Tshwane went fully electronic for building plans in December 2024 with the New Applications Processing System (NAPS), accessed through e-Tshwane. Solar is the odd one out: as of early 2025 the metro had no council-approved SSEG by-law, yet its Utility Services department processes applications anyway, by email plus hard copy. Knowing both quirks saves you weeks.
Building plan approval: NAPS
Tshwane's New Applications Processing System launched in December 2024 as a fully electronic building plan submission portal, accessed at e-Tshwane. For support, the City lists support@e-tshwane.co.za and 0861 444 779; confirm both on the City's current page before relying on them. Land development and building approvals run under the City's Management By-law (April 2025 version), and the standard National Building Regulations process applies: approval before construction, inspections at key stages, and an occupancy certificate on completion.
SSEG and solar: the paperwork-without-a-by-law situation
Tshwane's SSEG position is genuinely unusual. As of early 2025, no formal council-approved SSEG by-law existed, because the 2017 SSEG policy was never passed by Council, and a proposed embedded generation policy was published for public comment in 2025. Despite that, the City's Utility Services department processes applications, and installers are expected to register.
The current submission route per the City's published instructions: email the application electronically to sseg@tshwane.gov.za, with hard copies delivered to Bothongo Plaza East, Francis Baard Street, Pretoria. Required documents: the completed application form, a single-line diagram, the site layout, a control philosophy, an NRS 097-compliant inverter type-test certificate, and the Certificate of Compliance. Because the policy is in flux, check the municipality's current page for the live process before each submission.
One useful Tshwane-specific rule: no building plans are required for the solar installation itself provided it does not project more than 1.5 m perpendicularly above the roofline. Higher than that, and the plan-approval machinery wakes up.
The national SSEG registration deadline of 30 September 2026 applies in Tshwane as everywhere, and the supply-authority rule matters here too: parts of the metro area are Eskom-supplied, and on Eskom networks the October 2025 relaxation allows a DEL-registered person to sign off residential systems. On City-supplied connections, follow the City's process above.
Why the by-law gap matters
The missing by-law does not mean a free-for-all. The City's stated position is that all SSEG systems must be authorised, and the 2017 policy that Council never passed has now been followed by a proposed embedded generation policy published for public comment in 2025. For an installer the practical consequence is that the goalposts can move: the document list, the submission address and even the sign-off requirements could all change when the new policy lands. Build a re-check into every Tshwane solar quote and date-stamp the requirements you quoted against, so a mid-project rule change becomes the client's variation rather than your loss.
Working the system
Tshwane rewards contractors who paper everything. Email submissions create their own proof trail; keep the sent mail, the delivery receipt for hard copies, and every acknowledgement. With the SSEG policy still settling, the contractor with dated proof of a compliant submission is in a far stronger position than one relying on a phone call to a department in transition.
Common mistakes
- Submitting plans on paper out of habit. NAPS is the route since December 2024; old-style submissions bounce or stall.
- Assuming no by-law means no registration. The City processes SSEG applications and expects them, by-law or not.
- Forgetting the hard-copy leg. The published SSEG process wants electronic plus hard copy; half a submission is no submission.
- Ignoring the 1.5 m roofline rule and triggering plan approval on a mounting frame that did not need to.
- Not re-checking the process. A policy under public comment means requirements can change between your jobs.
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