Paving in the Western Cape

Runoff goes to the street, never the sewer

The City says all rainwater draining from your property must be channelled to the street or its stormwater system, not into the sewer. Connecting stormwater to the sewer breaks the Wastewater By-law (2013). When heavy rain enters the sewers, they overflow and spill raw sewage into streets, rivers and wetlands.

For paving, the risk is a channel or yard drain that the installer connects to the nearest sewer gully because it's convenient. The City inspects door to door, issues compliance orders with a deadline and then fines, and a Certificate of Water Compliance now checks for stormwater-to-sewer connections before a property can be sold.

• Ask each installer to show on a sketch where every drain or channel will discharge.
• If an existing yard drain feeds the sewer, have a registered plumber reroute it before paving over it.

Nothing but rain into the street drains

Section 4 of the Stormwater Management By-law (2005) prohibits discharging anything other than stormwater onto a surface where it could reasonably find its way into the stormwater system. Cement slurry from cutting pavers, mortar from setting kerbs, and jointing sand hosed off the finished surface all qualify.

Agree up front how the installer will handle cutting water and cleanup, and keep the street gutter clear while they work. The same by-law makes you responsible, at your own cost, for keeping any private stormwater system on your property working.

A crossing over the kerb needs written permission

Under section 17 of the City's Streets By-law, no private crossing or pathway may be built in front of a property in a public place without the City's written permission and in line with its requirements. Section 11 likewise needs written permission for any excavation in a public road, which includes the verge. If your new driveway extends to the kerb or needs a new dropped crossing, the application belongs in the quote and the timeline.

Laying, curing and cleaning around winter rain

About 75% of Cape Town's rain falls between April and October. Sand bedding and fresh joints wash out in a downpour, and concrete crossings and haunching need time to cure, so summer is the easier window for a new driveway. If you book in winter, ask how the installer will protect half-finished work. Once it's done, remember that hosing paving with municipal water is permanently banned, whatever the restriction level. Plan to sweep instead.