Engineer Wants States To Enforce Building Code

Following reports of collapse of buildings across the country, a building expert in Port Harcourt, Engineer Dennis Osei has urged state governments to adopt and implement (enforce) the Revised National Building Code so as to prevent avoidable building collapse and related hazards in the building industry.

Osei, a structural engineer by training and member of the Nigerian Institute of Builders (NIOB) who made the call in an interaction with The Tide in Port Harcourt, said that the call has become necessary in view of the numerous reports of building collapse across the country.

He posted that the state governments must lead the drive to institutionalise the Revised Building Code to make it effective in the country.

According to him, the incessant reports of building collapse in Nigeria have tended to create distrust in the mind of the public for building exports, stressing that this trend can be tackled through enforcement of the code in various states.

“If the revised code is to effectively serve as a mechanism to safeguard and protect us all from preventable hazards that can be life-threatening in the construction and housing sector, the state governments must lead the drive to institutionalize the code”, he said.

The building professional also posited that the 36 states of the Federation and the FCT Administration should ensure that the code is adopted and adapted as a regulatory tool in their spheres of influence.

He said “Their respective legislatives should endeavour to enact it as part of their Jurisdictional code after it has undergone the formal process of approval by the highest level of government”.

Corlins Walter