Housing Consumers Protection Measures Act, 1998 (Act No. 95 of 1998)Chapter I : National Home Builders Registration Council5. Powers of Council |
| 1) | The Council- |
| a) | shall establish a remuneration committee which shall advise the Council on the remuneration of the staff appointed in terms of section 6 and shall review such remuneration regularly; and |
| b) | shall establish an industry advisory committee, the funds advisory committee, a registration committee and a disciplinary committee and may establish any other committee that it considers appropriate for the functioning of the Council; |
| c) | may appoint the members of the committees contemplated in paragraphs (a) and (b), who may include members of the Council or outsiders, or both such members and outsiders, as the case may be; and |
| d) | may prescribe the powers, composition, procedures and rules pertaining to such committees: Provided that the Minister shall prescribe the procedures of the disciplinary committee. |
| 2) | For the purposes of subsection (1)(c), "outsiders" include- |
| a) | the chair of the disciplinary committee who shall be legally qualified; and |
| b) | other persons with the expertise, experience or representative capacity necessary for the functioning of such committees. |
| 3) | The industry advisory committee shall advise the Council on any matter referred to it by the Council in respect of this Act. |
| 4) | The Council shall- |
| a) | keep a register of home builders and register and deregister home builders in accordance with criteria prescribed by the Minister; |
| b) | enrol and inspect the categories of homes that may be prescribed by the Minister; |
| c) | enter into agreements generally and specifically with provincial housing development boards regarding services to be rendered in respect of projects for the construction of homes, the acquisition of which, except in respect of any deposit that may be payable, will be financed solely from the proceeds of a state housing subsidy; |
| d) | establish, maintain and administer a fund contemplated in section 15(4) to provide assistance to housing consumers under circumstances where home builders fail to meet their obligations in terms of section 13(2)(b)(i); |
| e) | assist in the resolution of disputes between registered home builders and housing consumers; |
| f) | engage in communications to inform housing consumers of their rights under this Act and other relevant matters; |
| g) | provide information to financial institutions, conveyancers, provincial housing development boards and any other interested person in order to assist them to comply with their obligations in terms of this Act; |
| h) | establish grading categories and criteria in respect of home builders with a view to encourage good building practice and discourage bad building practice; |
| i) | determine criteria to be applied in the grading of home builders in different categories for the purposes of differentiated enrolment fees; |
| j) | investigate, at the request of the Minister, the integration of the register of home builders into a possible general register of builders and make recommendations to the Minister; and |
| k) | advise the Minister on any matter referred to it by the Minister in respect of the protection of housing consumers or the objectives of this Act. |
| 5) | The Council may- |
| a) | engage in undertakings to promote improved structural quality of homes constructed in the Republic; |
| b) | engage in undertakings to improve ethical and technical standards in the home building industry; |
| c) | establish, maintain and administer different funds for different purposes contemplated in section 15(5); |
| d) | keep a record of competent persons; |
| e) | issue circulars to be complied with by registered home builders; |
| f) | acquire, register, deal with and dispose of any trade mark; |
| g) | make recommendations to the Minister in respect of any amendment to this Act that it deems advisable; and |
| h) | generally do all things necessary or expedient to achieve its objects and the objectives of this Act. |