Broken printing press halts producing copies of Jo’burg building plans

New building construction, renovations and, in some cases, property transfers have been on hold for the past five months because the printing machine in the City of Jo’burg's building control department is broken. Exacerbating the problem is that the person who approves plans is not available because she is a witness in a fraud case involving staff members of her department and is always in court. Councillor David Potter said he was receiving constant complaints from developers and estate agents about not being able to get hard copies of building plans needed to start construction, and not being able to get plans approved.

“This is the department where plans are approved, and where copies of approved plans are supposed to be available, yet people have been unable to get them as staff claim that the printer on their floor is not in working order and hasn't been for five months. This has a domino effect on the property industry as transfers cannot proceed if one of the conditions is that a copy of the house plans is required.” Jo’burg spokesman Nthatisi Modingoane said it was not true that the machine had not been functional for five months.

The Star, IOL Property News - May 2014