About the INSTITUTE FOR TIMBER CONSTRUCTION SA
The ITC-SA’s vision is to create and maintain the highest standards
in the engineered timber roofing industry in South Africa.
The ITC-SA has a well established national infrastructure. The Institute’s Head Office is situated in Johannesburg, Gauteng. There are branch structures in all nine provinces grouped into four regions each with its own Regional Coordinator.
The regions are:
- Gauteng Region
Gauteng, Polokwane, Mpumalanga, North West, Limpopo, Free State and Northern Cape provinces. - Kwazulu-Natal Region
Kwazulu-Natal province. - Western Cape Region
Western Cape province excluding the southern Cape. - Southern Cape and Eastern Cape Region
Eastern Cape province and the southern part of the Western Cape province.
Key Points
The remit of the Institute for Timber Construction South Africa (ITC-SA) is to protect consumers and end-users by assuring the professional and legally compliant conduct of its members and thereby their services and products.
The members are proud to be associated with the ITC-SA because it is recognised to be the Professional Body or home for all timber roof truss engineers, designers, manufacturers, erectors and inspectors in the country.
The concept of Rational Design underpins the standards applied by the ITC-SA and its members.
Home and building owners are advised to please contact the ITC-SA if they observe timber truss manufacturing and erecting activities that may not comply with national, regional and local standards, regulations and requirements.
The role of the ITC-SA
The role of the ITC-SA is to ensure consumer protection in the use of timber engineered products in contracts entered into with the ITC-SA membership and to regulate the professional conduct of its members. Where prima facie evidence confirms professional misconduct, in order to protect the consumer and the reputation of the industry, the ITC-SA shall apply proper sanctions.
The ITC-SA has the full support of its members and recognition by the following key industry stakeholders in the development of industry norms and standards and in the mitigation of risks associated with the use of timber engineered products.
- The National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC)
- The National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS)
- The Department of Public Works (DPW)
- The Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA)
- The South African Council for the Architectural Profession (SACAP)
- The SA Council for the Quantity Surveying Profession (SACQSP)
- The Banking Association of South Africa (BASA)
- Agrément South Africa (ASA)
- The South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE) Structural Division (SSD)
- The South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) in the Areas of Timber and Civil Engineering
- South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA)
- Fibre Producing and Manufacturing SETA (FP&M SETA)
- Construction SETA (CETA)
- South African Technical Auditing Services (Pty Ltd.) (SATAS)
- Sawmilling South Africa (SSA)
- The South African Wood Preservers Association (SAWPA)
In service of creating and maintaining the highest standards in the engineered timber construction industry in South Africa, the ITC-SA is mandated to perform the following services:
- Ensure South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) professional recognition for ITC-SA members and developing the criteria that will enable professional registration.
- Continuously liaise with SAQA on behalf of ITC-SA members to ensure compliance with all registration requirements and to contribute to the development of further training and development criteria for the ITC-SA membership.
- Participate in industry established forums for the development of training material that will be SAQA accredited, available on the public domain, and use this to up-skill ITC-SA members specifically.
- Develop criteria that will guide professional registration through Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), and which will be applicable to members that have not had the benefit of formal and recognised tertiary education.
- Develop the Continued Professional Training (CPD) requirements with which members will need to comply in order to maintain their professional status.
- Interact with other professional bodies as mentioned in the Construction Built Environment Act to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the role of the ITC-SA in supporting these professionals to comply with industry demands in engineered timber structures.
- Interact with statutory bodies like the National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC) and the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS).
- NRCS to create recognition for competence and service offerings of the ITC-SA membership and a demand for the services that may be rendered by its professional members.
- Provide ITC-SA members with information regarding current, updated and new industry standards in the design, fabrication and erection of engineered timber structures.
- Negotiate on behalf of the ITC-SA membership training opportunities at FET Colleges for employees that need to do further training and development.
- Through the ITC-SA System Members and their international affiliation, review best international practice in the field of timber engineering, either from international sources or through research in order to develop reliable codes of practice and material specifications that will guide timber engineering in South Africa.
- Through the ITC-SA Technical Engineering Advisory Committee (TEAC), research and update the bracing and connection rules for timber engineering and publish erectors and designers handbooks in order to disseminate the information to the ITC-SA members and industry users in the market place.
- Arrange awareness seminars on erection and bracing procedures to educate engineers, architects, quantity surveyors, clerks of works, building inspectors, builders and carpenters.
