The Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) keeps a national Register of Contractors. If you do construction or civil work for government, you must be registered — and the grade you hold determines which tenders you're allowed to bid on.
Grades 1 to 9
Contractors are graded from 1 (smallest) to 9 (largest). The grade reflects your financial capability and track record, and it sets a ceiling on the contract value you can tender for. A Grade 1 contractor handles small jobs; a Grade 9 contractor can take on the largest projects. The exact rand thresholds for each grade are set by the CIDB and revised from time to time — always confirm the current figures on cidb.org.za.
New and smaller contractors can often register with a Potentially Emerging (PE) status, which lets you tender slightly above your grade on contracts flagged for development, with support to grow into the higher grade.
Classes of work
A grade always goes together with a class of work. You're registered per class, and each class carries its own grade. The common ones:
- CE — Civil Engineering (roads, water, sewer, bridges)
- GB — General Building
- EB — Electrical Engineering (Buildings)
- ME — Mechanical Engineering
- plus specialist classes (SB, SI, SF) for specific works
So a tender might require "CIDB Grade 6 CE or higher" — meaning Grade 6+ in the civil engineering class. If you're a Grade 4 GB contractor, you don't qualify, no matter how good your price is.
Why it matters for every construction bid
Construction tenders state the required grade and class up front, and it's a hard requirement — you can't be awarded work above your grade. This is the most common reason construction SMEs waste time on bids they can never win. When you set up a TargetTenders profile with your grade and classes, we only show you the construction tenders you're actually eligible for. You can also browse construction tenders by province directly.
New to tendering? Start with our guide on how to find and win government tenders.