Construction World October 2020

Regulatory compliance In broad strokes, regulatory compliance is an organisation's DGKHUHQFH WR ODZV UHJXODWLRQV JXLGHOLQHV DQG VSHFLͤFDWLRQV relevant to its business processes. It also helps you protect your business’ resources and reputation, which is especially important when you’re trying to get off the ground. If you choose not to comply with regulations, you could face penalties and charges. In present-day South Africa, here are some of the most important regulations you need to meet being in the construction industry: • COID compliance registration and a letter of good standing for tendering purposes • VAT registration • % %%(( DͦGDYLW RU FHUWLͤFDWH • CIDB registration for contractors • NHBRC registration (although this is not compulsory) • MBSA membership (again, not compulsory) Tax Keeping up with your taxes is one of your most fundamental responsibilities as a business. Tax is a highly regulated industry, regulated in terms of the Income Tax Act, 58 of 1962, and SARS reserves the right to impose penalties on non-compliant businesses. If your business is found to be non-tax compliant, SARS will come after the owners or directors, especially where the business does not have the means to pay penalties. In addition to this, you should bear in mind that failure to set up your tax systems correctly and pay your monthly dues is considered a criminal act in South Africa. You don’t want to go to jail, so don’t cut corners when it comes to tax. To make sure that everything operates as it should, it is a good LGHD WR DSSRLQW DQ DXGLWLQJ ͤUP :RUNLQJ ZLWK DQ H[SHUW WHDP ZLOO WDNH D ORW RI SUHVVXUH RII \RX VR LW̵V GHͤQLWHO\ ZRUWK LQYHVWLQJ LQ especially when you’re new to establishing a business. These seven factors are very important to take into account when launching your own business in the construction industry. It’s widely known that construction is a hard market to tap into, and PDQ\ EXVLQHVVHV DURXQG WKH ZRUOG GRQ̵W PDNH LW SDVW WKH ͤYH \HDU mark due to poor planning, But if you are patient, compliant with all the right rules and regulations and investing in what’s important, you’ll be taking solid steps in the right direction. ƒ

• Comprehensive liability insurance will cover a vast range of risks. • Commercial auto insurance is helpful for avoiding high vehicle repair costs, medical expenses, or lawsuits resulting from auto accidents. • Workers’ compensation insurance is also useful to have as it is designed to protect businesses and contractors when their employees are injured while on the job. If you don’t take out insurance, you will likely be liable to pay out for any accidents out of your own pocket, so rather be safe than sorry and take out a policy as early on as you can. Contracting from beginning to end Because of the nature of construction, it can be hard to have every GHWDLO ͤQDOLVHG EHIRUH \RX VXEPLW D ELG DQG VLJQ D FRQWUDFW While it’s impossible to know exactly how a project will go, it’s important that you think about what could go wrong from as many perspectives as possible. This will help you gauge whether or not you can actually deliver on the client’s expectations. If you sign the contract, and only later realise that you can’t H[HFXWH RQ ZKDW \RX DJUHHG RQ \RX ZLOO OLNHO\ ͤQG \RXUVHOI LQ D YHU\ expensive, tense situation that could not only cost you the project, but your reputation too. So, take the time to consult with your team and consider the VLWXDWLRQ EHIRUH \RX MXPS LQ KHDG ͤUVW

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CONSTRUCTION WORLD OCTOBER 2020