Extending your Sectional Title Property – a Step by Step Guide

By Ané de Klerk

Whether you wish to build a braai room onto your property, add a bedroom, enlarge a living area or do something as simple as adding storage space, whenever floor area is added to a section in a sectional title scheme the inevitable red tape must be faced. There is no need to be overwhelmed by the admin involved however – simply follow the steps set out below. We’ve simplified the legal requirements so you can focus on the (already stressful enough) building works and budget management.

Step 1: Consult the Trustees and/or Managing Agent

This step is not so much a legal requirement as it is a practical one. Before you start spending money on the project, discuss your ideas with the body corporate’s trustees and/or managing agent. They should be able to advise you whether or not the idea is feasible. Ask questions such as whether this type of project has been approved in the past; whether there is enough allowable bulk left in the scheme to provide for further extensions and what documentation they require you furnish to the body corporate to enable them to consider your proposed extension (this could include plans, but also details about building materials you intend to use, the intended timeline, etc.)

Step 2: Have Building Plans Drawn Up

One of the documents the body corporate should require to enable them to consider authorising the extension is a building plan. Take note that you will not be able to get the Municipality’s approval of these plans before first getting the plans approved by the body corporate, but that the body corporate would need the draft plans to give their approval (which approval will likely be subject to final approval by the Municipality). So don’t get stuck in this loop: the practical process is to have the building plans drawn up, to get them approved by the body corporate in principle and to then submit them to the Municipality for final approval.

Step 3: Obtain the Body Corporate’s Authorisation

This draft building plan, together with any other documentation the body corporate prescribes (see Step 1) must then be presented to the members of the body corporate to enable them to consider and approve the extension. This approval must be given in the form of a special resolution.

The special resolution can be obtained:

• at the body corporate’s Annual General Meeting (AGM), which could be a good option if the AGM happens to be coming up shortly; or
• at a Special General Meeting (if one may be planned for the near future or even one called for the purpose of considering the proposal); or
• in writing.

If the resolution is to be considered at a meeting of the members, that meeting must meet the necessary quorum requirements (which will be dependent on the size of the scheme) and at least 75% in both number and value of those members present or represented at the meeting must vote in favour thereof.

If the resolution is circulated to the members in writing then at least 75% in both number and value of all the members in the scheme must vote in favour of approval of the extension.

Step 4: Appoint a Land Surveyor or Architect

A land surveyor or architect must now be appointed to compile the necessary draft sectional plan of extension. (Take note that this plan is not the same as the building plan referred to at Step 2 above – this is a different type of plan that has to be submitted to a different institution.) The appointed land surveyor or architect must also prepare a new PQ sheet as the amendment of one section’s floor area will have a knock-on effect and inevitably change every other section’s participation quota too. Meaning all members’ vote values and contribution liabilities will change. This important step must therefore not be overlooked or taken likely.

Step 5: Obtain the Mortgagees’ Approval (if necessary)

If the extension will increase the section’s participation quota by more than 10% you must, by registered post, send a notice to each mortgagee (or where a mortgagee is a financial institution, to its headquarters), setting out details of the:

• mortgage bond;
• mortgagor;
• mortgage loan’s reference number (if any);
• size of the proposed extension;
• proposed extension’s location; and
• impact on the security of the mortgagee as to the diminution of the participation quota allocated to the mortgaged unit.

You must then await the mortgagees’ consent to the extension, but if no response is received within 30 days of posting of the notice, you may go ahead with the next step as it is then deemed that the mortgagee does not object to the proposed extension and that they provide their implicit consent thereto. While this is not necessarily a difficult step, it is worth noting that it can delay your building works by about a month as you wait for this 30 day period to run out.

Step 6: Obtain the Surveyor-General’s Approval

Once the Special Resolution has been passed and the mortgagees’ consent obtained (if necessary), the appointed land surveyor or architect must submit the draft sectional plan of extension to the Surveyor-General for approval.

Step 7: Register the Extension

Once the Surveyor-General has approved the draft sectional plan, the appointed conveyancer must finally apply to the Registrar of Deeds for registration of the approved sectional plan of extension, which application must be accompanied by the following documentation:

• 2 copies of the sectional plan of extension;
• the sectional title deed of the section to be extended;
• any sectional mortgage bond which the section may be subjected to;
• a certificate by the land surveyor or architect stating that the planned extension will not result in the section’s participation quota increasing by more than 10% or alternatively a certificate by the conveyancer stating that the mortgagee of each section in the scheme has consented (whether expressly or implicitly) to the registration of the sectional plan of extension; and
• any lease and/or other deed for any real right registered against the section at the time of the extension.

The sectional plan of extension is deemed to be incorporated into the scheme’s registered sectional plan upon registration of the plan by the Registrar of Deeds. From this point forward, the scheme’s levies must be collected from members in accordance with the new participation quota schedule and the members’ vote values are adjusted accordingly.

Found this article helpful and interested in learning more about how to handle different aspects of Sectional Title Management? Read more about the author’s respected and highly regarded  UCT course on the subject here: UCT Sectional Titles Schemes Management online short course

Specialist Community Scheme Attorney (BA, LLB), Ané de Klerk, is a Director of The Advisory, a boutique consultancy specialising exclusively in community schemes law. Her focus is legal education, which includes presenting seminars and running online and in-person training programs and courses. You can reach out to her via email at courses@theadvisory.co.za to discuss you or your scheme’s training and educational needs.