SON Wants Roofing Sheets For Exports

The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has urged manufacturers of roofing sheets to adopt best practices so as to be able to export their products.

Director-General of SON, Dr. Joseph Odumodu, stated this on Friday in Lagos, that the sector had the potential to export to ECOWAS market.

“But the problem with the sector is that the operators are yet to adhere to best practices.

“Nigerian companies have the potential to manufacture for local consumption as well as for export, but the standard is still the challenge,” Odumodu said.

He said that SON would sanitise the sector to produce quality aluminium sheets, adding that the minimum acceptable standard for aluminium sheet is 0.04 mm.

“We are going to make sure those operators adhere to the laid down standard to boost trade, reduce roof leakages and destruction by rainstorm. “SON is taking a holistic look at the building sector and this is part of it.

“It is SON’s quest to reduce building collapse and ensure that consumers have access to quality materials,’ he said.

Odumodu said that SON would hold a stakeholders’ meeting with the aluminium sheet manufacturers on ways the operators could adopt best practices.

“Some of the operators still engage in practices which are not acceptable.

“Cladding the sheet top and bottom with different materials and non-durable colour, among others, is not acceptable, “ he said.

He said that poor quality materials often damaged homes and led to loss of lives and investment.

“Since, I took over the leadership of SON few months ago, my vision is to support the big and small local industries to meet export and contribute their quota to the nation’s GDP.

“Standards is a common language, once your products meet the specification, the products can be exported to any part of the world,’’ he said.

He said that SON had started meeting the various groups in the sector to ensure standards in their production.

Odumodu said that President Goodluck Jonathan’s transformation agenda of wealth creation and employment generation would be achieved if best practices were adopted.