IN order to arrest the spate of building collapse in the country, concerned experts have advocated the use of qualified professionals for the design of structures and all construction stages.
Besides, they canvassed that law on the use of professionals at all stages of building construction should be enforced.
The experts stated this in a communiqué after a one-day national conference on the Building/Construction Sector organised by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment in Abuja.
The conference, themed “Adherence to Standard Practices: Bedrock of Sustainable Development in the Building/Construction Sector” declared that SON must ensure adherence to certification in construction materials to be used.
“The law on the use of professionals at all stages of building construction should be enforced.
“There must be a law to punish defaulting professionals, professional bodies, quacks, clients and investors.
“Regular integrity tests must be conducted on buildings, particularly when their intended purposes have been altered,” the communique read.
Experts at the conference called on the National Assembly to pass the National Building Code, which had been on the shelves for years, into law as part of efforts to stem building collapses.
“The conference declared that the directive issued 13 years ago to evict SON from the ports in an attempt to enhance ease of doing business should be reversed,” it read
This, the conference observed has become necessary because SON cannot be issuing the Nigeria Conformity Assessment Program (SONCAP) certificates without being at the ports to inspect and test materials imported for the construction and other sectors.
The conference observed that rapid urbanisation and rising population had placed immense demands on every infrastructure, making the building construction industry both an opportunity and a challenge.
It observed that Nigeria’s growing population required rapid increase in affordable housing, which brings with it the challenge of meeting demand without compromising on quality.
Experts at the conference observed that in spite of many sensitization and awareness campaigns carried out by SON, many industry stakeholders and practitioners still lacked awareness of the standards required for safe, durable and sustainable buildings.
Part of the recommendation at the conference was that professionals in the building sector should stay strictly within their areas of competence.
“Every stakeholder, from contractors to suppliers, and artisans must be committed to using approved materials and adhering strictly to standards,” the communique read.
It recommended collective efforts to bridge knowledge gaps, particularly from the tertiary institutions level.
It also recommended that SON must continue to maintain membership of the African Organisation for Standardisation and other international standardisation bodies.
It pointed out that safety and security of lives and property is at the forefront of the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration
The conference observed that non-adherence to standards and codes of practice in the construction process have resulted in building collapses, endangering lives, loss of property and damaging public trust.
It noted that while there was nothing wrong with the adaptation of foreign codes and standards, such adaptation needed to address local conditions and peculiarities.
In noted that current economic hardships and hyperinflation had affected the prices of construction materials in an upward trend and adherence to standards had become a challenge.
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