SASFA supplement May 2017

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SASFA: 10 YEARS ON …

It feels like yesterday when Dr Hennie de Clercq, then CEO of the South African Institute of Steel Construction (SAISC), and myself returned from a fact finding visit to Australia on Light Steel Frame Building. We were absolutely convinced that this building technology had to be introduced to Southern Africa. Two years later, in 2006, meetings were arranged with interested parties from industry, and it was decided that an association needed to be established to coordinate the development of this industry, to set industry standards and to facilitate acceptance of this new building method by local building authorities and the banks. We started out by formulating mission and vision statements and preparing marketing and business plans, to enable us to approach the major material sup- pliers to this industry – steel (ArcelorMittal), fibre-ce- ment board (Everite), gypsum board (Saint-Gobain and Lafarge) and insulation (Saint-Gobain) – for basic funding. SASFA was established as a division of the South African Institute of Steel Construction to limit administration costs. SASFA invited applications for different categories of membership, in order to form a coherent industry, and during the next few years membership numbers grew to exceed 80 companies. SASFA reports to an Exco, consisting of elected light steel frame industry executives, and arranges regular meetings of the Technical and Training Committees, A draft building code was compiled, making use of the SANS timber frame standard, and the acceptance and support of the NHBRC was obtained for light steel frame building. Work was immediately started on a comprehensive building standard, referred to as the SASFA Building Code. We decided not to reinvent the wheel, and got support from NASH, the National As- sociation of Steel Housing in Australia, and the Steel Framing Alliance from the USA. The SASFA Code was published in November 2007, and handed over to the SABS to turn it into an official national standard. SANS 517 was published two years later. In the meantime, meetings were held with the banks to get support for bond applications – ABSA was the first on board, followed by the other major banks. consisting of industry specialists. Codes and standards

“I believe that the process of the establishment of light steel frame building in South Africa would be an exceptional business school case study. It demonstrates howmany things have to be done and howmany issues have to be addressed if you want to establish a technology in a newmarket. And if it is a disruptive technology, enemies and detractors can be expected, and they did mate- rialise. SASFA is a living demonstration of how a good strategy, vigorously executed by a strong association and an industry standing together, can achieve success despite the difficulties.”

Dr Hennie de Clercq, former CEO of South African Institute of Steel Construction (SAISC)

SASFA SUPPLEMENT 2017