Why this site exists, who built it, and how it stays free.
Built by tradespeople for tradespeople. No VC money, no paywall, no data harvesting. Paid for by the firms that want to reach the people who actually swing the hammer.
Most construction legal and tax content is written by people who've never been on a site. It's either aimed at lawyers, aimed at clients, or written by firms trying to sell you training. SiteKiln is the site an electrician, carpenter, or groundworker can open at 10pm when something's gone wrong - and get a real answer.
Built by Scott Jones, Founder, Kiln Network Ltd. Company no. 17324534.
The story
SiteKiln exists because we went through a situation every tradesperson dreads - and when we needed clear answers about our rights, they didn't exist. Not in plain English. Not in one place. Not for us.
So we went looking. And what we found was a mess.
Government websites that assume you already know what "adjudication" means. Legal blogs written for other solicitors. CCMA pages that answer a slightly different question to the one you're asking. Forums full of people guessing. And nothing - absolutely nothing - that just says, in plain English: here's what the law says, here's what you do, and here's who to call.
The information existed. It was just buried in places working people never look, written in language they were never meant to understand.
That felt deliberate. And that made us angry.
So we started writing. One guide became ten. Ten became fifty. Then someone said "but who signs off solar in Cape Town?" and "what happens if the client never pays the retention?" and "what do I do when a DEL inspector turns up on site?" - and now there are over 165 of them, covering the rules across all nine provinces.
Then came the templates, because knowing your rights is no good if you can't write the letter. Then the calculators, because nobody should need a law degree to work out how much statutory interest they're owed. Then the reference cards, because some things need to be on the cabin wall, not buried in a website.
SiteKiln is the resource we wished existed when we were sat at the kitchen table at midnight, trying to work out if a customer could actually do what they were threatening to do.
Think of it as the conversation you'd have with a mate who's already been through it - and can explain it without the jargon.
What SiteKiln includes
165 Free Guides
Payment, contracts, safety, tax, insurance, disputes, apprenticeships, pricing, building regulations, tool theft, cyber security, plan approval, and more. Written for South African tradespeople across all nine provinces.
40 Templates & Checklists
Ready-to-use letters, notices, agreements, checklists and spreadsheets. From invoice templates to DEL visit records to employment contracts.
40 Free Tools
Calculators and checkers: Late Payment Calculator, Employment Status Checker, Minimum Wage Checker, Building Plans Checker, Tax Set-Aside Calculator, and more. All free, all frontend, no data collected.
35 Reference Cards
One-page printable quick-reference cards. Emergency numbers, wiring colours, concrete mix ratios, payment deadlines, minimum wage rates, OHS Act incident reporting. Print them, laminate them, keep them in your bakkie.
Trade First-Year Guides
Electrician, plumber, carpenter, bricklayer, plasterer, painter, landscaper, roofer, tiler, kitchen fitter, general builder, scaffolder, groundworker, gas engineer, window fitter, flooring specialist.
All Nine Provinces
Built for the whole country: Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, North West and Western Cape. Where a metro or province does things differently - municipal plan approval, SSEG sign-off, local by-laws - we say so.
How SiteKiln is written
SiteKiln South Africa is researched and written by the editorial team at Kiln Network Ltd. We work from primary South African sources, not blog posts and forum guesses.
Every guide and tool is built against the law, regulation or rule it is based on - SARS for income tax, provisional tax and VAT; CIPC for company registration; the relevant Acts and their regulations (the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, the Occupational Health and Safety Act and the Construction Regulations, COIDA, the National Environmental Management: Waste Act, and others); the National Building Regulations and Building Standards Act 103 of 1977 and the SANS 10400 series for building work; and the registers run by the CIDB, the NHBRC, the Department of Employment and Labour and SAQCC Gas.
Where a figure comes from a budget, a gazette or a SARS rates page, we use the current value and date it. Where a standard is paywalled, we say the figure comes from a public summary and tell you to confirm it with the issuing body. When we are not certain, we say so and link to the official source. Everything is reviewed before it is published.
We do not have a panel of named contributors and we are not going to invent one. The trust here comes from citing real South African statutes and bodies, dating every update, and being honest about what we cannot confirm.
Why you can trust what's on this site
Every guide and tool cites the law, regulation or SARS rule it's based on. Every update is dated. Fact-checks come from DEL, SARS, gov.za/documents/acts and the relevant statutes. When we don't know, we say so and link to the official source.
This is not legal advice. We're not solicitors. We're not accountants.
Nothing on this site should replace proper professional advice for your specific situation. What SiteKiln does is help you understand where you stand, what the law actually says in words you can understand, and exactly who to call next.
How we keep the lights on
Every guide is free. Every tool is free. Every reference card is free. No paywall. No login for guides. No "enter your email to keep reading."
That will never change.
SiteKiln is funded by sponsorship from brands that genuinely serve the construction industry - insurance brokers, training providers, tool suppliers, accountancy firms.
One sponsor per content category. Clearly labelled. No editorial control - ever. We write what's true, not what a sponsor wants to hear.
What we don't do:
- No data brokers
- No ad networks
- No tracking pixels following you around the internet
- No selling your information to anyone
- No programmatic ads
- No pay-to-play listings
The information is free because the people who need it most are usually the ones who can least afford to pay for it. The sponsorship model means it stays that way.
Founding sponsors welcome
We're looking for a small number of founding sponsors - construction brands that want to be associated with quality information, not clickbait.
Category-exclusive. Clearly labelled. No editorial control.
If your brand serves the people who build, we'd like to hear from you.
See sponsorship optionsGet in touch
SiteKiln is published by Kiln Network Ltd. Company no. 17324534, registered in England and Wales.
Email: hello@kilnguides.co.uk
Site: sitekiln.co.za
SiteKiln does not provide legal, financial or tax advice. All content is for general information purposes only. Always seek professional advice for your specific situation.