Johannesburg, South Africa – In a decisive move to accelerate the modernisation of South Africa’s human settlements sector, the Department of Human Settlements (DHS), in collaboration with the National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC), will host the Innovative Building Technologies (IBT) Summit 2026 from 3–4 February 2026 at the NASREC Expo Centre, Johannesburg.
The two-day IBT Summit 2026 will convene senior leaders from government, industry, finance, research institutions, innovators, and community stakeholders to shape a coordinated national strategy for the large-scale adoption of Innovative Building Technologies (IBTs). The Summit elevates IBTs to a national priority and reinforces the President’s call for modernisation, efficiency, industrialisation, and infrastructure-led development.
As South Africa faces increasing housing demand, rising construction costs, delayed project delivery, and the growing impact of climate change, IBTs offer a critical pathway to deliver faster, cost-effective, climate-resilient, and high-quality human settlements. Globally, countries are leveraging advanced construction methods—such as engineered materials, digital construction tools, and modular systems—to transform the built environment. While South Africa has strong innovation capacity, the uptake of IBTs has remained limited, highlighting the need for a unified national platform.
The IBT Summit 2026 responds directly to this challenge by creating a structured space for alignment across policy, regulation, standards, financing, research, innovation, and community acceptance. It forms part of a broader national movement, underpinned by whole-of-government leadership, to modernise the human settlements and construction industry.
Objectives of the IBT Summit 2026
The Summit seeks to:
• Define a 10-year roadmap for integrating Innovative Building Technologies into South Africa’s human settlements programme.
• Align national and provincial departments to harmonise regulations, standards, programmes, and institutional roles.
• Identify and unlock innovative financing mechanisms to enable mass delivery, industrialisation, and market uptake of IBTs; and
• Establish sustainable research and development pipelines, including knowledge-sharing platforms that inform legislation, policy, and practice.
A key outcome of the Summit will be the National IBT Compact, a shared commitment between government, industry, investors, researchers, and communities. The Compact will outline concrete pledges, implementation frameworks, and accountability mechanisms aimed at transforming South Africa’s human settlements sector.
The IBT Summit 2026 represents a pivotal moment for the country. It elevates the transition towards modern, efficient, and sustainable construction to the highest level of government, while bringing together national leadership, innovators, financiers, researchers, and communities to accelerate delivery and enhance South Africa’s global competitiveness.
For all IBT Summit enquiries contact:
Mandla Gumede | mandla.gumede@dhs.gov.za
Issac Hartley | isaach@nhbrc.org.za
Busiswa Mlandu | busiswam@nhbrc.org.za
For media enquiries, please contact:
Ms. Portia Sebulela
Manager: Marketing, Communications and Stakeholder Relations
National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC)
Phone: 011 317 0000
Email: portias@nhbrc.org.za
Or
Mr Nkululeko Buthelezi
Email: nkululekob@nhbrc.org.za
Cell: 072 401 9593
Website: www.nhbrc.org.za
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