In order to comply with the requirements of the Constitution of South Africa, and to align procurement by organs of state with that of institutions such as the World Bank, government decided to move away from the old procurement policies that made use of fee scales and rosters, toward a system of open tendering for government projects. Ever since, the legislative environment has changed dramatically. In addition the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) body was brought into being in order to promote uniformity and best practice in the construction industry. This necessitated even more legislation.
The Contractual Affairs (CA) division of CESA came into being in March 2005 in order to address the need for assistance to member firms arising from the myriad of new legislation pertaining to procurement, as well as to render assistance relating to contract documentation and other related issues.