CSIR Conference Centre, Pretoria, Wednesday, 6 October 1999
Master of Ceremonies,
Chairman of Agrement South Africa (Mr Schlotfeldt),
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen -
I am honoured to share with you the celebration of 30 years of achievement by Agrement South Africa - as we have just seen reflected in the video.
The motivation for the founding of Agrement in 1969 still finds application, and becomes more intensified when considering South Africa's re-entry into global scientific, technical, commercial and economic activities. Through Agrement South Africa, government created a mechanism to encourage safe innovation relating to building techniques - focusing initially on low cost and high quality housing with social acceptability. This focus has been extended to civil engineering aspects in infrastructure creation whilst meeting some specific socio-economic objectives introduced by the current government.
It was hard reality (on the Cape flats, with problems experienced on a housing scheme erected using a building system, something that was widely used in the reconstruction of Europe after World War II) that again indicated that however well-intentioned, advanced and innovative a particular development may be, local application, circumstances and influences need to be verified before a vulnerable public may be exposed to possible detrimental consequences or financial losses. Relying on American, European or Eastern technical approvals for local conditions could serve us poorly, for many of these countries have conditions vastly different from those in the Southern African region. This renders many of their innovative solutions, covered by standards and technical approvals appropriate to their conditions and requirements, at best ineffective and at worst detrimental to the extent of possibly resulting in construction failure in our region. By contrast many of the issues that have a major impact on the construction industry in South Africa are common to the region. These include rapid urbanisation of the population with resulting severe housing shortages and lack of appropriate infrastructure, insufficient skilled manpower at all levels from professional to artisan, and a large, mainly unemployed unskilled labour force.
A regional approach to the problem, building on the work already being done in the region with regard to standardisation, would therefore seem to have benefits for South Africa as well as the other countries in the region. We could all benefit by access to the many innovative solutions developed in the region for providing housing and other infrastructure for the poor, utilising local materials and self-help technologies. South Africa could further contribute experience in and facilities for technical approvals, empowering other countries in the region to develop their own facilities and expertise appropriate to their needs. I am of the opinion that we should explore the feasibility of introducing a regional technical approval process.
It is one of the aims of Agrement South Africa to protect consumers against inappropriate and even dangerous products through its system of evaluation and certification. Whilst innovation in the local construction industry is encouraged and called for by the incidence and cost of response to needs in our country, the consumer must be protected against unsuitable or dangerous construction materials, products and techniques. At the same time and by similar processes, suppliers, contractors, SMMEs, individuals, local authorities and financial institutions use the Agrement certificates as a reliable reference and often prerequisite for buildings which are to be erected using unconventional techniques.
Agrement South Africa should continue to serve our national interest by being internationally acknowledged as an independent centre that serves the building and construction communities - providing assurance to specifiers and users via technical approvals of the fitness-for-purpose of non-standard and/or unconventional products. It should facilitate the introduction and use of innovation and non-standardised construction by policy makers, bodies financing construction, the established and emerging construction industry and all the agencies or persons concerned with construction, by minimising the risks inherent in the use of innovations.
Yet times do not remain static, and we also expect Agrement South Africa to remain tuned in to current needs experienced, to interchange ideas and information internationally as well as domestically. Agrement has adopted, amongst other, a strategy of maintaining a high degree of relevance by ensuring alignment with government priorities in the construction field and trends in the marketplace. The Agrement Board is also represented on the Reference and Focus Groups of the Construction Industry Development Task Team, participating in this important democratising process and ensuring that an appropriate relationship between Agrement South Africa and the Construction Industry Development Board is shaped through continued interaction.
Together with countries such as Canada, Britain and New Zealand Agrement South Africa is expanding its activities to include the evaluation of products for use in roads and bridges, in addition to the work done in the sanitation field. Both these areas are essential in infrastructure delivery and should open up further opportunities for SMME participation. In this regard I would also appeal to certificate holders to ensure that they include Previously Disadvantaged Individuals on projects to enhance skills transfer and economic empowerment.
However, looking at the past 30 years, I certainly find it recommendable that despite the exceptional withdrawals of certificates, no major failure has occurred in any project involving a genuine Agrement certificate - it seems to be a bigger problem to stem the notion of false claims on certificates!
Agrement has and should continue to save the country many times its cost by effectively anticipating and avoiding expensive and otherwise unpredictable failures and problems.
We need an objective and competent advisor and information source to consumers, participants and trend setters in the public and private sectors in respect of the technical, socio-economic and regulatory aspects of construction related innovation and its best use. I trust that labour intensive methods and other possibilities of job creation in the industry will be optimised, addressing our poverty plight and taking us towards the millennium.
It is my pleasure to announce the names of the people appointed to the Agrement Board for the next term of three years, thus taking the Board through to October 2002. They are (in alphabetic order):
Peter Allsop National Home Builders' Registration Council
Hirsh Fish Independent Development Trust
Phil Hendricks CSIR Transportek: Committee of Land Transport Officials
Johan Lexow Department of Public Works
Lefa Mallane Department of Housing
Mike Marler Development Bank of Southern Africa
Richard Mbanjwa Homeless Peoples' Dialogue on Land and Shelter
Elsje Meintjies South African Bureau of Standards
Rodney Milford CSIR Boutek, South African Institution of Civil Engineering,
Construction Industry Development Task Team
Casswell Mthombeni Department of Public Works
Piet Myburgh Southern African Bitumen Association
Dempsey Naidoo Consulting Engineer involved with Black Empowerment and
Promotion of SMMEs
Mandla Ndlovu Black Construction Council, National African Federation for
Building Industry, South African Black Construction Programme, National Home
Builders' Registration Council, NAFCOC
Basie Nothnagel South African National Roads Agency
Canon Noyana Construction Industry Development task Team
Carrie Petrie Building Materials Suppliers of South Africa
FL Ramagwedi Department of Water Affairs and Forestry
Carl Schlotfeldt Specialised expertise in Agrement Certification and Non-
standardised Construction, National home Builders' Registration Council
Dave Verster Hartbeespoort Local Council, Low Cost Housing
Ron Watermeyer Consulting Engineer, Joint Structural Division of SAIStructE
and SAICE, Procurement Specialist
Thuli Felicia Manana Qualified Estate Agent, director and sole proprietor of
a construction company, the Abathandi Project CC
Tenjiwe Winnifred Hoyana
Quantity surveyor at Letchimia Daya Hoyana in East London
Ncedisa Fundisa Ncapai
Quantity surveyor at Haltely, Rooney Ncapai in East London
These Board members are the people responsible to direct Agrement South Africa - ensuring that government priorities are met through operational activity; that the work of Agrement is clearly communicated to enhance understanding of the respective roles of certification of unconventional building and engineering technologies used in relation to the standardisation done by the South African Bureau of Standards; and to effect the necessary transformation within Agrement that will include Previously Disadvantaged Individuals among the people rendering services to the Board.
Having first pressed upon you your responsibilities, I welcome you and congratulate you - We at Public Works are looking forward to a rewarding working relationship during your term of office.
Lastly, it is my great pleasure to hand to you, Mr Schlotfeldt, as current Chairman of Agrement, a comemorative plaque on the 30th Anniversary of Agrement - congratulations!