Quantity surveyor criticise engineering firms
Engineering firms compiling bills of quantities for public service contracts have been rapped over the knuckles by Des Linder, president of the Association of South African Quantity Surveyors (ASAQS), for undertaking work they were not trained or qualified to perform.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

SA business confidence declines slightly in Feb – Sacob
The South African Chamber of Business (Sacob) said yesterday its business confidence index (BCI) for February was lower than in January, dropping from 105,7 to 105,2.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

Influence of strong rand questioned
PLAYERS in the commercial property sector, like players in other big business sectors, are concerned about the strengthening of the rand against currencies of SA's major trading partners.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Taxiprop to drive taxi rank redevelopment
Johannesburg - Empowerment company Taxiprop Development Projects will be the driving force behind the multibillion-rand redevelopment of minibus taxi ranks around the country.
(©www.busrep.co.za)

Cape Town's 75 cents rent to go
Several thousand people on the Cape Flats are paying as little as 75c a month for their council homes, a practise Cape Town's City Council is now changing
(©www.bday.co.za)

Friction in Paradise
Steenberg golf estate is everybody's dream of residential exclusivity among the Constantia vineyards, a rich man's shelter from the masses. But now Steenberg home owners fear that the masses may invade their turf.
(©www.fm.co.za)

Western Cape trails behind Gauteng development boom
The Western Cape has also been on a property developing spree, but house prices, except on the Atlantic seaboard, have not been increasing at the rate of Gauteng's.
(©www.busrep.co.za)

Retail banking leads way at Standard, FirstRand
THE demise of the country's smaller banks last year, and the consequent flight to quality, have done good things for interest margins at Standard Bank and FirstRand.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Martprop's gearing leaves window of opportunity for further growth
PROPERTY unit trust Martprop concluded the six-month period ended January with a gearing of only 6,7% which leaves the window for further geared growth wide open for the group.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Peer review praises SA’s competition authorities
South Africa’s competition authorities were found to be ‘notably competent and serious’ during an evaluation by a global peer review panel, a conference, hosted by the Competition Commission and Competition Tribunal in Johannesburg, heard yesterday.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

DTI appoints new industry-development DDG
The Department of Trade and Industry has announced the appointment of Mr Lionel October as Deputy Director-General of its Enterprise and Industry Development division (EID).
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

Telkom to minimise lay-offs
South Africa has no plans to cut 10 000 jobs at Telkom soon, a senior official said yesterday, responding to reports the phone group would have to slash jobs to bring its ratios in line with global peers.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

Sasol expected to report strong results
South African synthetic fuel producer Sasol is expected to post a small rise in half year earnings when it reports results next week, fuelled by a stronger crude oil price and a weaker rand.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

Nissan-Ford vehicle export deal could earn SA billions
SA COULD win foreign investment of several billion rand if two major automotive multinationals Nissan and Ford agree on proposals to invest in new export-driven vehicle assembly plants in SA.
(©www.bday.co.za)

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Massmart buys two businesses for R140m
South African distribution group Massmart (MSM) confirmed on Friday that it had been successful in its bid to acquire the Builders Warehouse and Tile Warehouse businesses for R140-million.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Smaller malls face harder times
SMALL to medium-sized shopping centres could come under further pressure as consolidation in the retail sector continues. Coronation Fund Managers portfolio manager Kirshni Totaram has joined experts sounding warning bells about the health of small neighbourhood shopping centres.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Small retail tenants need greater lease security
THE regulatory vacuum in the management of relations between commercial property tenants and landlords has claimed another victim, a small tenant. The whole stock of JetSet Luggage in The Zone@Rosebank was thrown out of the shop on Friday last week and employees of the business were kept outside by the shopping centre's security for the whole day.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Trendy Rosebank draws the crowds
THE Mall of Rosebank has experienced a consistent increase in activity since the conclusion of a R56m refurbishment programme a year ago. Mall manager JHI Real Estate says the centre's foot traffic exceeded 900,000 in December, while parking for the last quarter showed a 45% increase on that of the previous comparable quarter.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Clothing sets fashion for 2002 rise in retail sales
Johannesburg - South Africans are becoming more concerned about their appearance and spending more of their household budget on clothes for themselves and their children.
(©www.busrep.co.za)

