Housing in Southern Africa

he show houses constructed

in the village range in age from

six to ten years, providing a

unique opportunity for observing and

documenting the response of these

systems to the environment within

which they are placed.

The houses have not undergone

any significant maintenance or repair

work in order to note the durability

of the various materials, structural

defects and impact of workmanship.

The site is predominantly character-

ised by active/heaving soils, classified

as H3, which presented an opportu-

nity to document performance under

non-ideal conditions.

Some of the findings include:

• The importance of appropriately

detailed joints or connections -

some of the panel systems were

not adequately constructed and

weatherproof, particularly at joints.

Attention needs to be paid to the

selection of appropriate products

andmaterials that work effectively

together.

• Construction skills and supervision

- it was pretty clear at one show

house that the contractor/builder

perhaps did not have an intimate

understanding of how the building

system really worked. Structural

defects appeared shortly after con-

structionwas completed. Although

many IBTs may not require skilled

labour for erection, it is undeniable

that an understanding of good

construction practice, experience

with the system and problem solv-

ing ability must exist within the

project team.

• Maintenance, materials and du-

rability - apart from the need for

regular home maintenance, it has

become apparent that specifying

good quality, appropriate products

has a real impact on the quality and

durability of the housing product.

For example, within approximately

two years of completion, a fairly

simple IBT house with painted

fibre cement board external walls

was peeling. This can be attrib-

uted to the quality of the paint, the

strength of adhesion of the paint to

the board, or the applicationmeth-

od and environmental elements.

• Another system applied an inno-

vative recycled plastic-type roof

covering, a material that was fairly

unknown. This particular prod-

uct is not suitable for the South

African environment. Through

observation, it was concluded

that the fairly high sun exposure

received in Soshanguve, resulted

in the roof material becomingmore

brittle and subsequently weaker

over the years. A recent hail storm

completely destroyed the roof, as

though shattering glass.

The decision to not maintain the IBT

show houses has served to empha-

sise the fact that housing structures

do require maintenance, and that

regular maintenance will impact the

lifespan and quality of the house.

It has been interesting to note, how-

ever, that there are some systems

that have been standing for ten years

without maintenance (apart from

regular cleaning) and the external

appearance of the home is quite ac-

ceptable.

The recommendation therefore is

that IBT homes should be provided

with amaintenance guideline for the

end-user/homeowner. This will pro-

vide some indication of the particular

components that may require re-

placement and minor maintenance,

as it relates to specific systems. This

guide can be improved over time as

more about the various systems are

is discovered, but it is a necessary

starting point.

Additions and alterations - many

innovative building technology prod-

ucts only have a single-source sup-

plier, usually in the form of a spe-

cific Agrément certificate holder who

bears the ultimate responsibility for

the performance and quality of the

final product.

Oftenhome owners are posedwith

the dilemma of additions and altera-

tions and they either do not know the

original builder or are unable to

contact them. This necessitates

the need for

all IBTs to be easily integrated with

traditional, easily sourced materials,

namely brick and mortar.

Almost everyone, including the

beneficiary of a subsidy house, is

capable of sourcing a local builder to

perform some basic addition/altera-

tion work. However, when faced with

a sophisticated sandwich panel in a

light steel frame home, sourcing a

builder may not be that simple.

A beneficiary of an IBT home con-

structed as part of the Eric Molobi

Innovation Project learned this the

hard way. The home owner wanted

an additional plug point installed.

After employing the services of

three or four local handymen, he

realised that the wall was of such in-

credible strength that the electricals

could only be wall mounted. This of

course did not meet with the home

owner’s aesthetical preference. For

this reason, it is important to develop

support for the IBT sector, which

will cultivate sub-industries and en-

able/equip local business to install,

erect and build using these systems,

thereby ensuring their sustainability.

The NHBRC Centre for Research and

Housing Innovation works closely

with and have formed strategic part-

nerships with other state entities

such as Agrément, the Council for

Scientific and Industrial Research, the

South African Bureau of Standards

and others, to collaborate and evalu-

ate IBT systems.

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LESSONS LEARNED

The Eric Molobi Housing Innovation Hub provides a platform for

potentially powerful research into the real-time physical performance

of the various types of innovative building technologies.

Eric Molobi Housing Innovation Hub