Tips on Registration

Tips on Registration

Put your best foot forward when you apply for grading with the cidb. Making sure that your business gets the grade that it deserves gives you advantage. Spend a bit more time preparing application documents and take charge of the outcome.

Full digital speed ahead for cidb online service

Whether you aspire to be a Grade 1 cidb-registered contractor, are an old hand at the grading game as a higher-ranked organisation or are somewhere between, the cidb’s online service is a convenient click away.

Upload all your registration documents in pdf and word format without travelling further than your home or business office. The jpg (picture) is the only format not compatible with our system.

Furthermore, you may also now register electronically for the ‘electrical engineering: building’ (EB) class of works.

The functions now at your fingertips are:

  • New registrations for grades 1 to 9
  • Applications for a higher cidb grading
  • Additions to registration
  • Three-year renewals
  • Potentially emerging status registration (PE status)
  • Updates of company details

To gain access to the services, all you need to do is to ensure that your registration with National Treasury’s Central Supplier Database (CSD) is in good standing.  

Applications for moratorium, appeal cases and transfer of track records are not available online. To submit the above application types, email to your respective cidb provincial office. Click here to locate your nearest provincial office.

 

Enjoy your expanded cidb digital experience!

Preparing and submitting financial statements

When preparing and submitting financial statements make sure to:

  1. Provide details of your accounting officer as required in Section D of the application form. Don’t ignore Section D. It is very important.
  2. Provide the correct accounting officer’s details. Section D requires details of the accounting officer who compiled your financial statements. This is the only relevant accounting officer whose details are required in Section D. Any other person’s details will render your application non-compliant.
  3. Use an accounting officer who is registered with a recognised accounting body to compile financial statements. Don’t use a tax practitioner.
  4. Use an accounting officer who is in good standing with the accounting body that they are registered with. If your accounting officer is not in good standing with their registered accounting body your application will be deemed non-compliant.
  5. Compile financial statements in terms of the generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Don’t let your accounting officer sell you short when compiling your financial statements.
  6. Submit proper financial statements, not draft statements. The cidb does not accept those.
  7. Provide documents that support your financial statements if they are not audited. If your financial statements are not audited provide the cidb with copies of either bank statements, or with Vat returns (Vat 201 and Vat statements of account) as supporting documents.
  8. Submit financial statements for the correct financial year. This includes any supporting documents such as bank statements and Vat returns. The correct financial year is the 12 months preceding your application for registration. Anything outside that period is irrelevant and will render the application non-compliant.
  9. Your bank statements or Vat returns must be complete. Submit all pages of the statement and not just some.  Half or partial statement will render your application non-compliant.
  10. Your bank statements must have a bank stamp.
  11. Make sure that your accountant has accounted for tax in your financial statements.
  12. Make sure that the accountant has transferred figures correctly in the financial statements.

Preparing and submitting track record ​

The right supporting documents will ensure that your submission complies with basic requirements when you apply for contractor registration. Here are a few tips on things to pay attention to:     

  1. If you submit a bank statement to prove that you were paid for a project, make sure that payments on the bank statement match the amounts in the invoices you submit to the cidb. Mark these payments clearly in the bank statement. Don’t shade them. Shading makes them dark and hard to read. Illegible statements are inadmissible.
  2. If you are using a track record you acquired as a subcontractor, attach a copy of your subcontracting agreement. Without the subcontracting agreement your track record may be inadmissible.
  3. If you are using a track record you acquired in a joint venture, attach a copy of your joint venture agreement.
  4. If you are applying for different classes of works using the same project, attach the bill of quantities showing the breakdown of the classes of works involved.
  5. The letter of project award must be on the client’s letterhead not your company’s letterhead.

Your status on the RoC determines whether you are still good to trade. ​

Know your status and what it means.    

Boost your financial credentials to make the grade

Business competition has never been fiercer, with the economy faltering and margins being squeezed at every turn. It is understandable in this environment that complying with cidb financial levels for grading may be difficult. However, there is hope and it wears several hats.

The cidb allows a contractor to use sponsorship to boost capital requirements if its turnover falls short. Financial sponsorship is a guarantee or surety by a third party to cover liabilities should the contractor be unable to meet financial obligations.

