Building collapse: Building code remains the only solution - Omeife

President of the Nigerian Institute of Building, NIOB, Bldr Chuck Omeife said the National Building Code, NBC remains the only solution to the lingering building collapses in the country.

Bldr Chucks Omeife, NIOB President

He stated this at the just-concluded 43^rd Builders’ Conference and Annual General Meeting in Abuja.

Omeife while delivering his welcome address said one of the most enduring solutions to the problem of building collapse is for government to take the enabling bill which is supposed to give a legal backing to the National Building Code as an executive bill to hearten its promulgation by the National Assembly.

“This way the buildings waiting to collapse can be prevented and sanity can return to a large extent to the built environment,” he noted.

He also emphasized that another solution to building collapse is to consciously bridge the yawning gap between design and construction.

According to him, “The policy gap in the Built environment regulatory framework and the disconnect between design and construction is an issue to be addressed. The builder remains the missing link between design and construction for the enthronement of quality delivery of the sector products.”

Collapsed building

He added, “The builders’ involvement at the design stage revolves around planning, evaluation of various construction methodologies with possible strategies, the situation of the health and safety paradigms that will drive the entire project execution.”

The NIOB president however disclosed that there are attempts to capture some of the fundamental omissions in the NBC but its non-implementation due to lack of enforcement legislation has given impetus to quacks who have taken over the industry.