Consumers bounce back in confidence
Cape Town - Following a short bout of panic late last year, consumer confidence has bounced back sharply in the first quarter thanks to expected interest rate cuts, the rand's rapid ascent and cheaper fuel prices.
(©www.busrep.co.za)

Truworths says it is still on the prowl
Cape Town - Giving an update on its search for an acquisition, Truworths International indicated late last week that there were several opportunities of interest which, according to executive chairman Michael Mark, were "not impossible".
(©www.busrep.co.za)

Franchising an underrated empowerment tool
Durban - Franchising was the most underrated tool to propel previously disadvantaged people into the mainstream economy, Gerrie van Biljon, the executive director and regional general manager of Business Partners, said yesterday.
(©www.busrep.co.za)

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SANS10100 : THE STRUCTURAL USE OF CONCRETE PART 2 : MATERIALS AND EXECUTION OF WORK
Standards South Africa has released SANS10100 : The structural use of concrete Part 2 : materials and execution of work, for public comment. As this standard will affect all members producing concrete in its various forms, members are advised to obtain a copy and scrutinise the standard before it is published in its final form. Copies may be obtained by email by contacting Howard Richardson on contract@safcec.org.za
Closing date for comment is 18 April 2003.
(©www.safcec.org.za)

SANS 10400 – APPLICATION OF NATIONAL BUILDING REGULATIONS
Over the last week SAFCEC has been receiving drafts of sections of SANS 10400 – The application of national building regulations from STANSA for review by the STANSA Technical Committee. (©www.safcec.org.za)

FOREX WORKSHOP
Safcec Export held a very successful workshop on “Best Practise for Managing Foreign Currencies in Civil Contract during this week.
(©www.safcec.org.za)

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Angola headed for post-war boom as SA comes on board
Many opportunities for long-term investment. AS ANGOLA gears up for a post-war economic boom, the number of SA companies exploring opportunities and operating there prominent among them new entrant Shoprite, Mvelaphanda Holdings, Trans Hex, Group 5 and SABMiller has shot up despite the entrenched corruption and bureaucracy.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Kenya gets E733,550 for water project
Belgium on has granted Kenya E733,550 ($801,000) to fund a water project in the Kenyan Rift Valley district of Baringo, officials said.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Swiss company to buy Zambian mine
Zambia has offered a Swiss company, J and W Investmnent Group, the chance to buy the troubled Luanshya copper mine, faced with serious operational problems.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Ethiopian bank helps farmers
Some 500,000 farmers in drought-affected areas of the South Ethiopia Regional State are to benefit from 69 million birr (8.04 million dollars) in loans from the government-owned Commercial bank of Ethiopia.
(©www.bday.co.za)

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Laser system developed for underground mining
Through its close relationship with the mining industry, specialist supplier of laser and survey products Afgen has developed the Gradeline laser system for use in the development of boxholes and travellingway raises in underground mining.
(©www.miningweekly.co.za)

Association says mining maintenance is improving
Last year, Sasol Mining’s Bosjesspruit colliery, in Secunda, Mpumalanga, became the first mining operation to win a silver award in the Southern African Maintenance Association (Sama) excellence award competition.
(©www.miningweekly.co.za)

Local mining conditions call for special attention to maintenance
Oil analysis has been proved internationally as an effective method of reducing maintenance costs, improving productivity and providing peace of mind in industries that operate large fleets of plant, equipment or heavy-duty vehicles.
(©www.miningweekly.co.za)

Platinum’s No 4 receiving strong capital injection
South Africa’s fourth-largest platinum company, chaired by former Gauteng premier Tokyo Sexwale, is receiving a strong injection of new capital.
(©www.miningweekly.co.za)

Gold miner mulls new $15m process plant
With Canadian company Thistle Mining looking to increase its production output at the President Steyn Gold Mines (PSGM) in Welkom, Free State, to more than 400 000 oz/y, its plan to construct a $15-million, 150 000 t/m gold process plant at the Northern section of its mines is looking increasingly probable.
(©www.miningweekly.co.za)

