How Long Does Building Plan Approval Take in Gauteng?

What the law says

Section 7 of the National Building Regulations and Building Standards Act gives a council 30 days to approve or refuse plans for a building under 500 m², and 60 days for 500 m² or more. The clock runs from when the council receives a complete application.

What councils have published

Council	What it says
Tshwane	Old figure: a 2020/21 city process booklet put the average at two weeks to a month from submission to feedback. The city has not published measured times since NAPS launched in December 2024.
Johannesburg	Design target, not a measured time: when CPMS launched in 2021 the city said the new process was designed for 25 to 35 days. CPMS was offline from mid-September to 14 October 2025, and 1 114 applications were in assessment by 22 October.
Ekurhuleni	No published processing times that we found.

None of the councils publishes measured, current approval times, so we do not promise dates.

What actually causes delays

An incomplete submission. Missing documents mean the plans come back before they are properly assessed.
Zoning problems. A building line or coverage problem needs a town-planning application first, which takes longer than plan approval.
Unanswered comments. The examiner's comments sit until somebody answers them.
Unapproved existing work discovered during the assessment.
System outages, like Johannesburg's in 2025.

What helps

A complete first submission, a zoning check before drawing, and someone following up on comments the day they arrive. Those are the parts you or your professional control.

Questions people ask

Can a council take longer than 30 days?

It must decide within the period in the Act once the application is complete. Comments that send the plans back, incomplete applications and other departments' input all affect when an application counts as complete.

Sources

Checked October 2026. Councils change their tariffs every July, so confirm fees before you pay.