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Monday 08:00 - 17:00 Tuesday 08:00 - 17:00 Wednesday 08:00 - 17:00 Thursday 08:00 - 17:00 Friday 08:00 - 17:00 Saturday 08:00 - 17:00 Sunday 08:00 - 17:00

https://buildingconsultsa.co.za/, https://www.probuildsa.co.za/

PB Consulting, Hermanus (2026)

01/10/2026

𝗛𝗢𝗠𝗘 𝗕𝗨𝗜𝗟𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗗𝗨𝗠𝗠𝗜𝗘𝗦 (𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗡𝗘𝗪𝗦)

B̲u̲i̲l̲d̲i̲n̲g̲ ̲T̲e̲r̲m̲i̲n̲o̲l̲o̲g̲y̲

“Readymix”
noun: readymix
pre/ ready-mixed concrete

“Mpa”
The pascal (symbol: Pa) is the SI derived unit of pressure used to quantify internal pressure, stress, Young's modulus and ultimate tensile strength. Important for bricks and concrete density and strength.

“Dpc”
A damp-proof course (DPC) is a barrier through the structure designed to prevent moisture rising by capillary action such as through a phenomenon known as rising damp.

“Brick force”
The steel reinforcing that strengthens a wall. It is placed in the cement between a course of bricks. Brick force is used in every course of the foundations and every course above lintol height.

“Butterfly ties”
A masonry wall tie made from heavy wire in the shape of a figure eight.

“Lintol/lintel”
A horizontal support of timber, stone, concrete, or steel across the top of a door or window.

Jeez this will a boring blog entry, google anything else technical related you come across.

What building terminology related words mean in reality
Contractor - A gambler who never gets to shuffle, cut or deal. In other words, an unqualified chancer.
Project manager - Someone who retired from a different occupation such as priest, teacher, civil servant etc. with a phone and internet connection for Google.

Bid - A wild guess carried out to two decimal places and no hope of achieving.
Low Bidder - A contractor who is wondering what he left out.

Engineer's Estimate - The cost of construction in heaven. Also involves a crazy amount of steel.
Strike - An effort to increase egg production by strangling the chicken.
Delayed Payment - A tourniquet applied at the pockets. Promised money you will never see.
Completion Date – A time a contractor use to get a contract, mostly never achieved. Also the point at which liquidated damages on a project begin.
Liquidated Damages - A penalty for failing to achieve the a contractors promise.

Here is some building terminology you find daily on site but not on Google
“yes”
Used as answer to: can you do something?
”Yes” universal answer to everything, rarely the truth. Inevitably resulting in a “oops”

“Oops”
Something went seriously wrong and no solution is evident.

“Sorry”
Normally follow quickly after “oops”
In South Africa “Eeeish” also “uhh”
Total lack of understanding of what is being asked or required. Happens often. Can also be synonym for to, or will pre-empt “Ooops”

“It’s a f**k up”
Time to leave site, serious chance of not returning. Time to call in the “Professionals”

“It not me” or in Fanagalo “ I am not the one”
Total lack of accountability. Normally used in relation with all the above.

“Tomorrow”, “next week”
Time related. Any time in the future, probably never.

14/09/2026

𝗛𝗢𝗠𝗘 𝗕𝗨𝗜𝗟𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗗𝗨𝗠𝗠𝗜𝗘𝗦 (𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗡𝗘𝗪𝗦)

H̲o̲m̲e̲ ̲b̲u̲i̲l̲d̲i̲n̲g̲,̲ ̲c̲o̲n̲s̲t̲r̲u̲c̲t̲i̲o̲n̲ ̲p̲l̲a̲n̲s̲ ̲i̲n̲ ̲t̲h̲e̲ ̲W̲e̲s̲t̲e̲r̲n̲ ̲C̲a̲p̲e̲,̲ ̲H̲e̲r̲m̲a̲n̲u̲s̲,̲ ̲S̲t̲e̲l̲l̲e̲n̲b̲o̲s̲c̲h̲ ̲a̲n̲d̲ ̲S̲o̲m̲e̲r̲s̲e̲t̲ ̲W̲e̲s̲t̲

I just learned that if you want to build houses and find people on the net, I think they call it internet based marketing, you have to post nonsensical blog entries like this. So please excuse me, I am doing this in the interest of technological advance and blatant self promotion. I have no idea if the search engine will pick it up. Don’t you think search engine is the dumbest term? All the engines I knew, especially on the farm made a noise and used some sort of fuel?