Continuous-miner a hit with PGM group
The world’s and South Africa’s third-largest platinum-group metals (PGMs) producer, Lonmin Platinum, says it has achieved encouraging results from the prototype continuous-mining machine it has been testing on narrow UG2 reefs for the past 12 months.
(©www.miningweekly.co.za)

Avmin needs to boost balance sheet to ensure nickel project proceeds
Mining company Anglovaal Mining (Avmin) says it is now finalising the regulatory issues relating to the R2-billion expansion of its 75%-owned Nkomati nickel-mine, in Mpumalanga.
(©www.miningweekly.co.za)

Competition body approves Pilbara iron-ore joint venture
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said yesterday it had granted formal approval for a joint venture managed by BHP Billiton to develop an iron-ore field in Western Australia's Pilbara region.
(©www.miningweekly.co.za)

SA explosives man appointed to global body
A South African is one of two explosives executives appointed as the first international directors of the prestigious International Society of Explosives Engineers (ISEE).
(©www.miningweekly.co.za)

Anglo gets permit for Chilean smelter expansion
Chile's environmental authority said this week it had approved an expansion of the Chagres copper smelter, recently acquired by mining giant South African miner Anglo American.
(©www.miningweekly.co.za)

New coal mine planned for Australia
Yesterday, MIM Holdings, possible takeover target of international coal miner Xstrata, said it was spending A$175-million ($109-million) to develop a new colliery in eastern Australia.
(©www.miningweekly.co.za)

Fire likely to cost ERPM R20m
A fire that has been burning at East Rand Propriety Mines (ERPM) for longer than a month is likely to cost the gold producer more than R20-million, the mine’s management said yesterday.
(©www.miningweekly.co.za)

Explorer sees greater liquidity on back of ADR split
London Stock Exchange and Nasdaq-listed gold company, Randgold Resources, has announced that its American depositary receipts (ADRs) are to be split so that one ADR will equal one ordinary share.
(©www.miningweekly.co.za)

Romanian Academy slams gold-mining project
The Romanian Academy this week urged government officials to block a Canadian gold mining project that scientists said would have catastrophic consequences on local inhabitants and the environment.
(©www.miningweekly.co.za)

Time running out for SA mining companies
A number of firms say they either fulfil or are close to meeting empowerment obligations.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Zambia to clean up contaminated mines
LUSAKA Zambia plans to spend more than 100m on cleaning up contaminated lead and copper mine sites, a legislator said yesterday. Environment Minister Patrick Kalifungwa said the state was launching the Copperbelt Environment Project to ensure the well-being of people living near mines with possible health risks.
(©www.bday.co.za)

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House prices decline
House price increases have slowed to 13.3% year on year - the slowest increase since December 1999.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Pretoria investors urged to 'hang in'
Tenants continue to have the upper hand in Pretoria, a city with a large and growing number of buy-to-rent investors - but the demand for rental accommodation is expected to remain strong and landlords should not be getting cold feet.
(©www.property24.co.za)

You can't change deals to skip tax
Property buyers have of course welcomed the reduction in transfer duty announced this month by Finance Minister Trevor Manuel, but trying to change property sale dates to take advantage of the reduction is illegal.
(©www.property24.co.za)

Spotlight on: Bloemfontein
Average homes prices in Bloemfontein have risen beyond the affordability levels of most local buyers - and will continue rising rapidly unless something is done urgently about the provision of new building stands.
(©www.property24.co.za)

Consumer thumbs up for hi-touch
In the age of high-tech everything, personal relationships are still a key factor in most decisions made by real estate consumers.
(©www.property24.co.za)

Thesen Island sales take off over holiday season
THESEN Island, the R800m marine residential development in Knysna, southern Cape, claimed its fair share in what turned out to be a bumper holiday season for SA residential property during the last festive season.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Elite suburb of Joburg's new north is hot property
It is a wet and rainy Gauteng day when property development company Renprop launches its latest development, 10u, in the heart of Sandton, the country's financial capital. The flats in the R72 million block do not come cheap. For just over a 100m2 you will pay more than a million rand.
(©www.busrep.co.za)

Tip of the week
Leaving a bond in the safe keeping of a bank once paid off saves time and money, as a new one won’t need to be registered when needed.
(©www.property24.co.za)

