Commercial Paving Cape Town

Commercial paving is not a driveway made bigger. It carries heavier vehicles more often, so the paver, the base and the edges are specified for that traffic. We quote commercial paving across Cape Town, from warehouses and office parks to retail centres and schools.

For industrial use the Concrete Manufacturers Association (CMA) recommends 80mm pavers in a herringbone bond. We survey the site for free and follow with a written quote built up line by line, and after-hours and weekend work is something we can programme where the site has to keep trading.

The short version

80mm for industrial use. The CMA recommends an 80mm paver for industrial use, and says very little is gained from blocks thicker than that.
Interlock, not just strength. CMA Book 3: structural performance depends on the interlock between blocks and is virtually independent of block strength above a certain minimum.
Herringbone for heavy traffic. The CMA says it gives the best resistance to horizontal and vertical deformation.
No rate card. You get a written quote after we have surveyed the site.

Signs Your Commercial Paving Needs Attention

Ruts, broken blocks, steps and standing water show on the surface, but the cause is often in the layers underneath. That is what we look at on site.

An old grey block-paved complex road with a sunken wheel-track rut holding a shallow puddle, and cracked blocks near the kerb — A rut that holds water points to the layers under the blocks, not the blocks themselves.

Rutting in delivery lanes

Wheel-track depressions point below the surface. CMA Book 2 names an inadequate subbase or subgrade, subsoil water, overloading and too-thick bedding sand as causes of settlement.

Broken pavers at pressure points

Cracked blocks around bin areas, loading bays and skip pads. Where defects are local, the CMA says repairs "are not usually difficult, time consuming or costly", which can mean lifting and relaying just the affected area.

Trip hazards at thresholds

Settled blocks at doorways and fire exits are a trip risk for everyone on site. Book 3's limit for the level difference between adjacent pavers is 3mm, for its Degree of Accuracy I, three months after opening to traffic.

Water standing after rain

Ponding means water is not running off as designed. The CMA says a minimum fall of 2% in any direction is generally required; our guide covers the layer faults that undermine block paving.

Load Class Decides Everything

Let the traffic decide the thickness, block shape, bond, strength class and edges, and get each one named on the quote.

A wooden pallet of plain grey interlocking concrete pavers on a gravel base beside a freshly laid section of the same blocks — Interlocking blocks: the CMA's recommendation for industrial and heavy-duty paving.

Thickness

CMA Book 2 calls 50–60mm blocks adequate for domestic use, recommends 80mm for industrial use and says "very little benefit is gained from pavers which are thicker than 80 mm".

Block shape

Type S-A blocks interlock on all side faces and are "generally recommended for all industrial and heavy-duty applications".

Bond

Herringbone "ensures the best resistance to both horizontal and vertical deformation", and Book 2 recommends it for industrial pavements.

Strength class

Book 3 defaults to the lower class unless wheel loads exceed 30 kN or the specification schedules the higher one, and its commentary adds exceptional loads and severe conditions. Those are the old compressive classes (25 and 35 MPa); current SANS 1058 classes are 30/2.0 and 40/2.6.

Edges

Book 2 says a high-traffic industrial area may need heavy-duty concrete kerbs or a reinforced concrete ground beam.

Ask your engineer which class to name; our guide for body corporates lists what a commercial paving specification should name.

Standards And Handover Checks

SANS 1058 covers the block, not the laying, so the handover checks belong in the contract too.

A long aluminium straight edge lying across newly laid grey herringbone paving beside a raised precast concrete kerb — A straight edge across the finished surface: Book 3 measures flatness over 3m.

The block: ask for SANS 1058 compliance, which sets the block's tensile splitting strength, abrasion resistance and water absorption. The base, bedding, edges and joints need their own specification.
Adjacent pavers: a level difference of no more than 3mm.
Under a 3m straight edge: within +10mm/−15mm, tightening to +3mm/−0mm at kerbs, channels, gullies, manholes and other edge restraints, a figure Book 3's commentary calls very difficult to achieve and not critical provided adequate falls are met.
Pattern lines: no more than 10mm off any 3m straight line and 20mm off any 20m line.
Joints: jointing sand to the CMA's grading, finer than the bedding sand.

Book 3's surface limits are for its Degree of Accuracy I, measured three months after opening to traffic, and its commentary allows them to be relaxed for economy. Keep the signed handover results, and walk the site again once it has been in use for three months; our 12-point inspection for finished paving covers the rest.

