Pr.Eng (ECSA)Mechanical building servicesCape Town
Mechanical building services, ventilation compliance, and the engineer who signs it
Senior-led HVAC and ventilation design, SANS 10400-O compliance and council submissions, independent design review and MEP design management — as a defined package, a review, or extra capacity for a team carrying too much. Twenty-five years in consulting engineering, most of it leading other people's delivery.
I'm Cobus van Deventer, Pr.Eng. You deal with me, not a graduate with my name on the cover.
SANS 10400-O · Lighting and Ventilation
When council comes back asking for artificial-ventilation details, the plan stops moving until an engineer answers.
National Building Regulation O3 means no artificial ventilation system goes in without the local authority's prior written approval, and O4 requires any rational design of that system to be carried out by or under the supervision of an approved competent person, who certifies it under Regulation A19. I work to the current 2025 edition of SANS 10400-O — the deemed-to-satisfy route where it applies, a rational design where it does not.
Ventilation compliance review
Does this building, alteration or change of use actually comply? Applicable criteria established, calculations done, deficiencies named, short report you can put in front of council.
Small buildings and alterations · days
Ventilation design & submission
Where the deemed-to-satisfy route does not work, a rational design of the artificial ventilation system — calculations, schematic, drawings, design report and the documentation the submission needs.
Regulation O3 approval · O4 rational design
Competent person appointment
Appointment, independent review and verification, correction of what is deficient, inspection where required, and certification under Regulation A19. Reviewed and verified before signed — never a signature on someone else's work.
Design, inspection, completion
Where the work typically comes from: office and retail fit-outs, restaurants and kitchens, change of use, warehouse and apartment conversions, basement and parking garage ventilation, toilet extract, plant and server rooms, hospitality and healthcare refurbishment — and existing buildings that need an occupancy or compliance question resolved.
Design & delivery
Compliance is often the first question. The design work behind it is the same practice.
Design package
Design criteria, load and airflow calculations, system selection and zoning, schematics, equipment schedules, specification and model input for a defined building or area — through to coordination and IFC review.
A building, or part of one
Independent review
A second pair of senior eyes on drawings, models and calculations before sign-off: compliance gaps, design risk, coordination and constructability issues, missing information.
Days, not months
Overflow & MEP lead
Senior capacity for an overloaded team, or a fractional mechanical/MEP lead carrying design strategy, coordination, QA and technical decisions without a permanent appointment.
By the day, or retained
Technical capability
- HVAC and ventilation design — design criteria, load and airflow calculations, system selection, zoning and pressure relationships
- Mechanical building services — wet services, plant and equipment, plant room layout and access
- MEP design management — multidisciplinary coordination, interfaces, technical decisions, design programme
- Design assurance — peer review, rational design checking, technical due diligence
- Sustainability and energy — GBCSA Accredited Professional; built the GBCSA Existing Building Performance tool
- BIM and VDC — implemented both at consultancy scale; model and information requirements, authoring delegated
- Traceability — requirements, calculations and models kept connected, so gaps surface before construction does
Selected projects
| Project | Sector | Value | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parramatta Light Rail, Sydney | Transport | AUD 2.4b | MEP Lead |
| Dubai Tower (podium) | Mixed use | AED 3.6b | MEP Lead |
| Stadium Australia, Melbourne | Sports | AUD 810m | Mechanical Lead |
| MISK Schools, Riyadh | Education | USD 500m | MEP Lead |
| Yas Mall, Dubai | Retail | AED 500m | MEP Lead |
| DPW Government Printing Facility, Tshwane | Industrial | ZAR 500m | Project Principal |
| Pixley ka Seme Hospital | Healthcare | ZAR 500m | Project Principal |
| Empangeni & Ngwelezane Hospital upgrade | Healthcare | ZAR 700m | Mechanical Engineer / PM |
| University of Pretoria, lecture hall complex | Education | ZAR 200m | Project Manager / Principal |
| Unilever ice cream factory, Johannesburg | Industrial | ZAR 200m | Project Principal |
| Hilton Garden Inn, Windhoek | Hospitality | ZAR 200m | MEP Lead |
| Karl Bremer Hospital, Cape Town | Healthcare | ZAR 50m | MEP Lead |
Delivered in senior roles at Royal HaskoningDHV (2005–2016), Aurecon and Zutari (2016–2022). Listed to show the scale and sectors worked in, not as Inokrate commissions.
Credentials
- Pr.Eng
- Professional Engineer, ECSA — registered and current
- B.Eng Mechanical Engineering
- Stellenbosch University
- M.Eng Project Management
- University of Pretoria
- Energy Efficiency and Sustainability
- University of Cape Town
- GBCSA
- Accredited Professional
- SAIMechE and CIBSE
- Member
- Professional indemnity cover
- Placed on appointment, to the scale the commission requires
I take on mechanical and building-services engineering work within my demonstrated area of competence. Where a project needs electrical, wet services, fire or structural input, I bring in trusted specialists rather than stretching a registration to cover it.
How this works
- 01
Send the information
Floor plans and room schedule, the brief, the programme — or simply the council comment you have been given. A short call is usually enough to scope from.
- 02
Fee before work starts
Fixed fee per package or per review, day rate for overflow support, monthly for a retained lead role. Milestone billing on packages.
- 03
Reviewed before it is signed
Where I take responsibility as competent person, I review and verify the design to the level needed to carry it. That is the product — not the signature.
- 04
Your appointment stays yours
Working as your capacity means the client relationship is not touched.
Get in touch
Send the drawings and the council comment.
A short call is usually enough to tell you whether it is a review, a design, or nothing at all — and what it will cost.
Inokrate also works with founders and leadership teams on operations and delivery — see the operations practice.