FAQs:
Frequently asked questions
about membership of the
Kitchen Specialists Association

What is the Kitchen Specialists Association?

The Kitchen Specialists Association was formed in 1989, as a professional trade association to support, control and promote the kitchen industry, which in the past had been tarnished with a reputation for unreliability and mismanagement. The industry had seen the entry and exit of many fly-by-night operators. The aim of the KSA is to promote, improve and advance the status of the industry, and to support and assist all persons who are associated with the planning, construction, installation or sale of kitchens and their affiliated industries.

The mission of the KSA is to create a professional and stable trading environment in which the industry can prosper and consumers can enjoy peace-of-mind.

As the KSA developed it expanded to include consumer recourse as a key premise to it’s mission and vision with the development of a consumer dispute resolution service with the aim of bringing parties on a project back to the same page in the event of a dispute and assisting to guide them to a resolution that is fair to all parties involved.

What are the objectives of the Kitchen Specialists Association?

The prime objectives of the Kitchen Specialists Association are:

• To watch over, defend, protect and advance the interests of (such) persons, firms, or companies involved or related to the kitchen industry.
• To offer the consumer a free platform for advice, guidance and dispute resolution should they deal with a KSA member.
• To advance industry and consumer knowledge by discussion, inquiry, experiment and other means and to diffuse such knowledge by means of lectures, programmes and publications exchange of information and otherwise.
• To encourage the use of just and proper selling methods and high standards of service and integrity under a code of ethics and conduct concerned with both the technical and commercial aspects of kitchen planning and installation. Download code of ethics.
• To provide a central organisation for members of the Association to have a unified voice when addressing issues facing it.
• To give the legislative and public bodies facilities for conferring with and ascertaining the views of such persons, firms and companies and other allied industries.
• To provide connections between KSA members and the greater furniture industry, industry professionals and tertiary institutions teaching design skills.
• To ensure consumers have a platform where they can gain access to free advice and guidance when planning a kitchen, access to a database of reputable companies and CPA compliant recourse in the event of a dispute.

What are the benefits of joining the Kitchen Specialists Association?

There are many benefits conferred by Kitchen Specialists Association membership.

To know more about benefits to our stakeholders read the KSA Benefit Statement here.

To know more about benefits to kitchen companies and suppliers read Why be a Member here.

To know more about the benefits to stone and surface fabricators read the Stone and Surface Fabricator info here.

Most importantly the KSA is a tool – those that get the most benefit are those that make the most use of the tools made available to them.

What are the strategic benefits to joining the Kitchen Specialists Association?

The KSA:

• Is the only professional body representing specialist kitchen suppliers, hereby providing members with a legitimate and credible forum from which to approach legislative/registration bodies and, importantly, the consumer, regarding the future scope and direction of the specialist kitchen (and related) market(s).
• Promotes members' businesses by publicising the benefits of buying from specialist retailers, via consumer publicity and advertising.
• Provides improved relationships with major forces within the industry and direct access to decision makers in these businesses.
• Provides training courses: (compiled by experts in the industry) at a nominal charge to members.
• Provides a newsletter and web site giving regular updates of what is happening within the industry.
• Provides regular networking opportunities for members.

What are the criteria for joining the Kitchen Specialists Association?

The Kitchen Specialists Association specifies that prospective members should meet some essential criteria, consistent with the Association's stated aims and objectives.

Prospective members should:

Be a registered company in terms of South African law. If applying for international membership then be a registered company in terms of your country of business.(please note international membership is only open to kitchen members at present)

Kitchen companies should:

• Be specialist retailers of kitchen, bedroom, bathroom (or related) products, professionally marketing their goods via permanent product displays in a showroom and/or outlet(s).
• Provide consumers with a specialist service encompassing provision of design, installation and after-sales service for all products supplied. Take full control and responsibility for the design, installation, sale and manufacture of the goods even if part/s of the process are outsourced or sub-contracted.
• Be an established business having been actively involved in the kitchen, bedroom, bathroom or related products industries for a minimum of three years. If a South African company you can apply for early acceptance after two years if you can provide letters or recommendation form three supplier members of the KSA in good standing.
• Have a sound trading record providing three verifiable trade references from suppliers to the kitchen industry.
• Subscribe to the KSA's Code of Ethics and Code of Conduct. View Code of Ethics here and Code of Conduct here.
• Agree to abide by any ruling handed down by the KSA in the event of a dispute.
• Have a showroom in a professional setting that affords consumers access during office house and /or by appointment. This showroom should display examples of the companies standard quality of workmanship as well as samples of the materials and products they usually make use of.

Stone and surface fabrication members must:

• Be registered with the BIBC (Building Industry bargaining council) if one exists in their region.
• Have a professional factory where consumers can visit that is tooled in a fashion as to facilitate professional fabrication. This should include but not be limited to a bridge saw, routers and polishers.

How much does it cost to join the Kitchen Specialists Association?

The once off entrance fee and annual subscription are as outlined in the membership application forms, which are available for download on our downloads page. Members have the choice to make payment of their subscriptions annually, or via monthly debit order. Subscriptions are reviewed annually.

What is the procedure for joining the Kitchen Specialists Association?

Upon your invitation the Kitchen Specialists Association will arrange for a representative to visit you at your retail premises. At this stage your application for membership should have been completed. If you are an international company you will be asked to submit video and photographic proof of your showroom (both interior and exterior) and the KSA may require a representative from our supplier membership who operate in the region to visit the showroom site. The representative will assess your business to ensure that it exceeds the average professional, business and customer service standards operating in the specialist kitchen bedroom and bathroom retail market(s).

You will be requested to provide bank, and trade references (from within the kitchen industry), a copy of your letterhead, plus (for kitchen company members) a list of your previous ten installations. Other documentation that may/will be required depending on they type of membership you are applying for are: copy of your T’s & C’s / contract / warranty or guarantee. Proof of registration with the Furniture or Building bargaining council (if one is active in your region). Tax clearance certificate and letter of good standing or proof of application with Workman’s Compensation.

This information is required to ensure that essential membership criteria are met, and that we can recommend your business to prospective kitchen/bedroom/bathroom suppliers and customers.

Conditional upon the Kitchen Specialists Association's membership and committee approval, you will normally be notified of acceptance to the KSA within 30 working days of application.