Chucks Omeife is a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB) and a registered builder with the Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria (CORBON). He is also the Managing Director/CEO of Build Consult Ltd and Managing Partner, Integrated Project Management Consult. In this interview with DAYO AYEYEMI, he says the National Building Code (NBC) has what it takes to reduce to the barest minimum the recurrent national problem of building collapse if implemented holistically. He also speaks about its benefits to developers, home builders, built environment professionals and the government.
What is your take on the plan by the Lagos State Government to domesticate the National Building Code?
The move by the Lagos State Government to domesticate the National Building Code is a very welcome development, though some of us feel it should have been done before this time. The reason basically is the fact that, given the frequency of cases of building collapse and the casualties there, which are from the Lagos axis for many years. Expectedly, the government should have been very proactive if not for anything but to avert the continuous deaths and associated loss of lives and wastages in this precarious economic time. Lagos State is a peculiar state and being a trail blazer in advancing strategic policies across board which are copied by other states hence the spate and currency of government’s activities must be upscale to match the rate of uncoordinated development in the built environment due to daily influx of Nigerians seeking greener pastures.
That the government seems to be slow in tackling this disgracing menace is one that cannot in anyway be justified.
What do you mean?
Reasons for building collapses have been discussed, argued, presented in different foras both professionally, socially and in government organized platforms hence the reasons and solutions are not skyrocket science.
Major problem is collective dishonesty both by the government and the professionals which the quacks has taken advantage of to unleash the reckless haphazard setting in the built environment. Government must read between the lines and ensure noninterference by professionals cum politicians in offices who do not think of what is good for the whole rather protecting their profession and even going to the extent of annexing other professional’s areas to their profession.
This has been the major problem of bringing out an all-encompassing law that will be far reaching in solving this building collapse’s problem that seems to be malignant.
Professionals’ roles and responsibilities must be clearly defined and adequate sanctions provided for deterrent.
What should be done to ensure smooth domestication and implementation of the building code?
The idea of using inappropriate and generic descriptions for role designation should be avoided. The National Building Code has whatever that is necessary to reduce to the barest minimum the recurrent national problem of building collapse if and when implemented wholestically, sincerely and to the letter.
Professionals must be allowed liberty of agreed roles and responsibilities subject to necessary sanctions for the code effectiveness. The code is a critical government’s regulating tool to create orderliness in the built environment and project delivery process. The building code should simplify the process of identification and situating problems in the event of any work challenge or professional negligence.
An effective building code is big plus for the built environment in Lagos which will gradually distillate down to other states. It will ensure quality work delivery that will put professionals on their toes, reduce government’s interference in the process of regulating the industry and seriously reduce the prevalence of quackery.
What are the benefits to estate developers or home builders?
For developers, it will serve as a big check on their activities and their cutting corner’s mentality. Home builders will also be forced to upscale their activities to fulfill the requirements of the code while Lagosians will be the greatest beneficiaries. It will encourage better safety standard observation and change the narrative of building collapse in Nigeria.
Who will ensure adherence to the provisions of the code?
In the existing National Building Code, there is a provision for Code Enforcement Officers, who should be engaged to monitor the adherence to the requirements of the code. Usually, it should be built environment multi-disciplinary department with those engaged trained accordingly in the provisions of code and its management.
What are the peculiarities the Lagos State Government must consider in domesticating the building code?
As we are all aware, a building code is a set of regulations put in place by government with the help of construction’s professionals that governs the design, construction, maintenance and modification of all types’ buildings in the locality. Violation of these regulations is expected to attract sanctions, fines and/or penalties. One of the major peculiarities of Lagos State is that the state has been turned into a major construction site with development both in buildings and infrastructures simultaneously going on. The challenge therefore is dearth or the unavailability of personnels to manage the various locations, with varied distances across the state. The state must as a matter of necessity collaborate with professionals’ bodies or associations to ensure adequate monitoring of the construction space. It is only in the implementation of the code through adequate monitoring that the result can be appreciated. This peculiarity of Lagos State has made the issue of building collapse a onerous task which has giving quacks a filled day. A collaborative and partnership initiative at different levels with private sector professional can go a long way in ameliorating this problem.
What is the missing link the building code must establish?
The code is very definite about areas of concerns which is mainly design and construction. Fortunately, the issue of design compliance and regulation has been adequately captured in the physical planning law through approval documentation. Incidentally, the construction process has been shoddily left as all comers affair. This is one of the greatest tragedy in the narrative of building collapse in this country. The responsibility of who builds or manages construction process in Nigeria has been made to appear as every built environment professional’s responsibility. If not how come there is no where it is clearly stated without ambiguity that the builder, whose role is to manage the construction process on site, will be the first suspect in the event of any defect on site due to negligence or bad workmanship or poor quality of work leading to collapse. The use of the word-relevant professionals-to describe a critical role of managing the construction process on site is a deliberate negative connotation to allow any professional in the built environment to play that role. This is one of greatest misinformation coined by those who does not wish the built environment well for their selfish interest . What is difficult is attaching professional roles to professional designation. For all the existing regulation this is captured at the design stage for design professionals but at the construction stage, what is put there is – relevant professionals, what a double standard. The proposed building code must make it clear and definite not descriptive the professional who manages the construction process.
It is by so doing that the construction stage would have been fully regulated just like the design stage.
The proposed code must remove ambiguity and be made simple for all stakeholders and the state citizens to interpret and understand. That’s the easiest way to get adherence to the provisions of the code by all.
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