Introduction

We received the council submission pack from our client Dakota Design for Keedo Thavhani Mall on the 12th of July 2017.  Thavhani Mall falls under the Thohoyandou / Thulamela Municipality.  These are one of the councils that require the plans to be submitted in person.  Louis went to this council and submitted the plans on the 27th of July 2017.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

3 August we followed up with the council and they told us that the plans are circulating with all different departments.   When we followed up again, the council let us know that the plans are out for an amendment! Now that is not something you want to hear with your submission. When the plan circulated, 2 departments requested additional layouts, Electrical & Plumbing.  Dakota design was notified to do a revised plan.

While we waited for the plans to be amended, we received notification that some of our other submissions for Thavhani Mall cannot be approved as the mall has an outstanding rates bill. We immediately started liaising with the landlords and centre management of the mall to stay updated. 

Unfortunately we had to wait for landlords and council to settle their rates matter before we could submit the revised plans again. The revised plans were submitted on the 25th of January 2018.  We waited 5 months for the utility bill issue to be resolved before we could resubmit the revised drawings. 

When we contacted Thulamela Municipality again to follow up on the progress of the resubmission they told us that the revised plans have been lost and we must send it again.  21 June 2018, resubmitted plans were now circulating with the fire department. 17 June 2018 PLANS APPROVED!!

I started with the OC process ASAP sending all the required COC’s to council. My client had great difficulty getting the COC’s from all the relevant parties and I started to assist her by getting in touch with centre management again.  They sent us all the COC’s that have been issued via email and we were sorted! Or so we thought. Council then advised that they need all the COC’s and engineer form 4’s to be Original. Now that was extremely difficult. Most prefer to keep the original documents and send us the copies.  We have now by 17th of October 2018 tried with all the contractors and just could not get the originals.  I contacted centre management again and asked for their assistance.

Solution

By making sure what council needs exactly from the start it really helps when coming to amendments and how to avoid them.   Found out what council is looking for in a Council Ready Pack. Build a relationship with your landlord or centre management when it comes to OC stage so they can assist with the COC’s required. When you submit the plans with building control it is always a good idea to ask if the mall is compliant and that there are no issues, just to make sure there will be no delays.

Time Frame

• Council Submission Pack received 12 July 2017
• Council Ready Pack submitted with building control of Thulamela Municipality 27 July 2017
• Approval received on 17 June 2018
• Occupancy Certificate Issued on the 14th of October 2019

Conclusion

After a little more than 2 years I received notification on 14th of October 2019 from council letting me know that the Occupancy is ready for collection.  With a lot of complications we finally received the Occupancy Certificate for Keedo Thavhani Mall.