Despite multiple remedial and exemption programmes that were presented over almost five years, the South African Council for the Project and Construction Management Professions (SACPCMP) has now been forced to deregister non-compliant Registered Persons.
“As a regulatory authority, it is our mandate to ensure that the Construction Industry is sufficiently supported by professionals who are competent, skilled, experienced, and in good standing with the statutory requirements of the law,” said SACPCMP Registrar, Mr. Butcher Matutle.
“A part of the requirement, under the Project and Construction Management Professions Act 48 of 2000, is that Registered Persons maintain their competence annually. They must undertake continual professional development, also known as ‘CPD’ to ensure that our Construction Industry is managed by professionals who are equipped with relevant and up-to-date knowledge – something that is vital to maintain a safe Built Environment!”
Matutle said that the Council had been highly reluctant to deregister anybody. In fact, multiple initiatives were implemented by the SACPCMP as far back as 2021 to provide Registered Persons with a chance to remedy their non-compliance. These included:
- The COVID-19 exemption in 2021;
- The SACPCMP CPD Remedial Programme, that ran from 2022 to 2024;
- The CPD Amnesty, in 2024, where the SACPCMP reduced the CPD requirement to 10 CPD Hours instead of 50 CPD Hours for Professionals who were struggling to remain compliant;
- A Special Request for CPD Categories, in 2024, where compliance requirements were again adjusted to assist Professionals who were struggling to remain compliant;
- CPD Suspension Notice (one-year in advance advisement of deregistration) in March 2024.
(The above measures would have been beneficial for Registered Persons who were non-compliant following the completion of their individual five-year CPD cycle, which – as of 2024 - resulted in some people being non-compliant for up to nine years).
Warnings About Deregistration
In addition to the aforementioned measures, the Council undertook a support campaign in 2024, to assist and guide Professionals in avoiding suspension measures. The SACPCMP presented a number of compliance workshops to provide information on how to avoid deregistration. In addition, communication was sent to Registered Persons, via email, social media, and through the SACPCMP’s magazine; those at risk of deregistration were also directly emailed or called/contacted.
“The SACPCMP instituted a tremendous push to assist as many people as possible in rectifying their non-compliance. However, we were amazed by the fact that some people had failed to submit evidence for CPD compliance in nine years!” said Matutle.
Legal Issues, Safety Risk and a Loss of Competence
He noted that the risks of non-compliance could result in far-reaching consequences: “The purpose of CPD is to ensure that professionals retain their capacity to practice safely, effectively and legally within their scope of practice. There are several risks that emerge once a Registered Person fails to maintain their compliance and thus maintain the relevance and required level of competence. Ultimately, this can lead to the public’s loss of confidence in the professionals’ abilities to deliver safe, high-quality projects. Furthermore, there could be a drop in compliance with building regulations which could result in structural failures, legal issues, and increased insurance claims, injuries and/or fatalities.”
The SACPCMP has just over 14,000 Registered Persons under its jurisdiction. As of 31 March 2025, a total of 1983 of these were deregistered for CPD non-compliance. These people will no longer be allowed to legally practice in the Built Environment within any professional designation under the jurisdiction of the SACPCMP.
Avoiding the Deregistration
“The Council has avoided deregistering people for CPD non-compliance over the years due to its developmental approach as most of the professions under its jurisdiction were seen as ‘new’ and requiring support to be properly established and professionalized. But a point has been reached where we can no longer implement further extensions or exemptions,” said Matutle. “Could these deregistrations have been prevented? Of course, and the fact that the Council currently has more than 12,000 Registered Persons who are still in CPD good-standing is testament to a viable CPD programme. It is regrettable that those Registered Persons who were unable to maintain their CPD hours during their CPD cycle did not apply for the exemption as provided for in the SACPCMP’s CPD Policy”.
Another ‘Last Chance’
In the year leading up to the deregistrations, Registered Persons who were still not compliant - despite all of the Council’s various interventions - were ‘CPD suspended’ as of 31 March 2024. The CPD Suspension lasted for a year. It was implemented to allow (CPD-suspended) Registered Persons access to their registration certificates for another year. Yet, another ‘last-chance’ intervention by the SACPCMP.
Moving Forward
Matutle indicated that the SACPCMP has developed ‘Rules for Reregistration’, to provide for a is suitable rehabilitation of those who failed to meet the CPD requirements during the (up to) nine years of CPD interventions.
“This is meant to be less punitive than permanently cancelling the registration of those who have been deregistered for CPD non-compliance,” he said. This would ensure that individuals who are reregistered through these rules meet at least a minimum requirement towards their CPD under the Council’s CPD Policy, so as to be on par with the majority of the Registered Persons who have adhered to the requirements in full.”
He said that this would ensure that those who are CPD non-compliant would not be unfairly exempted from CPD requirements altogether due to the reregistration process as this may have the undesired and unintended effect of increasing CPD non-compliance.
“These Rules of Reregistration have been widely communicated, but disappointingly, less than 600 people who were deregistered for non-compliance have applied for reregistration, said Matutle.
“It is hoped that in the coming months, more people will apply. The SACPCMP sincerely hopes that these people take up the mantle of their professional registration again. After all, the safety of our Construction Industry is dependent on the competence of the professionals who manage its development. The Built Environment needs Registered Persons, and to see them lose their professional status is incredibly disheartening.”
