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From Isaac Anumihe, Abuja
Following the incessant collapse of buildings in Nigeria and its attendant economic losses, Council for the Registration of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), yesterday, indicted development officers in the built industry, saying that they should be held responsible for most of the collapses.
President of the council, Engineer Ali Rabiu, who spoke to newsmen in Abuja after a meeting with stakeholders in the built industry, added that most of the development officers are not qualified to approve designs.
According to Rabiu, there should be a mechanism to ensure that only registered professionals are engaged by clients.
He stressed that there was the need for the enforcement of the use of standard materials and the need for collaboration of all the professionals to collectively visit construction sites as a team.
The president observed that there has been the indiscriminate use of non-professionals who have no role in project supervision. “The development control officers largely contribute to the collapse of buildings in Nigeria. They should be held responsible for most of the collapses” he said. COREN maintained that apart from using sub-standard materials, most projects do not follow construction procedures. However, to check the trend, COREN recommended that there’s need for a law/Act on enforcement and compliance of the approved National Building Code by the National Assembly.
“This must be strictly compiled with in the built environment. All state governments are advised to domesticate the codes. Forum of regulatory bodies in the built environment should drive the bill.
“For implementation and enforcement, it is recommended that the government should set up a construction court to handle cases of misconduct.
“Education of the populace is necessary. Advocacy, education of the public and continuous engagement of government should be pursued particularly by associations in the built environment” COREN, noted.
However, no fewer than 84 persons have lost their lives in 18 building collapses in Lagos State in the last two years whereas on August 26, 2022 and August 30, 2022, two building collapses were recorded in Abuja and Kano respectively, killing a lot of people.
