The United Republic of Tanzania
CONTRACTORS REGISTRATION BOARD
Contractor
Any person who for reward or other valuable consideration undertakes to carry out and complete any construction work for another person, of any structure situated below, on or above the ground or water bodies or other work connected therewith, where such person undertakes to do any such works.
1.0 CATEGORIES AND TYPES OF REGISTRATION
1.1 CATEGORIES OF REGISTRATION
There are two main Categories of Contractors, namely Local Category and Foreign Category. Local Contracting Firms are those whose majority shares of the Authorized Shares are owned by Citizens of the United Republic of Tanzania. If this condition is not met the firm is eligible for registration under Foreign Category.
1.2 TYPES OF REGISTRATION
1.2.1 Permanent Registration
Under permanent registration, the firm is registered for the purpose of carrying out works in the registered category and class without limitation on the number of projects and duration of registration, provided that the firm complies with the registration requirements.
A firm registered under permanent registration will be subjected to review from time to time to ascertain if it still meets the minimum requirements for its class of registration.
1.2.2 Temporary Registration
There are two main types of Temporary Registration.
Temporary Foreign Registration:
Foreign Contractors who intend to be in the country for the express purpose of executing a Specific Project that has been awarded are registered under this type. Registration for foreign contractors is limited to class one only and is restricted to the duration of the project and upon expiration of the contract; the firm ceases to be registered and shall return the certificate to the Board. For more details on the registration procedure please refer to Criteria Booklet.
Temporary Joint venture (JV) Registration:
Construction firms can be registered as JVs when the firms have jointly tendered for the works and have been awarded a contract. Joint Ventures are usually formed for the purpose of either capacity building in the case of a large contractor partnering with a small contractor or to tap expertise and technological advantage of a joint venture partner in executing a complex project.
Firms applying for registration as a joint venture must all be individually registered as bona fide contractors in the required type of registration prior to seeking JV registration. Classification of a temporary joint venture is dependent on the combined resources that each individual JV partner commits into the JV. Like temporary registration, JV’s are registered for the duration or period of the contracted works.
2.0 TYPES OF CONTRACTORS
There are five types of contractors, namely Building Contractors, Civil Contractors, Mechanical Contractors, Electrical Contractors and Specialist Contractors. Major activities of each type are as indicated in the table below:
3.0 CLASSIFICATION OF CONTRACTORS AND CLASS LIMITS
Classification of Contractors
Contractors are classified according to their Capacity and Competence to undertake construction projects. General Contractors i.e. Building, Civil Works, Electrical and Mechanical contractors are classified in seven (7) classes of registration whilst Specialist Contractors are classified in three (3) classes. In all cases Class One is the highest class of registration. Foreign contractors are registered in class one only.
Class Limits
Class Limits is the maximum value of a single contract that a contractor in a certain class is allowed to undertake. This value includes the cost of Materials, Labour and Taxes and they have been developed on the basis of capacity of such contractors to execute works and actual construction market trend in Tanzania. The class limits are revised from time to time to ensure that they are commensurate with the market situation. Current Class Limits for various types of Contractors are set out in the Table below:
REGISTRATION PROCEDURE
Any contractor applying for registration or upgrading to a particular class will be evaluated on the basis of the criteria defined in the Contractors Registration Act. Three basic requirements are to be met by any firm applying for registration as a contractor:
i) Registration with Business Registration and Licensing Authority – BRELA A firm has to have certificate of Registration from BRELA either as a Limited Liability, Partnership or Sole Proprietor
ii) Technical Director At least one of the shareholders or partners must have the minimum Technical qualification on the area of which registration is sought
iii) Office and Service Facilities Applicants for permanent registration should show proof of ownership/lease of office facilities, workshops and yards.
For more details on the Procedure for Registration or Upgrading of Contractors, Please refer to our CRITERIA BOOKLET
DISPENSATIONS AND REVIEW OF REGISTRATION
Dispensation
The Board may on exceptional circumstances, grant dispensation in respect of performance of contractors beyond their class limits upon being satisfied that a particular contractor deserves to be granted such dispensation.
Applications under this part shall be made for bona fide contractors by clients. Registration is restricted to only one class above the current class of the contractor in question.
Review of Contractors
Review of registered contractors is done to ascertain the current status of the contractor compared with status it was during the time of first registration and as conveyed through the Annual Return Forms.
Appropriate action will be taken against the contractor depending on the outcomes of the review. The contractor may retain the current class of registration or be downgraded, suspended or deregistered.