Working as a Tradesperson in Johannesburg

If you work in Johannesburg, your building work answers to the City of Johannesburg, and your solar work usually answers to City Power, the City's own electricity utility. Knowing which front door each job goes through saves you weeks, because the two are run by different departments with different paperwork.

Which municipality governs you

Johannesburg is governed by the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. Building control sits under its Development Planning department, and the metro is split into seven administrative regions, each with its own office. There is no single counter for the whole city, so the first step on any job is working out which region your site falls in.

How building plan approval works here

New buildings, extensions and material alterations need plan approval under the National Building Regulations and Building Standards Act (Act 103 of 1977), with the building itself designed and built to the SANS 10400 standards. Locally, the City adds its own Building Regulations and Standards By-law of 2018, which supplements the national regulations rather than replacing them and points at the relevant SANS codes across structural, fire, electrical and plumbing work.

Plans are lodged at the regional office covering your site. Online submission has been rolling out, but the flow has historically been slower and less digital than Cape Town's, so programme in extra time. After approval you build to the stamped plan, call in the staged inspections, and apply for an occupancy certificate at completion. No certificate, no legal occupation, and it surfaces later at sale, bond or insurance time.

SSEG and solar registration

Solar registration in Johannesburg runs through City Power, not the Development Planning department. The pack broadly follows the national pattern: a Certificate of Compliance, a single-line diagram, and an NRS 097 inverter type-test certificate. Check City Power's current page for the live document list before you promise a client a registration pack, because the requirements move.

One trap on the East Rand fringe and elsewhere in Gauteng: parts of the metro sit on Eskom supply, not City Power. Confirm who actually supplies the property. On Eskom networks the October 2025 rule change lets a DEL-registered person sign off residential systems, and the Eskom fee waiver runs to 30 September 2026, which is also the national SSEG registration deadline.

Local by-laws to check

The one quirk that catches contractors here: drainage work needs an application regardless of how small the alteration is. A minor drainage change lodged without an application is a compliance failure waiting for an inspector. Confirm the submission requirements with each regional office you use, because they drift, and keep stamped proof of every lodgement.

Where to register and comply

Start at the City of Johannesburg website, find your administrative region, and lodge plans with the Development Planning department. For solar, confirm the supply authority first, then register through City Power (or Eskom on Eskom-supplied stands) before the 30 September 2026 deadline.

Reviewed by the SiteKiln editorial team, June 2026. Municipal processes are as published mid-2026 and change. Confirm current requirements with the City of Johannesburg and City Power. Guidance only, not legal advice.