PROPERTY ARTICLES

The incessant collapse of buildings across the country with its attendant human and material losses have been blamed on failures at the Federal Government level, following its alleged procrastination in setting up a Building Code Enforcement Committee, more than two years after the code was approved by the Federal Executive Council.

The immediate past president of the Nigerian Institute of Builders (NIOB) and member of the Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria (CORBON) Bala Ka'Oje, spoke on the issue recently in Abuja during the Council's 8th investiture and induction of members ceremony.

Ka' Oje, a former Minister of Sports, said there were more than enough provisions in the Building Code to restrain quacks and unprofessional practice in the building industry, but regretted that until an enforcement committee is set up by the Federal Government to implement the intents of the code, safe construction may continue to elude Nigerians.

Ka'Oje charged the Federal Ministry of Environment, Housing and Urban Development to take a cue from the pressure group's efforts by advising the Federal Government on the urgent need for the Code Enforcement Committee.

Speaking at the recent induction of 146 new members by CORBON this year - the highest in 19 years of its existence - the Council's Chairman, Professor Akin Akindoyeni said that inducting such a number into professional cadre of the Council was unimaginable in the past, but only goes to show how important the profession is to the building industry.

His words: "we in the industry would profess that next to God, is the builder. The builder is wholly responsible for the production management spectrum in the total continuum of building development within the human settlement environment.

"We are the ones who make the imaginations of the Architects and Engineers come into existence within the ambience of good safety, within the realm of ability in terms of buildability, with the prospect of durability in terms of maintainability at the optimal cost acceptable to the client developer within the expertise of cost control, on time and at acceptable quality".

While welcoming the new builders into the fold of professionals, Prof. Akindoyeni however warned that the Council would not hesitate to de-register any professional builder who is found guilty of professional misconduct.