Commercial Pavers We Use

BosunCorobrikC.E.L. PavingInca ConcreteGranite SlabPermeable Pavers

How A Commercial Project Runs

Five stages, and on an occupied site the work can be phased so one section closes while another stays open.

A complex road being repaved in sections: new grey herringbone paving in front, a levelled base closed off with red-and-white tape behind — Phasing: one section is worked on while the rest of the site stays in use.

Site survey & specification

We survey the site, look at the traffic it carries and follow up with a written quote, priced to your engineer's design, bill of quantities or architect's specification where there is one, or on a design-and-build basis, with the pavement designed by an engineer, where there isn't.

Programme & phasing

A phased plan with zoned sections so the site can keep running. After-hours and weekend work is something we can programme for retail and any site that cannot close.

Excavation & sub-base

Excavation to the design depth, a capping layer where the design calls for one, then the base layers compacted as specified.

Kerbs, drainage & laying

Edge restraints go in first, concrete kerbs or an existing concrete or asphalt edge where the design allows, with drainage channels where designed, then the pavers are laid in the specified bond (herringbone, for industrial pavements) on bedding sand screeded loose to 25mm after compaction.

Final compaction & handover

Compaction, jointing sand and line marking where specified. Book 3 requires at least five passes of a heavy pneumatic-tyred roller after joint filling on paving that regularly carries wheel loads over 30 kN.

Need a commercial paving quote?

Free site survey and a written quote against your load class, programme and trading hours. No obligation.

Get Free Quote 021 825 6396

What Commercial Paving Costs

We don't publish a rate. Commercial work is priced off the specification, because the build-up underneath is where the money goes.

A concrete drainage channel with plain steel grates along the edge of grey paving beside a concrete kerb — Kerbs, channels and stormwater tie-ins are priced as lines of their own.

Traffic and paver

The loads set the block thickness, type and strength class.

Excavation and base

How deep the design goes and how much base it needs.

Kerbs and drainage

The length of kerbing, the channels and tie-ins to the existing stormwater system.

Break-out

How much old surface comes up and is carted away.

Phasing and hours

Working zone by zone on an open site, and any after-hours or weekend work we programme.

The surface

Permeable build-ups and granite slab plazas price differently from standard block paving.

Ask every bidder to price the same separate lines, so the quotes you compare cover the same work.

Frequently asked questions

Can you work after hours so we stay open?+

It is something we can programme: overnight or weekend work, phased zone by zone so a route in and a route out can stay open. Any after-hours cost goes on the quote as its own line, so you can decide whether it is worth it.

Do you quote against a bill of quantities or an architect's spec?+

Yes: a quantity surveyor's bill of quantities, an architect's specification or an engineer's pavement design. Where there is no design yet, CMA Book 2 says catalogue road designs are generally "not suitable for the design of industrial pavements", so in our view a loading area or truck turning circle needs an engineer's design first, whether you bring one or we price on a design-and-build basis.

What paver thickness do we need?+

It follows the traffic. CMA Book 2 calls 50–60mm blocks adequate for domestic use, recommends 80mm for industrial use and says "very little benefit is gained from pavers which are thicker than 80 mm". For paving regularly carrying wheel loads over 30 kN, Book 3 moves the blocks out of its default lower strength class and calls for at least five passes of a heavy pneumatic-tyred roller after joint filling, so confirm the thickness, class and base design with your engineer.

Can you lay permeable paving?+

Yes. Permeable concrete block paving lets rain through aggregate-filled joints into a sub-base designed to store it and release it slowly, and we can lay it on commercial sites. The City's stormwater policy can require on-site stormwater measures on developments, particularly larger sites, so send us your engineer's stormwater design and we'll price and build to it. We lay the system; we don't sign off the drainage calculations, and our explainer covers how the permeable systems differ.

What happens if the paving fails later?+

Tell us, and check the written quote you signed for what its workmanship terms cover and for how long. Separately, section 54 of the Consumer Protection Act gives you the right to services performed "in a manner and quality that persons are generally entitled to expect", including goods installed as part of the work, and if the work falls short you can require the supplier to fix the defect or refund a reasonable portion of the price. A manufacturer's own warranty on the blocks runs on its own terms, and a defects-liability period is something to agree in the contract before work starts.