NIOB Urges NASS to Pass Building Code to Curb Building Collapse

The Nigerian Institute of Building,(NOIB) has called on the National Assembly (NASS) to pass the National Building Code into law in order to curtail the incessant cases of building collapse across the country.

The Abuja Chapter Chairman of the institute, Omale Ameh made the call in his address at the recent 2022 conference/Annual General Meeting of NIOB and called on the Federal Government to ask the Nigeria’s lawmakers to pass the building code into law.

Ameh stated that they have called on the National Assembly to pass the National Building Code into law, adding that they continue the advocacy and public enlightenment activities, while they agitate for the passage of the National Building Code into law.

“We wish to call on government and relevant stakeholders to rise up to the challenge and call on the National Assembly to expedite action with the passage of the NBC into law and enforcing it as it remains a key-gate to the production of safe buildings in Nigeria and a solution to this problem of building collapse,” he said.

According to him, in order to effectively respond to the challenges of building collapse across the country, the AGM Planning Committee came up with for the theme, “Curbing the menace of building collapse in Nigeria: An appraisal of the salient issues.”

He lamented that the continuous sad commentary of building collapse and unwarranted loss of lives and properties was an embarrassment to the built environment professionals.

He posited that it had negatively impacted the sector, adding that other problems that had worsened building collapse stem from lack of collaboration by professionals, indiscriminate importation of substandard materials and lack of adherence to the regulatory framework.

In his words: “Professionals in the built environment will readily agree that one of the greatest challenges of the Nigerian built environment is the need for appropriate regulations, effective enforcement and the application of sanctions to erring offenders in the sector.”

He stated further that they will continue to picket National Assembly until all rejected bills are reconsidered, stressing that until these are put in place and quacks are expelled from handling construction works; buildings may continue to collapse with continuous loss of valuable lives and property.

The Secretary-General, Nigerian Bar Association, Adebiyi Adetosoye, said the theme of the AGM was apt, considering the spate of the collapse of buildings across the country.

Adetosoye lauded the FCT chapter of the NIOB for its commitment to interrogating the subject, adding that it was only when professionals were accorded their rightful patronage that the challenge of building collapse would be addressed.