shall also specify,(a)the areas of jurisdiction for each BUILDING authority;(b)the powers of BUILDING authorities to make BUILDING bye-laws, which shall notbe inconsistent with regulations made under section 39; and(c)the powers which the Minister may decide not to delegate to prescribedbuilding CONTROL Officer12.

10 (1)Subject to subsection (3), a BUILDING authority shall appoint a BUILDING controlofficer.(2)A person who does not have the qualifications prescribed by the regulations undersection 40 in respect of a BUILDING CONTROL officer shall not be appointed as abuilding CONTROL officer.(3)Subsection (1) shall also be construed so as to enable,(a)two or more BUILDING authorities to appoint, on such terms and conditions asthey may agree to, one person as a BUILDING CONTROL officer for all suchbuilding authorities;(b)a BUILDING authority, with the approval in writing of any other buildingauthority and on such terms and conditions as they may agree to, to make useof the services of any person appointed as a BUILDING CONTROL officer by suchother BUILDING authority.(4)A person who,(a)immediately before the coming into operation of this Act in the area ofjurisdiction of any BUILDING authority, was employed by a BUILDING authorityor its equivalent for the purpose of performing as a BUILDING CONTROL officerany activity substantially the same as those mentioned in section 13(1); and(b)on the coming into operation of this Act is still so employed,shall be deemed to have been appointed in terms of this section as a BUILDING controlofficer by such BUILDING authority:Provided that that person qualifies as a BUILDING CONTROL officer in terms of section12(2).