Experts push for implementation of National Building Code

Thu, Nov 22, 2018 | By publisher


Economy

BOTHERED by the delay in the implementation of the National Building Code (NBC), some operators in the built up environment have called on the federal authorities to expedite action on the implementation of the reviewed Code.

The operators made the call on Thursday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

Mr Chucks Omeife, who was a former President of the Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB), said that the implementation of the NBC was necessary in order to restore sanity to construction activities in the country.

NAN recalls that the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola in June, 2018 announced the review of the code by the Federal Executive Council.

According to him, the reviewed code will not make any remarkable impact until an enabling law is enacted to back it up.

He said the law was necessary to facilitate the enforcement of the code for its effects to be felt.

Fashola added that the Federal Government should propose an Executive Bill to the National Assembly for an enabling law/legislation that would enforce the various provisions of the NBC.

Omeife said that passage of the bill would guarantee an orderly and effective building environment.

“Without an enabling law to back the code, the NBC is like a toothless bulldog that will have no effect whatsoever.

“Buildings still collapse in the country because there is no law that stipulates the punishments applicable to professionals/individuals who executed the construction of collapsed buildings.

“Meanwhile, such sanctions and stipulations are stipulated in the National building Code.

“So, until the code is signed into law, such that people will become liable for the offences they commit, the issue of misconduct of professionals which results in building collapse and other menaces facing the industry may not stop,’’ Omeife said.

He said that the industry had been facing huge challenges and a crisis of confidence in recent times, due to the involvement of some professionals in some developments that had collapsed.

The NIOB ex-boss noted that the ineffectiveness of the NBC was the major cause of the challenges in the industry, stressing that enforcement of the code would put an end to the menaces in the building construction industry.

Contributing, Mr Jide Oke, Secretary, Marketing and Corporate Affairs, Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyor (NIQS), said the federal government should make the document more effective at all levels of government, to tackle the issue of importation of building materials.

Oke urged government to find a lasting solution to the issue of importation of building materials into country, saying that it can also be addressed through the implementation of the NBC.

He said: “It is even more worrisome to note that a large number of collapsed buildings in the country are residential, with the attendant loss of lives.

“The nation may witness more calamities if efforts are not geared toward quality assurance.’’

–NAN

BE

– Nov. 22, 2018 @ 14:09 GMT |

 

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