Social Housing Act, 2008 (Act No. 16 of 2008) Rules Rules on Long-Term Accreditation of Social Housing Institutions 1. Definitions

 

In these Rules "the Act" means The Social Housing Act, 2008 (Act No. 16 of 2008), and any word or expression to which a meaning has been assigned in the Act and Regulations shall have the same meaning so assigned in these rules and, unless the context otherwise indicates—

 

"Applicant"–

means any company registered under the Companies Act, 2008 (Act No. 71 of 2008), or a co-operative registered under the Co-operatives Act, 2005, (Act No. 14 of 2005) or any other form of institution acceptable to the Regulatory Authority which makes an Application for accreditation as a Social Housing Institution to the Regulatory Authority in terms of these rules, read with the Act and the Regulations and reference to "Institution" shall bear the same meaning;

 

"Accreditation"-

means certification of an institution, for a specified period, recognising it as a social housing institution with the capacity to undertake approved projects, upon compliance with the Regulatory Authority’s prescribed accreditation requirements, criteria and standards for social housing institutions and the social housing sector;

 

"Accreditation Application" –

means an application made by an institution that carries on or intends to carry on the business of social housing in writing during the accreditation cycle in the prescribed form (Form A) as amended from time to time;

 

"Accreditation Certificate"-

means a formal document or set of documents, stating that accreditation has been granted for the specified period;

 

"Accreditation Cycle"-

means any period commencing from 1 March and ending on 30 November within which applications for accreditation can be submitted to the Regulatory Authority;

 

"Accreditation Criteria"-

means the qualifying criteria for accreditation of social housing institutions as contemplated in Regulation 3 of the Regulations;

 

"Audit"-

means the process of systematic scrutiny of the documents submitted by the institution in application for accreditation carried out by the Regulatory Authority in order to determine whether the institution meets the Regulatory Authority’s prescribed accreditation requirements, criteria and standards for social housing;

 

"Conditional Accreditation"-

means approval to operate as a social housing institution for a period not exceeding two (2) years, under prescribed conditions as set out in the Conditional Compliance Notice, to enable the institution to fulfil all outstanding accreditation requirements, criteria and standards;

 

"Compliance Plan"-

means a compliance notice given to a conditionally accredited institution setting out the outstanding condition(s) which the institution is required to meet, including the timeframes within which such condition(s) should be complied with;

 

"Withdrawal of Accreditation"-

means the withdrawal of accreditation of a social housing institution by the Regulatory Authority;

 

"Full Accreditation"-

means an approval to operate as a social housing institution for a period not exceeding five (5) years after an institution complies with all of the Regulatory Authority’s prescribed accreditation requirements, criteria and standards for accreditation of social housing institutions;

 

"Institutional Portfolio"-

means the compilation of an institution’s portfolio of evidence that the social housing norms, standards and prescripts are being achieved;

 

"Regulations"-

means the Social Housing Regulations published under Government Notice R51 in Government Gazette 34970 of 26 January 2012;

 

"Requirements for accreditation"-

means any requirements as prescribed in the Act, Regulations, the accreditation rules and any directive that may be issued by the Regulatory Authority from time to time;

 

"Standards"-

means a reference point against which aspects of social housing can be evaluated to assess quality and to make a judgment or decision;

 

"SHI"-

means Social Housing Institution as contemplated in the Act;

 

"Site Audit"-

means an on-site assessment or appraisal undertaken to confirm, validate and determine certain identified aspects of a portfolio of evidence or to determine if an applying institution or a social housing institution’s statements and claims made in the institutional portfolio, or accreditation application, and self-assessment meet the Regulatory Authority’s prescribed accreditation requirements, criteria and standards for social housing;

 

"Submission Date"-

means the date on which the accreditation application is formally delivered at the Regulatory Authority’s offices, provided that all the required documentation is submitted. In the event that an incomplete application is submitted, the submission date shall be the date on which the last outstanding document is submitted to the Regulatory Authority;