THE ROLE OF STANDARDIZATION IN THE BUILDING INDUSTRY. (AFRIKAANS TEXT)

The need for standardization in South Africa originated with the development of the gold mining industry at the turn of this century. Official recognition and formal development of standardization only came with the establishment of the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) in 1945. Throughout the historic development of standardization, building products were high on the priority list, from which can be deducted that standardization was a necessity.

The aim of standardization is to create instruments, such as specifications and codes, for use by the consumer, trade and industry. Standardization in the building industry must also recognize human needs and provide for safety, health and amenity of the occupiers. This can best be achieved by prescribing performance requirements in building standards. The SABS developed a comprehensive set of various building standards.

Building regulations are unique to the building industry worldwide. In South Africa building regulations were developed from existing overseas practices, mainly of British origin. National building regulations for mandatory implementation by all local authorities were recently published under the National Building Regulations and Building Standards Act, to achieve standardization in this field. A study of the current building regulations in five European countries indicates that these national building regulations are closely allied to their European counterparts.

To promote standardization in industrialized building techniques, South Africa has an agrement scheme which is very similar to the agrement schemes found in most countries of Western Europe.

With metrication introduced to the South African industry it is obvious to rationalize all dimensions of building materials and products in line with the international system of modular co-ordination. This system offers many advantages to all disciplines involved in the building industry. Most of these indicate towards cost advantages but are not easily quantifiable in every case. In the case of masonry work, demonstrable savings are evident through the use of modular bricks. Modular bricks are not at present generally accepted by local authorities but the proposed national building regulations will legalize their use. It is expected that this will have a beneficial effect on the general acceptance of modular co-ordination and its concomitant benefits.