THE APPROVAL GAP — EVIDENCE PACK

Source:
Statistics South Africa P5041.1
Selected building statistics of the private sector as reported by local government institutions
May 2026
Published 23 July 2026

Official release:
https://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P50411/P50411May2026.pdf

What is included:
- approval-gap-monthly.csv
- approval-gap-province-jan-may-2026.csv
- approval-gap-category-real-change.csv
- approval-gap-lag-correlation.csv
- data-dictionary.csv
- analysis.sql
- analysis.py
- validation-results.csv

Important analytical boundary:
The same-period completed/plans ratio is NOT a conversion rate. Buildings completed in
a month may relate to plans approved many months earlier.

The lag calculation included here is exploratory. The extracted May 2026 release provides
17 monthly observations in the working window (Jan 2025-May 2026). That is not enough to
claim a stable approval-to-completion lag. The portfolio explicitly says this rather than
forcing a result.