08/09/2026

𝗛𝗢𝗠𝗘 𝗕𝗨𝗜𝗟𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗗𝗨𝗠𝗠𝗜𝗘𝗦 (𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗡𝗘𝗪𝗦)

R̲e̲d̲ ̲T̲a̲p̲e̲ ̲a̲n̲d̲ ̲y̲o̲u̲r̲ ̲H̲o̲m̲e̲ ̲B̲u̲i̲l̲d̲i̲n̲g̲

“Red Tape”, not to be confused with the yellow and sometimes white tape used to measure things, is one if not the major frustrations and delays in building the house.

You have everything figured out, put in an offer to purchase the land, applied for a building bond (unless you have cash from a solid BEE contract or a trust fund from good old grandpa that had a contract to manufacture steel for the Nats). You have found a designer or architect or a lowly draughtsman, plans are done, even spoke to what you think is reliable contractors, which are ready to go, and just waiting for the deposit (They need that for a new bakkie). You are ready to go, “turn the soil”, then OOPS, you hear of such things as NHBRC enrolment, departure applications, HOA aesthetic approval and there are quite a few others. You think “OK this is no biggie, happens to everyone”. WRONG, it is a time eating, “no end in sight” delay nightmare.

So what are these things and where do they come from? There are many organisations that have their fingers in the building pie. Some exist by law, others because they make money off you, and the rest to annoy you. They all have one thing in common, they don’t give a sh..t about your time and your money lost because of their “red tape”.

red tape
So who are they? I am not going to go in detail on them, because that will require and earn me a PhD thesis, but it is CRITICAL that you understand them and their roles and impact.

You have the Banks (they just want your money). Understanding a building and home loan application and the cash flow implication of that is difficult. I can guarantee the bank clerk that deals with it has no idea and you cannot get hold of a Manager or backroom staff member in the know. You just have to submit the forms and they make no sense. So try to speak to someone that GETS this process and the cash flow implications. Two things you want to pay attention to is, “start up capital“ and “bridging finance”. If you build with me I can help and explain these and believe me you need to understand these.

Then you have the Local authority for the Plan approval. Or that is what you think. When the guy, with his Fake grade 10 certificate, at the counter studies your plan, (that is after you have been back three times to get the forms) indicates with an expression of triumph, you are going to have to revisit the zoning, or the departure, or get SG’s office or go back to get the HOA approval. The latter sometimes does not even exist and there might be some more problems (actually there are more). Now you project is set back, not by weeks but months if you are lucky and it happens the majority of the times.

Somewhere you have heard of the NHBRC, never paid much attention, but you should have. They can be nasty if you don’t enrol your house on time, pay your fees, use a registered builder, but at least they are quick. I can only enrol the property when all the above (banks, local authority) is correctly done and completed and their fees paid. Once again, lots or forms to be completed, time wasted and frustration.

So hopefully you will get some idea where you time is running to. You are pulling your hair and the building has not even started. At least with your contractor you have someone to shout and scream abuse at. With the “red tape people”, well they just don’t care and move your forms to the back of the line or lose it, if you annoy or scream at them.

Now you are asking yourself, “what the f .., how am I going to get out of this mess with my sanity intact?” Not to scare you, but there are more. So to help you with this, you need a “FIXER”. In other words someone that understands the red tape, the processes and knows people that knows people. If you build with me I can help and explain these and believe me you need to understand these.

24/08/2026

𝗛𝗢𝗠𝗘 𝗕𝗨𝗜𝗟𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗗𝗨𝗠𝗠𝗜𝗘𝗦 (𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗡𝗘𝗪𝗦)

C̲o̲s̲t̲i̲n̲g̲ ̲y̲o̲u̲r̲ ̲d̲r̲e̲a̲m̲…̲

You never thought that a dream can cost you money, lots of money, well wake up. If you are going to build your dream house, that is the reality. If you don’t get this and don’t work out an accurate project costing, that dream will turn into a nightmare quickly and that happens, often.

