What counts as a working day
Monday to Friday, unless it is a South African public holiday or falls inside the builders' break. If your site works weekends, switch Saturdays or Sundays on and they count too.
Public holidays follow the Public Holidays Act: the twelve national holidays, the Monday after any holiday that falls on a Sunday, and the days the President declares, such as election days. 4 November 2026, the local government elections, is included.
Counting a notice period
Construction contracts count a period from the day after the event: "within 10 working days" of the 2nd means the 3rd is day one. Use "Add working days" for that; it starts counting the day after the date you enter, exactly as the contracts do.
"Between two dates" counts both the first and the last day unless you switch either off, which is what you want for "how many working days are in November".
The builders' break
Most sites close from mid-December to early January. The dates differ by contract, so set them to the ones in your contract data. The default, 16 December to 8 January, is a typical break, not a rule.
Worked example
A JBCC instruction is received on Thursday 10 December 2026 and the contract gives 20 working days to respond, with the builders' break from 16 December to 8 January. Day 1 is Friday 11 December, days 2 and 3 are the 14th and 15th, the break and the weekends are skipped, and counting resumes on Monday 11 January. Day 20 is Tuesday 2 February 2027.