QSRBN urge built professionals, FG to set-up regulatory bodies for construction industry
By: Tijani Salako.
The Quantity Surveyors Registration Board of Nigeria (QSRBN) has called on the professionals and government for the establishment of a Building and Engineering Commission (BEC) to regulate the construction industry.
This call was made during the QS assembly and induction of new members as the president of the institute opined that membership of the regulatory body should be constituted from the bodies in the construction industry, including the nominees of the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development and Ministry of Works.
Onashile, who lamented that the construction market is now an open market with unprofessional individuals parading themselves as contractors, consultants, and professionals, calls for urgency in ensuring that the federal government, professionals, regulatory bodies, and other stakeholders need to set up a central regulatory agency or body.
Onashile, who spoke on the theme; “Enhancing the Quantity Surveyors’ Capacity in Building, Engineering, and Infrastructure Development Contracts, Dispute Management, and Resolution,” said the creation of this body had become an imperative to save the sector from unwholesome practices, especially from the quacks practitioners.
The QSRBN president said the 2006 Building Code has not been fully adopted because of several issues with it. “There must be a paradigm shift in the approach to solving the ills of the construction market. The building code needs to be reviewed effectively to make it enforceable for regulation.”
Onashile, who also commented on quackery, said, “It is not only in surveying that there are quacks. We have quacks as contractors, professionals or designers, and surveyors, as we are escalating the issue of quackery, the industry cannot be controlled by the monopoly of the profession in addressing the issue of building collapse and other ills in the industry.”
Minister of Housing and Urban Development Ahmed Dangiwa assured the board of federal governments has resolved to engage with stakeholders to design and implement policy reforms that foster transparency, professionalism, and accountability across the housing and construction value chain.
Dangiwa, who was represented by Pemi Temitope, observed that the ministry has key into the Renewed Hope Agenda through landmark initiatives like Renewed Hope Cities and Estates, slum upgrade intervention and Public Private Partnership projects.