Sponsorship may be provided by a financial institution or another entity. If the latter, its sponsorship may not be more than 15% of its net asset value and its financial statements must comply with accounting standards. There are further provisions if the sponsor is also a shareholder in the company. Non-cidb-registered companies may also be sponsors depending on the relationship between the companies.

As a cidb-registered contractor, you may also provide us with your bank overdraft documentation to demonstrate a cash facility to tide you over the more challenging times.

We do not accept the material supply, sureties, or guarantees as sponsorship options.
Click here https://www.cidb.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/cidb_training-manual_draft-5_PRINT.pdf and scroll down to page 153 to read everything there is to know about sponsorships. It may be the best few minutes you have spent in a long while as your grade is your passport to work with government entities on lucrative projects.

You have the information, make it work for you.

Remember these write rules for the right tender

 Not just any old information goes when compiling a tender document. Tenders must be clear, to-the-point, but comprehensive in the information they present to hopeful bidders. Better then to have a tried-and-tested template for the compilation that removes the guesswork, subjectivity, and confusion that can creep into specifications and descriptions of services.

Thus, construction tenders must be structured and formatted according to cidb Standard for Uniformity in Engineering and Construction Works Contracts specifications.

The following standard headings and numbering must be followed when detailing the contract and the information listed under each heading as outlined below:

Part T1: Tendering procedures

Heading: T1.1 Tender notice and invitation to tender

Purpose and/or information to be included: Alerts tenderers to the nature of the engineering and construction work required by the employer and must contain sufficient information to enable him or her to respond appropriately. Establishes the rules from the time a tender is invited to the time it’s awarded.

Part T2: Returnable documents

Heading T2.1 List of returnable documents

Purpose and/or information to be included: Ensures that everything the employer requires from a tenderer is submitted with the tender.

Heading T2.2 Returnable schedules

Purpose and/or information to be included: Contains documents that the tenderer must complete to evaluate tenders and other schedules which, on acceptance, become part of the contract.

Part C1: Agreement and contract data

Heading C1.1 Form of offer and acceptance

Purpose and/or information to be included: Formalises the legal process of offer and acceptance.

Heading C1.2 Contract data

Purpose and/or information to be included: Identifies the conditions of contract and associated contract-specific data that collectively describe the risks, liabilities and obligations of the contracting parties and the procedures for contract administration.

Part C2: Pricing date

Heading C2.1 Pricing assumptions

Purpose and/or information to be included: Provides the criteria and assumptions that it is assumed (in the contract) that has been considered in the tenderer’s prices or, for target and cost-reimbursable contracts, the targets.

Heading C2.2 Pricing schedules/activity schedule or bills of quantities

Purpose and/or information to be included Records the contractor’s prices for providing engineering and construction works described in the contract’s scope of work.

Part C3: Scope of work

Purpose and/or information to be included: Specifies and describes the engineering and construction works needed and any requirements for and constraints to the work.

Part C4: Site information

Purpose and/or information to be included: Describes the site at the time of tender to enable pricing and determination of method of working, programming, and risks.

Get it right the first time!

Register of Projects: Time to comply and toe the line on deadlines

Do not be caught in a time warp when compliance with Register of Projects (RoP) is at stake. The construction regulators urge you to observe timelines. These are regulated to ensure transparency and efficiency, and to afford the cidb a clear overview of projects for easier monitoring.
As an employer, the cidb regulation governing project registration gives you, twenty-one (21) working days to register the award of contract on the RoP. This is from the date on which you accepted in writing a contractor’s offer to perform a contract. This rule applies to:
• A public sector project valued at R200 000 or more.
• A private sector and public entity (Schedule 2 of the Public Finance Management Act) project worth R10 million or more.
Should we learn that an organ of the state has failed to register a project, we are obliged to refer the matter to the Auditor-General.
Reporting on the progress of a registered project is essential and the cidb requires that you submit a status report in the stipulated format within one calendar month of the date:
• of issue of a practical completion certificate;
• on which the contract is renewed;
• on which a contract is cancelled or terminated; and
• of settling all amounts owed to the contractor according to the contract with the employer.
Keep up to date with registering and reporting projects for the well-being of the construction industry.

