PROPERTY TRANSACTION GUIDE

Builders educate students on professionalism
By Akinpelu Dada

Punch, Monday, 16th March 2009

Students of building management in tertiary institutions have been advised to participate actively in the activities of the local chapters of the Nigerian Institute of Building in order to gain useful experience from professionals.

The Chairman, Lagos State Chapter, NIOB, Mr. Kunle Awobodu, gave the advice on Wednesday, when he led other executive members on a visit to the Department of Building, Lagos State Polytechnic, Ikorodu.

According to him, building students have a unique opportunity to learn from the many qualified professionals in the state, who handle various building projects, while an opportunity of employment is being opened up by the state government through regulations that will make the services of builders essential.

He said that presently, there was a paucity of qualified builders to fill positions that would be created when the state government split the functions of the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development into physical planning control and building control.

The chairman urged lecturers to create awareness of institute’s activities for the students, and also advised them to utilise the good quality technical papers being presented at NIOB sessions to set exams for the students.

In a brief lecture on the importance of foundation to a structure, Awobodu said it was the element that made any structure resting on the surface of the earth stable, noting that stress usually set in when the load that was beyond what the natural foundation could bear, leading to failed performance.

He said, "To avoid such failed performances, there is need to estimate the load the artificial foundation is going to transmit to the natural foundation is going to transmit to the natural foundation and also verify the strength or evaluate the capacity of the soils that make up this natural foundation so as to know their limitations."

Awobodu noted that the need to know the capacity of the ground on which the structure would rest brought to the fore subsoil investigation, which is the scientific determination of the nature and strength of materials underlying the surface of the ground.

The Head of Building Department, LASPOTECH, Mr. M. O. Ogunbayo, explained to the students the areas of specialisation that they could explore. These include building production management, building condition survey, feasibility and viability studies, building maintenance management, project management, facility management, project monitoring and evaluation; mediation, arbitration and expert witness; and risk and value management.