NHBRC's lapses that led to George building collapse laid bare in Parliament

CAPE TOWN - A litany of lapses by the National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC) that led to last year's George building collapse have been laid bare in Parliament on Friday.

These include the failure of the council to ensure all the required documents were submitted ahead of construction and to conduct regular inspections of the building site.

Human Settlements Minister Thembi Nkadimeng also told the portfolio committee that the building was registered to only be a single storey.

Thirty-four people died when the multi-storey apartment block caved in eleven months ago while still under construction.

A 250-page report on an investigation conducted by a risk company on behalf of the NHBRC has revealed that Liatel Developments failed to properly enroll the George apartment building before construction began.

A single-storey building was registered only eight days after construction had already began and structural designs were lacking in the application.

The developer allegedly didn't have enough money to register the Victoria Street building as a multi-storey building.

Nkadimeng said NHBRC employees were complicit in the failures, giving the building the go-ahead despite the missing documentation.

"So the real cause of the collapse is articulated in the report as processes that were not followed in terms of the proper registration of the building and to ensure the structure of a single storey to a multi-storey is desirable for the strength of the carry and that literally led to the collapse."

She said that no real fault was found with the building materials used, although there were cracks in the lower structure even before the building was raised to multiple floors.