The Lagos State government on Wednesday engaged construction experts on domestication of the National Building Code (NBC) to develop standards to tame building collapse.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the experts brainstormed at a workshop in Ikeja, organised by the Lagos State Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development in collaboration with the Nigerian Energy Support Programme (NESP).
The event organised for stakeholders in the construction sector focused on the domestication of the NBC in Lagos State and integration of the Building Energy Efficiency Code (BEEC).
Stakeholders at the event included the seven built environment professional associations and their subsidiaries, which included surveyors, engineers, town planners, architects, estate surveyors and valuers, builders and quantity surveyors.
Others were: ministries and officials of the Lagos State government, construction experts from the Lagos State University, University of Lagos, Yaba College of Technology and other tertiary and research institutions in the state.
The Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr Idris Salako, said the workshop was aimed at collectively evolving methodical steps to domesticate the NBC in Lagos State.
Salako said the move to domesticate the NBC was in response to agitations by building professionals for its adoption in regulating the built environment to enhance construction standards.
“Without doubt, the successful domestication of the National Building Code and the subsequent evolution of a Lagos State Building Code will go down in the annals as first by any state of the federation.
“While helping to depart from recourse to standards from other polities such as the British and American standards.
“The advantage of this is legion, and it includes the opportunity to focus on the peculiarities of our state, especially as a coastal, low-lying entity with urbanisation challenges.
“It is also a formula for tackling incidents of building collapse in the state effectively,” he said.
Salako said the huge investments by Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu in regulating the physical planning environment was fast tracking development, leading the state towards achieving a 21st Century Economy as contained in the THEMES Agenda.
He thanked the Nigerian Energy Support Programme and its principals for midwifing the process.
Mrs Aramide Adeyoye, Special Adviser to the governor on Works and Infrastructure, who was represented by Mr Adebayo Ayodeji said evolution of codes would ensure quality and safety.
Chairman, Lagos State Chapter, Nigerian Institute of Architects, Mr David Majekodunmi, giving an overview of the NBC, said it was written as far back as 2006 and was signed into law 36 years after.
Majekodunmi said the Lagos State government on its part set up various agencies to deal with building regulations, adding thatthe Building Code is the guide needed to eliminate all infractions in the construction sector.
He defined the NBC as a set of rules and regulations developed to protect people and property from danger as well as offering environment friendly designs to reduce carbon footprints.
He thanked the Lagos State government and its agencies for the implementation of physical planning laws.
He said construction had four stages, which included pre-design, design, construction and post construction, all captured in the code.
“If everybody goes by this book, we all have our roles to play,” he said.
Other experts at the event said Nigeria derived its standards used in the National Building Code (NBC) document from both the American and the British. (NAN)