Exemption exceptions to the project registration rule

infrastructure modifications needed to optimise the plant, involving chemical works, metallurgical works, oil and gas wells, acid plants, metallurgical machinery, equipment, and apparatus, and works necessary for the beneficiation of metals, minerals, rocks, petroleum, organic substances, and other chemical processes.
• Installation, repair, maintenance, or alteration of mechanical materials handling systems and lifting machinery for movement of containers and bulk material.

Everything else above the project value threshold must be registered on the RoP. These are all construction projects which exceeds R200 000 in the public sector or R10 000 000 in the private sector.

Should you have any questions, contact our call centre at 086 100 2432.

An Effective Register In Five Steps

 The Register of Projects (RoP) lies at the heart of the cidb’s regulatory role. By law, public sector and private sector clients must register award of contracts on the RoP, which is an important tool in the quest for construction industry development and helps contractors to build a credible track record that will open doors to other contracts. Client compliance with the requirements of the RoP is a simple five-step process.

Step 1: Register as an employer and apply for an employer number

Step 2: Advertise your tender

Step 3: Register the award of the contract

Step 4: Register a contract that has been cancelled or terminated

Step 5: Register practical completion of your project

It is as easy as counting to five and a very meaningful!

cidb statuses and meanings

Do you know what the different cidb statuses mean?

1.

Active

Means that the cidb has successfully processed your application and you now have a grade. Your registration is valid, and you are eligible to be awarded government tenders.

2.

Awaiting Activation

Means that the cidb has successfully processed your application and you now have a grade. But, your registration cannot be activated on the cidb website because the funds you paid for grading are insufficient.

What you need to do:
Pay the outstanding balance on your application. Once the outstanding fees are settled you will be activated and your company will be listed on this website, where clients can find you.

3.

Suspended

Suspended means you are still registered but you cannot trade with government until your suspension is lifted. During this period, your company listing will not be visible or accessible to clients on the cidb website.

You can be suspended because:
  1. Your annual update is outstanding. Please note that annual updates do not apply to Grade 1s.
  2. Your tax Compliance Status is not up-to-date. Or
  3. Your electrical license is no longer valid.

    To help you remember to update these requirements the cidb will also send you a reminder at least three months before the due date.

What you need to do:
  1. Complete the relevant form for annual update and pay the annual fee. You only need to pay annual fees applicable to your highest grade if you are registered in more than one grade. Or,
  2. Supply the cidb with your up-to-date Tax Compliance Status document, issued by SARS. Or
  3. Submit a valid electrical license.

4.

Deregistered

This means that you have not updated your registration in two successive years. Each year the cidb will send you a reminder to submit the relevant form and pay due annual fees. If after two years you have still not updated you will be deregistered.

What you need to do:
Submit a completed annual update form and pay all outstanding annual fees. You can also complete the update and pay online on this website.

5.

Expired

The cidb registration is valid for three years, after which the grade lapses or expires.

What you need to do:
Apply for 3-year renewal and attach the necessary documents. These are company registration documents, identity documents of all members, valid Tax Compliance Status document issued by SARS, track record and financial statements.

The cidb has relaxed track record requirements on 3-year renewals to help contractors maintain their grades in this period of economic difficulty. If you haven’t won a project in the last 5 years we won’t penalize you for it, but you still have to submit documentation. More information on these relaxations is available on this website.

Your application for 3-year renewal can be submitted physically at, or you can email it to your nearest cidb provincial office.

6.

Non-compliant

When you apply for registration attach all relevant documents to enable the cidb to assess it for grading. The cidb will deem your application non-compliant if it is not supported by all relevant documents. The cidb will send you an SMS notifying you of what is outstanding to make your application compliant.

What you need to do:
Submit the outstanding documents promptly so that the cidb can adequately assess and finalise processing of your application for the grade.

7.

Awaiting cancellation

Where the application is not adequately supported by all the necessary documentation the cidb will give the contractor 60 days to comply. After 60 days the cidb will cancel the application if the missing information is still not received.

What you need to do:
Submit the outstanding documents so that your application can be processed.