First thing when you do a building project is to determine the actual project costing, that means list and cost everything that is going to make up the cost, not only the nice things you can see and that makes sense, but also the funny things that eats the budget. Things like site cleaning, site hut rental, crappy things like site toilet hire and (did you get the “crappy” part) site rubbish removal and for those lucky few wealthy ones living in estates, labour, security and admin fees. In other words do a detailed QS.

What is a QS? It is a quantity survey which determine the quantities and project costing (normally done by a professional, AKA Quantity surveyor) but they are expensive and their costs are normally hugely inflated BUT there are alternatives and you really don’t need a professional for a standard house. Lucky you came across me. Unlucky for you, you have to contact me to get the secrets. It might not even cost you anything.

When you know what you need you can actually determine what that is really going to cost you. AT ACTUAL COST PRICE. If you don’t know this, well it is a free-for-all for the contractor and other “professionals” and sub contractors, because you will never find out what you really paid for labour, materials, fees etc. The material you pay for might even be used to build Someone Else’s house and you won’t even get a thank you.

See how the contractors make money off you with that dark secret thing called “COST PER SQUARE METER” .

If you have a good accurate indication of what the actual cost of your project is, you can make informed decisions regarding if you can really afford it, if you can afford better finishes, where you want your money to go and a myriad of other things. The project costing provides you with a benchmark where you can manage your financial commitment in the project and manage and understand the Cash flow (Cash flow on a building project is a serious mood killer and the source of real angst for everyone. I will write something about cash flow later).

In a building project knowledge is power. I do get it that you don’t have the knowledge and are not an expert in building houses, but create a knowledge network or get someone that you can trust to ask.

Remember the bottom line is, it is your dream, your house and your money and it should be fun to build your dream.

14/08/2026

𝗛𝗢𝗠𝗘 𝗕𝗨𝗜𝗟𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗗𝗨𝗠𝗠𝗜𝗘𝗦 (𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗡𝗘𝗪𝗦)

Y̲o̲u̲,̲ ̲Y̲o̲u̲r̲ ̲p̲r̲o̲j̲e̲c̲t̲ ̲a̲n̲d̲ ̲t̲h̲e̲ ̲“̲P̲r̲o̲f̲e̲s̲s̲i̲o̲n̲a̲l̲s̲”̲ ̲(̲I̲n̲ ̲s̲i̲m̲p̲l̲e̲ ̲w̲o̲r̲d̲s̲.̲ ̲P̲l̲a̲n̲n̲i̲n̲g̲ ̲y̲o̲u̲r̲ ̲b̲u̲i̲l̲d̲i̲n̲g̲ ̲p̲r̲o̲j̲e̲c̲t̲ ̲a̲n̲d̲ ̲g̲e̲t̲t̲i̲n̲g̲ ̲q̲u̲o̲t̲e̲s̲)̲

Definition: Professional (noun)
Plural noun: professionals

A person engaged or qualified in a profession
Not everyone in a profession is a professional

Now the fun starts. You have heeded my brilliant advice or not and have found the perfect piece of land for your dream house. You just want to start “Googling” for architects, builders, kitchens, tiles, buy all House and Home magazines available. I mean you are on an ”Ideas High” and a creativity rush. You get up in the middle of the night to add to your portfolio.

Remember all these “professionals” and not-so-professionals you contact, charge and they are not scared to charge. So take a deep breath and think this through, preferably both you and your partner. It is no good one if one is on a dream fantasy and the other firmly on the ground. Remember you still want to be married, with money when you move into the new house. Be realistic and mindful of you budget when you start approaching the professionals.

Keep in mind, you pay for the glossy brochure and pretty blond kitchen sales consultant from Diamond Kitchens at the Waterfront. I guarantee the kitchen might not be better than the guys based in the industrial area, but it will be a hell of a lot more expensive. You want the professionals to add value for money to your project. It is no good you paid a fortune for an architect and now you cannot afford granite tops and a pool. I mean you cannot really use the plans as carpets, and the novelty of dropping the architects name wears off quickly and nobody really cares anyway.

