This is being undertaken with the help of PRAWA’s strong membership, which grew significantly in 2022. The association’s members currently consist of “roofers”, as well as manufacturers and suppliers of roofing and waterproofing materials. This is in addition to members of academia and individuals who have a shared interest in helping to arrest the rapid decline of workmanship in the industry over the past few years.

“Our growing membership demonstrates the willingness of stakeholders to collaborate to build a sustainable industry. At the moment, it is riddled with unscrupulous players who do not abide by any standards whatsoever. This is at the expense of property owners who are paying for professional services that they do not receive. It also threatens the very sustainability of the South African roofing and waterproofing industry. This is despite the sector consisting of many skilled and experienced contractors who are passionate about and dedicated to supplying a quality service that can be guaranteed. These companies are supported in the field by manufacturers and suppliers of world class products. It is imperative that stakeholders across the value chain continue to work together using PRAWA as their forum to stamp out poor quality workmanship once and for all,” Jeanine Meyer, Chief Operations Officer of PRAWA, says.

One way of ensuring quality workmanship in the industry is to make it compulsory for “roofers” to issue Certificates of Compliance (CoC) as part of the handover of roof repair and waterproofing work to the client. A CoC will provide evidence that the work was undertaken according to standard and as agreed with the consumer.

Notably, such a system has been very effective in ensuring quality workmanship by plumbers, electricians and fire-safety technicians and continues to play an instrumental role in professionalising these important construction-related trades.

PRAWA has already taken tremendous strides towards launching its own certification system for the roof repair and waterproofing industry.

During 2022, the association consulted widely with roof repair and waterproofing contractors regarding ways in which to implement the certification system.