Corporate governance embraces the principles of accountability, discipline, independence, responsibility, fairness and transparency.  The role of the NHBRC Council in this regard is to ensure that, in the pursuit of its mandate, the NHBRC consistently complies with all relevant governance requirements stemming from amongst others the Protocol on Governance in the Public Sector, and King Code of Practice as applied in the public sector, the HCPMA, PFMA and other relevant legislation.  

The NHBRC Council also operates in terms of a Council Charter which has been developed in consultation with the shareholder (Minister of Human Settlements). The Charter makes provision for the roles and responsibilities of Council as the accounting authority, vis-à-vis NHBRC management roles and responsibilities.

The Council’s focus on risk management is one of its organizational themes ensuring that governance systems and their effectiveness are given priority.  In terms of Section 5 of the Housing Consumers Protection Measures Act (1998), Council is empowered to establish committees and to delegate some of its functions to these committees and the CEO.

The delegation of functions to committees is done under established Terms of Reference for each committee that in turn, reports to Council on a quarterly basis.

The following committees have been established by Council to ensure effective governance in the business of the NHBRC.