The minimum safety regulations for cement apply to all types of cement that are covered by the scope of the Compulsory Specification for cement (herein referred to as VC9085:2007) as published by Government Notice No. R. 544 (Government Gazette No. 30023) of 6 July 2007.

A type of cement can be defined as a category of cement that does not differ in such essential respects as:

• the facility used by the manufacturer for the production of the cement type, or;
• composition, strength class and physical and chemical properties.

2. Legislation

In South Africa cement is subjected to the provisions of the following Act of the South African Parliament:

• National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications Act, 2008 (Act No. 5 of 2008)

3. Technical requirements

3.1 Technical requirements of Act No. 5 of 2008

In accordance with the requirements of Act No. 5 of 2008 and its Regulations, the following applies to cement:

In accordance with the definitions in Section 1 and the requirements of Section 14 of Act No. 5 of 2008, no person may import, display, offer, advertise or export for or in pursuance of a sale, have in possession for the purpose of sale, trade, manufacture or export, or supply a commodity, product or service to which a compulsory specification appliers, unless such a commodity, product or service complies with the compulsory specification concerned. All types of cement that are sold, manufactured and supplied in, imported into and exported from the Republic of South Africa, all manufacturers of cement and their factories (as defined in paragraph 3.1.7 of SABS EN 197-2:2000) and depots (as defined in paragraph 3.1.10 of SABS EN 197-2:2000), and all importers of cement and their dispatching centres (as defined in paragraph 3.1.11 of SABS EN 197-2:2000) shall comply as from 6 September 2007 with the requirements of VC9085:2007.

In accordance with regulation 2.1 as published by Government Notice No. R. 999 (Government Gazette No. 9728) of 3 May 1985, the manufacturer or importer shall keep accurate records in respect of the quantities of cement manufactured or imported.

In accordance with the regulations relating to the payment of levy and the issue of sales permits in regard to compulsory specifications as published by Government Notice No. R. 999 (Government Gazette No. 9728) of 3 May 1985, the manufacturer or importer shall pay the prescribed levies as published from time to time in the Government Gazette to the NRCS on the first day of the month following the expiry of each levy period on the quantity of cement manufactured or imported for that levy period. The levy periods are 01 April – 31 June, 01 July – 30 September, 01 October – 31 December and 01 January – 31 March of each Government financial year.

Manufacturers and importers of cement are advised to inform their suppliers, distributors and retailers of the abovementioned requirements.

3.2 Approval of cement

In accordance with the requirements of paragraphs 3.4 and 3.5 of VC9085:2007, the regulatory authority shall approve each type of cement and its factories before it is placed on the market.

Manufacturers and importers who are established within the Republic of South Africa shall apply to the NRCS CMM Department (CMM) for the approval of all types cement and its factories. Applications for approval shall consist of the items as communicated in NRCS form No. VC9085-A.

Proof of approval will be in the form of a NRCS LOA Approval Granted or NRCS LOA Approval Extended certificate for a type of cement and its factory pursuant to VC9085:2007, bearing a unique approval number that was assigned to each approved type. The holder of the approval shall ensure that the approval number is marked on each bag of cement, or in the case of bulk supply, in the commercial documents for the type of cement conforming to the type approved under VC9085:2007.

Manufacturers, importers, suppliers, distributors and retailers of cement are advised to inform their clients to only obtain cement displaying such approval numbers.

3.2.1 Importation of cement

The Customs service of the South African Revenue Service may demand a letter of authority certificate from an importer for the importation of a consignment of cement.

An importer shall present such a letter of authority certificate on demand to a Customs official for the consignment of cement.

Any individual or organization may contact CMM concerning suspected non-complying cement that may be available in the market. When reporting such concerns of suspected non-complying cement, the following information will be required by CMM:

a) Full description of the suspected cement type.

b) Name of the importer, seller or supplier who has supplied the cement type.

c) Physical address and contact details of the importer, seller or supplier.

Reporters are advised to keep the following evidence:

a) Proof of purchase or other delivery documents.

b) The product itself.

c) All accompanying documentation and packaging.

On receipt of such reports CMM will conduct an investigation into the suspected non-complying cement in terms of the powers vested in accordance with Act No. 5 of 2008. CMM will take any actions needed that may be necessary in terms of vested powers in accordance with Act No. 5 of 2008 to prevent the availability of non-complying cement to the consumer.

The reporter will be notified of the outcome of the investigation verbally (if the concern was received verbally) or in writing (if the concern was received in writing) within the limits of Section 32 of Act No. 5 of 2008.

Please note that the name of the person or organisation reporting a concern to CMM will not be divulged to the alleged contravener, unless specifically authorised by the reporter.

5.1 Applications for approval

5.2 Consumer recourse

5.3 Information and purchasing of South African National Standards and compulsory specifications

SABS Standards Information Centre

Email: info@sabs.co.za

Centre hours: 07:30 – 17:00