It might be a good idea to good to speak to someone, not emotionally and financially invested in your project, very early on in the project. Someone like me.

I got side tracked, again, but in my next posting I will go into some more practical advice on costing and planning your building project but feel free to contact me if you need advice. I also do marriage counselling and life coaching for a fee.

06/08/2026

🏡 BUILD YOUR DREAM HOME WITH CONFIDENCE! 🏡

Building your dream home doesn't have to be stressful. At PB Consulting, we provide expert guidance and professional project management from concept to completion.

Our Services:
✅ Residential House Building
✅ Project Management
✅ House Design
✅ Building Administration
✅ Quality Workmanship
✅ Value for Money

Our experienced team is committed to delivering quality, keeping your project on time, on budget, and built to the highest standards.

📞 067 747 7987
📧 [email protected]
🌐 buildingconsultsa.co.za

Your dream home. Our commitment. Built to last.

Contact us today for a free consultation and let's start building your dream home together!

04/08/2026

𝗛𝗢𝗠𝗘 𝗕𝗨𝗜𝗟𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗗𝗨𝗠𝗠𝗜𝗘𝗦 (𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗡𝗘𝗪𝗦)

H̲u̲n̲t̲i̲n̲g̲ ̲f̲o̲r̲ ̲l̲a̲n̲d̲:̲ ̲t̲i̲p̲s̲ ̲f̲o̲r̲ ̲b̲u̲y̲i̲n̲g̲ ̲a̲ ̲p̲l̲o̲t̲

For the followers of my blog, all three of you, I apologize profusely. I was trying to update it and link it to my website. Kind of an amazing one stop building information shop, but it seems the IT industry has cloned the building industry, nothing happens quickly or it just fails to happen.

That brings me to the blog layout, for a serious writer it makes no sense, there is no logical flow. A bit like reading a book backwards, makes no sense. I tried it with Tolstoy’s War and Peace, just ended up with a giant migraine and a huge disappointment as I then knew how the story ended and had no clue how it started. So I need to rethink how to write in blog format.

Back to the building story. Firstly you need to really understand why and where you are buying a plot of land to build on. Not just because it has a pretty view and a big tree and you can see a square inch of the sea if you climb on a ladder or in the big tree. Keep in mind what your neighbours can build and where and how that can impact your living and design.

Make sure you understand where North is, not so that you will be able to find your way when you move, because you don’t like your new house and building it was a rubbish experience. NO, so that you can orientate and plan your living space and views. It is really not nice in the winter when all your living areas faces south or are in the shade of your neighbours three-storey house uphill to the north and six metres away. Because if he or his designer was half clever they would have put the scullery, servants quarters and dog kennel on the south side. That is if you live in the Southern hemisphere and on Earth.

Also please understand what goes on underneath your stand. Most people just walk around admire the view, climb the tree to see the sea, but pays no attention to the huge granite boulder just peeping out from the soil and the swamp with the mosquitoes right in the centre. No it will not make for a cute natural koi pond, unless you have too much money and it is a really big stand. For most of us mere mortals it will turn into a financial nightmare, just to get a suitable foundation and drainage in there and that seriously impacts on YOUR COST PER SQUARE METER (there is that term again). It will also not be included in the provisional quote provided by your friendly builder. I am not kidding, it happens all the time, had it with my clients as well. They ended up with a house with a lot less expensive finishes.

So the moral of the story, know what you buy and why, before you sign any offer to purchase for buying a plot. No matter what the “nice” estate agent tells you.

24/07/2026

𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗡𝗘𝗪𝗦

PB CONSULT SA is an award-winning, top rated builder with a 25-year proven track record in the Western Cape, including Hermanus, Gansbaai, and the South Coast.

Guaranteed cost, quality and timeframe on every building project and the owner is involved in determining the cost of their project from the start.

PB Consulting

01/10/2026

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Listing takedown request

Monday	08:00 - 17:00
Tuesday	08:00 - 17:00
Wednesday	08:00 - 17:00
Thursday	08:00 - 17:00
Friday	08:00 - 17:00
Saturday	08:00 - 17:00
Sunday	08:00 - 17:00