Rework remains one of the construction industry’s most costly and persistent challenges, quietly eroding margins, delaying delivery and undermining trust across South Africa’s built environment.
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From misinterpreted specifications to inconsistent workmanship, quality failures rarely stop at minor repairs, often triggering wider compliance, safety and financial consequences. As pressure mounts on developers and contractors to deliver faster and cheaper, industry experts warn that cutting corners is proving far more expensive than getting it right the first time.
Paul Adams, managing director at Sika South Africa, says this ‘pay twice’ reality is back in sharper focus for asset owners, contractors and homeowners alike. “People tend to treat failure as a single moment, but in the built environment, it often becomes a chain reaction that includes additional materials, labour, delays, professional fees, downtime, reputational impact and the ripple effects that come with projects falling behind schedule."
Paying twice costs
"For homeowners, the same logic applies at a different scale. Waterproofing that fails after the first rainy season, sealants that don’t perform as expected, or repairs that aren’t done as a system can turn a small job into an ongoing headache. Nobody budgets for paying twice, yet it happens often.”
A number of well-documented public cases have reinforced the importance of accountability and compliance across the sector, particularly where oversight and building-control processes fail. South Africa also faces the challenge of ageing buildings and facilities, with significant maintenance backlogs. In an official parliamentary reply, the infrastructure maintenance backlog for state-owned facilities has been cited at approximately R30bn.
“These numbers matter because they reframe prevention as a strategy rather than an afterthought. Whether the asset is public infrastructure, a commercial development, or a residential property, the lesson is that reactive repairs are expensive,” notes Adams.
Quality by design
He adds that prevention comes down to a handful of fundamentals, including system-led specification, consistent workmanship and access to technical guidance.
“In many cases, problems start when products are treated as stand-alone items instead of part of a working system,” he says. “Concrete performance, waterproofing integrity, sealing and bonding, reinforcement and protection are all elements that interact, and that same systems thinking applies across different sectors and environments. When systems are compatible and correctly specified, the outcome is far more predictable and safer.”
The sector is increasingly focused on what good looks like in practice, particularly around inspection quality and accountability. The NHBRC, for example, has reported strides in improving the quality of building inspections and in formalising the inspection profession through the accreditation of building inspectors, which Adams says is an important step towards consistency and professionalism.
“If prevention is a discipline, then partners matter because they help teams implement that discipline consistently,” says Adams. “The advantage of working with an established specialist is the ability to draw on experience across multiple vertical markets, from major infrastructure and commercial builds to everyday residential applications, backed by technologies that have been tested in different conditions.”
Trusted at scale
South Africa has seen what’s possible when complex projects are delivered with the right expertise and systems. Sika solutions have supported some of the country’s most recognised builds, including the stadiums built for the 2010 FIFA World Cup (ranging from concrete additives to flooring solutions), the Gautrain (concrete additives), Kusile Power Station, and projects such as Ludeke Dam.
Adams says these projects reflect the value of having access to depth across more than one construction discipline, particularly when site conditions and performance requirements vary.
“Those builds underline a simple truth,” Adams says. “Getting it right first time is cheaper, safer and far less disruptive than fixing it later, and peace of mind comes from knowing there’s depth of expertise and support behind the outcome.
"When you use solutions that have been tried, tested and trusted across different environments, you know you’re supported by real technical expertise. That confidence is exactly why our customers can simply say: Relax, it’s Sika.”