- Work with the timber industry to establish the availability of appropriate grades, sizes and quality timber that will ensure safe and economical engineered timber structures.
- Provide the expertise to answer technical enquiries effectively and to investigate problem structures impartially, or to act on complaints from consumers in an unbiased and fair manner.
To inspire confidence in engineered timber structures on the part of designers and specifiers. - To audit its members annually for the awarding of a ‘Certificate of Competence’ to those companies which design, manufacture, supply and erect engineered timber structures.
The ITC-SA maintains close co-operation and association with the National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC) and holds direct representation on the following committees:
- Education and Training Advisory Committee
- Structural Division of the SA Institute of Civil Engineers
- SABS Timber Division and Civil Engineering Division
The ITC-SA works to ensure that the industry’s viewpoints are accommodated and protected in the compilation of all documents on grading specifications, design codes and matters effecting National Building Regulations and the ITC-SA Timber Engineering Advisory Committee maintains its status as the official drafting committee for the code of practice for the Design of Timber Structures.
The ITC-SA ensures the continued existence of the Standards, Inspections and Audits Committee, in order to regulate and control safe and consistent standards within the industry. The Institute will pursue and assist in the enforcement of the ‘A19’ process of the National Building Regulations through all local authorities by offering the ITC-SA approved Designers and appointed Inspectors to fulfil the role of Approved Designers, Inspectors of the structural system in order to comply with statutory requirements.
The ITC-SA continues subsidising the SA Bureau of Standards random inspections of truss manufacturing plants in order to uplift and maintain desired quality standards in the industry. The Institute works to ensure close liaison with the education sector and training authorities in the development of unit standards for the manufacture of nail plated timber roof trusses, for the erection of timber roof trusses and to facilitate training in these disciplines, in compliance with the Skills Development Act.
The ITC-SA has ensured the amendment of the National Building Regulations SANS 10400 to include in regulation A18 the control of persons erecting roof trusses to be under the adequate control of a trained and competent erector or approved competent person.
The ITC-SA works to establish a Certificate of Competence for truss estimators/designers, to promote a code of ethics for roof truss fabricators, to monitor the contractual obligations of systems and licensees and ensure adherence to agreed procedures, and to compile and update bracing and erection manuals in order to disseminate correct procedures to members and to the industry at large.
In order to continue with smooth governance the ITC-SA established a regional branch in the Western Cape and KZN, now controlling activities successfully in those areas. A fledgling branch has been founded in the Southern/Eastern Cape.
The ITC-SA has, with the support of the three main systems and the members, established a structural funding source by which the board’s strategic plans and the objectives can be achieved and in order to succeed it is necessary to have the full support of all members in order to better further the Institute’s plans.
In pursuit of its primary aim of regulating the application of structural timber, the ITC-SA is involved in the following activities:
- Developing encouraging and maintaining high standards in the design, fabrication and erection of timber roof structures.
- Acquiring the necessary skills in the field of timber engineering, either from international sources or through research in order to develop reliable codes of practice. Such codes will ensure uniform and high standards of design and construction throughout the industry.
- The research and updating of bracing and connection rules through the Timber Engineering Advisory Committee and publication of erectors’ and designers’ handbooks in order to disseminate the information into the market place.
- Arranging of awareness seminars on erection and bracing procedures for engineers, architects, clerks of works, building inspectors, builders and carpenters.
- Encouraging the removal of barriers to the acceptance of timber structures by local authorities, government agencies, lending institutions and professional groups.
- Working to establish the availability of appropriate grades, sizes and quality timber that will ensure safe and economical timber structures.
- Providing the expertise to answer technical enquiries effectively and to investigate problem structures impartially, or to act on complaints from customers or fabricators in an unbiased and fair manner, in this way, inspiring confidence in timber structures on the part of designers and specifiers.
- Assisting with the auditing of licensed fabricators for the awarding of the ‘Certificate of Competence’ to those companies which design, manufacture and supply prefabricated nail plated roof trusses and to ensure the continued process of re-auditing on due dates of such companies’ operations and key personnel. Audits are to be done in conjunction with either an independent auditor or an authorised representative from the company’s system suppliers.
- The training of roof erectors in accordance with requirements of SANS 10243 codes of practice for the erection and bracing of timber roof structures and awarding of a Certificate of Competence to suitably qualified member erectors.
ITC-SA Membership Categories
