By Kingsley Adegboye

The Federal and State Governments have been called upon to give legal teeth to the National Building Code and make it enforceable in every part of the country. This measure would bridge the various gaps in the regulatory process of policing the development of buildings in the country.

The Chairman of Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria, CORBON, Prof Akin Akindoyemi who made the call at the just concluded annual National Conference of the Nigerian Institute of Building NIOB,in Enugu, also called for the immediate review of the National Urban Planning Law.

Prof Akindoyeni  further enjoined state governments to enact urban planning laws which will take into consideration the building code and provide for a process of green building practice.  According to him, CORBON has forwarded a sample of the bill to every state governor in Nigeria for consideration.

He therefore called for the inauguration of the National Building Code Advisory Committee. The committee should be empowered to ensure that the code is technologically and procedurally current at all times.

Lamenting the paucity of fund available to the seven built environment regulatory bodies,  he urged the Federal government to make provisions in its annual budget for the operation of the charters granted to the bodies.

The CORBON chairman  pointed out that lack of fund has limited the regulatory bodies from carrying  out their functions effectively in order to ensure safety in buildings in the country.

Governor Sullivan Chime of Enugu State in his keynote address, urged the builders to look for a proper way of identifying quacks in the profession. He assured them  of his government’s readiness to partner with their institute.

The governor who was represented by the Chairman, Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority, Mr. I.K Uwuegede, challenged builders on the need to bridge the housing deficit in the country through the use of modern building technology that will enhance mass production of houses.

On how to eradicate building collapse, the President of NIOB, Mr. Chuck Omeife,advised those who intend to undertake building constructions, to demand for the professional status of anyone to be engaged. This will enable them to ascertain that such person is a builder duly registered by CORBON.

In his paper titled “Curbing the incidence of building collapse in Nigeria: sanctions, liability and legal imperatives,” a past President of the institute, Mr. Dachollum Jambol called for the  urgent implementation of the building code to address absence of planning of the nation’s towns and cities, incessant collapse of building, fire incidents, built environment abuse and other disaster.

He explained that the implementation of the building code would address the issues of dearth of reference design standards for professionals, use of unqualified persons for building production process and lack of maintenance culture.

Jambol who is a lecturer in the Department of Building, University of Jos, called for government’s collaborative efforts with professionals and regulatory bodies without any delay to conduct a comprehensive audit of all construction firms operating in Nigeria  to ensure their level of compliance with the building code and all relevant industry practice regulation, legislations and controls.

“There is need for comprehensive audit of all construction firms to assure quality and competence of personnel allowed into the industry and quality of products; and ascertain technological capabilities/capacities for practice,” he said.