How to get a zoning certificate

A zoning certificate states the zoning of your stand under the council's land use scheme. Building plan submissions ask for it, because the zoning decides what may be built: coverage, height, building lines, the number of dwellings and parking. See zoning and building lines.

Tshwane

Request a zoning certificate by email to geoinfoservice@tshwane.gov.za, as the city's land development page says. We found no separate application form. The fee was R31 per certificate in 2025/26 (VAT included); we could not find the 2026/27 tariff. Tshwane's zoning is under the Tshwane Land Use Scheme, 2024, in operation since 1 July 2024.

Johannesburg

Zoning certificates come from the city's Corporate Geo-Informatics through its e-Property Information Service. You open an account (a minimum deposit of R336, paid at the Metro Centre, with the signed application form emailed to cgisfax@joburg.org.za), then email requests quoting the account number and the erf number or street address. No phone requests.

• Zoning certificate (for collection): R75 per erf (2026/27)
• Zoning information sheet (use zone, height zone, density, building lines, amendment scheme): R18 per sheet

The city's form says requests are answered within 16 working hours and its web page says 24 hours, depending on volume.

Ekurhuleni

The zoning certificate fee is R43.14 (2026/27, VAT included). We found no online route or form for it; City Planning applications are lodged at the City Planning office of the relevant Customer Care Centre, so ask there.

Check before you rely on it

The online zoning maps (Tshwane e-GIS, Joburg eServices, Ekurhuleni GIS) are a quick first look, but a submission needs the certificate.

Questions people ask