PROPERTY NEWS

THE NEED for professionals in the built environment to network has been emphasised, just as a call for their involvement by government in major contracts in the country was canvassed.

Chairman of the Lagos branch of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV), Mr. Elias Ovesuor, who dropped the hint in an exclusive interview last week in Lagos, said that professionals in the construction industry should strive to work together by way of synchronising their individual and collective efforts in order to be able to meet the challenges of the present day.

He spoke at the NERC secretariat, Central Business District (CBD), Alausa, venue of a Mandatory Continuous Professional Development (MCPD) seminar organised by the institution.

He lamented a situation whereby the estate surveyor was not put in the front burner in the construction process, adding that it does not augur well for the profession.

Ovesuor said that it was time the erroneous impression on the minds of the public was erased in respect of the belief that the estate surveyor only comes in at the end of the construction process just for the purpose of doing valuation.

The NIESV helmsman was of the opinion that with proper sensitisation coupled with massive enlightenment campaign, such misconception would be erased. He added that this would enable the estate surveyor and valuer to take his rightful place among other professionals in the built environment.

He pointed out that the MCPD was put in place by Lagos NIESV to sharpen the professional skills of members, adding that the seminar would no doubt further develop the members so as to meet modern day challenges in the area of valuation.

He said that the MCPD which is the first to be organised by his executive would however be sustained as one of the ways of making the profession of estate surveying relevant in the scheme of things.

Ovesuor also hinted that the state branch was pursuing with vigour the drive to reduce the problem of quackery in the profession, adding that all hands were on deck to ensure tat the menace of quacks was reduced to the barest minimum.

He charged the federal and indeed all the state governments to endevour to engage the services of indigenous estate surveyors in the valuation of major contracts. He added that, by so doing, local professionals would be encouraged.