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ARCHITECTS AND THE LAW
as written by Pennells Attorneys
I was recently confronted by one of my clients who is an architect indicated that experience problems with clients who do not settle their bills. He mentioned that this practice has particularly increased over the past five to eight years. It was clear that most problems in this regard were the result of clients that could, due to financial constraints, not continue with their building contracts and were suddenly not “satisfied” with the work of the architect.
(©www.pia.org.za)

Thuba Makote - Schools as Centres for Community Development
The Thuba Makote ('breaking soil clods to prepare for planting') project aims to explore new approaches to school building design, construction and operation in order to address the need for both high quality education and community development support in rural areas of South Africa. Initiated by the National Department of Education with Poverty Alleviation funding, the programme is managed by CSIR Building and Construction Technology, working with local consultants.
The CSIR team involved in the project:
Jeremy Gibberd, Geoff Abbott, Mike Bolton, Lee Rosenzweig, Ketan Patel, Eric Sumnall (from Walters & Simpson Quantity Surveyors), Sizo Hlongwane, Bridget Sithole, and Robin Lunt.
(©www.csir.co.za/akani/)

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WTO chief sees gridlock in trade talks
World Trade Organization chief Supachai Panitchpakdi warned the body's 145 member countries on Tuesday the year-old Doha Round of free trade talks was running into gridlock, reports Reuters.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

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JSE follows world markets down
The JSE Securities Exchange South Africa was awash with red in noon trade on Friday, unable to escape the gloom engulfing global markets.
(©www.bday.co.za)

ECB rate cut pressures SARB to follow
The decision by the European Central Bank to cut interest rates has put the South African Reserve Bank under increasing pressure to follow suit.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Old Mutual shares hit all-time low
Shares in London-listed Old Mutual (OML), which is South Africa's largest financial services group, tumbled to an all-time low on Friday after Thursday's announcement that the group planned to raise 36 million sterling via a private placement of new ordinary shares.
(©www.bday.co.za)

VAT law changes set to foster small-business growth as exporters can claim more expenses
Transfer of ownership and the physical delivery of goods required before an export can officially occur.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Consumer Confidence Recovers Sharply
Whatever their concerns late last year, they are today on a roll to higher levels, led by feel-good sentiment about their own finances and the economic position of the country. The main lagging indicator remains 'Time to buy durable goods': clearly a still undervalued Rand and high interest rates continue to argue against buying durable consumer goods, especially among the poorer sections of society.
(©www.fnb.co.za)

TIME TO START THINKING ABOUT THE ICEC WORLD CONGRESS

The Place: Cape Town, South Africa
The Date: 17th-21st April 2004
The Theme: Value Beyond Cost

Presented by:
The Association of South African Quantity Surveyors
and
The Cost Engineering Association of South Africa

Click here to remain updated!

SEEN ON OUR WEBSITE

In the Classifieds:

Freelance QS's - All levels required
Freelance QS's required ASAP to work on a contract basis in the Eastern Cape and surrounding areas. All levels of experience needed, particularly 4 years +. Local Construction companies looking for experienced QS's to manage all aspects of a building contract.

QS Abu Dhabi
Urgently looking for QS to work on pipe line project 2 years contract with civil and M&E background 4days onsite 3days in town.
Salary: USD 5000/month

Seen on the ASAQS Calendar:
Event: Project Management Demystified - NQF Level 4
Date: 17-18 March 2003
Time: 8:15 AM - 4:30 PM
Information: This course will be held on the 17-18 March 2003 at the Centurion Lake Hotel, Centurion.
For more info contact Terry Deacon at 082 557 3119

Remember: Visit the ASAQS website for new updates!

We currently have more than 900 access accounts to the CUG!
New members to the CUG:

Lawrence Evans

Please note : Only paid-up members of the Association of South African Quantity Surveyors are allowed entrance to the CUG. We still receive a number of applications every month from non-members. If you have any questions regarding membership contact Mrs Barbara Morgan on 011-3154140

Also note that your registration to the CUG will remain in force as long as you remain a member of ASAQS and there is no need to register every year. If you have not received an e-mail confirming your registration contact ASAQS.

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