This legislation was digitised using the Laws of Lesotho Volumes I – XLVII, which were produced by the Attorney General of Lesotho, as reference. As the volumes do not include precise publication dates, the last day of the year of publication has been used as the date of publication.
Building Control Act, 1995
Lesotho
Building Control Act, 1995
Act 8 of 1995
- Published in Government Gazette on 31 December 1995
- Commenced
- [This is the version of this document from 31 December 1995.]
- [This legislation was digitised using the Laws of Lesotho Volumes I – XLVII, which were produced by the Attorney General of Lesotho, as reference. As the volumes do not include precise publication dates, the last day of the year of publication has been used as the date of publication.]
Part 1 – Preliminary
1. Short title and commencement
This Act may be cited as the Building Control Act, 1995, and shall come into operation on the date of its publication in the Gazette.2. Interpretation
In 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 or under 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 the materials 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, reservior or bridge or any other structure connected therewith;(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 section 11 and which is authorised to issue building permits and certificates of occupancy referred to in sections 20 and 28 respectively;"building control officer" means any person appointed or deemed to be appointed as building officer by the building authority in terms of section 12;"building operations" means any function related to the erection or demolition of any building, including temporary works relating to any permanent building, alterations, additions, plumbing, drainage and erosion protection;"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 on which 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 or designed 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-contained residence together with such out-buildings as are ancillary thereto;"earthwork" means any excavation below natural ground levels or fill above natural ground levels for the building to stand in or on, or any temporary or permanent excavation or fill as before not being for the building operations but on land within the ownership or control of the owner of the land where building operations are taking place;"engineer" means a person who is registered as an engineer by the Ministry of Works or under 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 a corresponding meaning;"local authority" means a local authority as defined in section 3 of the Urban Government Act, I9832;"Minister" means the Minister of Local Government;"Ministry" means the Ministry of Local Government;"occupier" means a person in actual occupation of land or premises without regard to the title under which he occupies it;"owner" means the person having the primary legal interest entitling him to possession of land 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 at least fifty-one percent owned by the Government of Lesotho and includes units of Government Ministries which operate revenue generating and self-accounting business activities;"planner" means a person who is registered as a planner by the department of Lands, Survey and Physical Planning or under any subsequent legislation governing planners;"press" means any publication or newspaper published and circulated in Lesotho;"private building" means any building which is not a public building;"public building" means any building to which the public has a right of access to the building during all reasonable times for which the building is used for its prescribed occupancy;"regulations" means the regulation made under section 40;"standard" means any standard published by any national or interational standards institution relating to the quality of materials, methods of design, specifications and workmanship or any other aspect relevant to building operations;"surveyor" means a licensed surveyor or an officer in the public service authorised by the Chief Surveyor to carry out surveys in terms of the Land Survey Act, 19803;"this Act" includes the building regulations and other regulations made and directives issued thereunder.Part II – Board, building authority and building control officer
3. Review Board
4. Secretary to the Board
5. Functions of the Board
The functions of the Board shall be:6. Meetings of the Board
7. Disclosure of interest
If a member of the Board or a member of his family has any pecuniary interest, direct or indirect, in any transaction, project or any other matter in which his private interests conflict with his duties as a member of the Board and which is the subject of consideration by the Board, he shall, as soon as he becomes aware of that interest, disclose the facts relating thereto to the Board and he shall not sit or take part in any deliberation or decision of the Board with respect to that transaction, project or matter, nor shall he sit on any committee or panel appointed to advise the Board with respect to that transaction, project or matter.8. Disciplinary and other committees
9. Power to make rules
The Board may, by notice in the Gazette, make rules or codes of practice, not inconsistent with regulations made under section 39, which shall define good design or construction practice or acceptable use of materials or any other matter relating to building operations.10. Expenses, allowances, etc., of the Board
There shall be paid out of the Consolidated Fund such sums as the Minister may, in consultation with the Minister responsible for finance, determine, in respect of,11. Building authority
12. Building control officer
13. Functions of a building control officer
14. Report on adequacy of certain measures and on certain building projects
15. Exemptions
16. Prohibition on use of certain methods or materials
17. Powers of Minister in respect of certain building authorities
Part III – Duties and powers of building authorities
18. Approval by building authorities of application in respect of building operations
19. Identification of draughtsman of plans, specifications, documents and diagrams
20. Approval by building authorities in respect of building operations
21. Action if a building authority fails to act
22. Execution of building operations subject to time limit
23. Minor building works
24. Appeal against decision of building authority
25. Building operations in certain circumstamces subject to prohibition or conditions
26. Demolition or alteration of certain buildings
27. Entry by building officers and certain other persons to buildings and land
28. Certificate of occupancy in respect of buildings
29. Power of building authorities relating to rates, taxes, fees and other moneys
30. Payment of certain moneys to building authority
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any law, all moneys recovered by way of fines or estreated bail in connection with any offence in terms of this Act shall be paid to the building authority concerned.31. Liability of building authority
No approval, permission, certificate issued or act performed in terms of this Act by or on behalf of any building authority in connection with any building operation shall have the effect that,Part IV – Miscellaneous
32. Delegation of powers
33. Deviation and exemption from building regulations
The Board may, at the request in writing of the owner of any building or any person having an interest therein and after consultation with the building authority in question, in respect of any building operation or the land on which it is being or is to be executed, in writing, permit a deviation or grant an exemption from any applicable building regulations relating to the design of the building, the nature of the materials and method of construction.34. Breaches of duty by the building authority
35. Existing buildings
36. Conflicting terms
Notwithstanding that other enactments may use terms and expressions similar to or identical to those used in this Act, the terms and expressions and their interpretations and meanings assigned to them herein shall have precedence in all matters brought to reference concerning building as defined herein or under regulations made under this Act.37. Notices
Where in this Act there is reference to the service or delivery of any notice, such notice shall be served in the first instance by registered mail or hand delivery upon the owner, or the agent of the owner, and the senior person responsible for building operations on the site. If such person cannot be traced within a reasonable period relevant to the matter, the subject matter of the notices, then, such notice shall be deemed to be served if affixed in public view by the building authority to the entrance to the site and published in the press.38. Penalties
Part V – Powers of the Minister
39. Building regulations
40. Other regulations
The Minister may make regulations,Part VI – Repeals and amendments
41. Repeals
The following enactments are repealed in the manner and to the extent specified hereunder,42. Consequential amendments
History of this document
31 December 1995 this version
Published in Government Gazette