Building Expert Calls for Domestication of National Building Code in Imo State

"Building Expert Calls for Domestication of National Building Code in Imo State

By Our Correspondent

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OWERRI – Stakeholders in Imo State's construction industry are raising the alarm over recurring building collapses, as a Building expert has called on the State Government to domesticate the National Building Code to curb structural failures that have claimed numerous lives across the state.


Dr. Andy Chima Oswagwu, immediate past Chairman of the Nigerian Institute of Building in Imo State chapter and Senior Lecturer at Federal Polytechnic Nekede, made the call while speaking in Owerri.


"The National Building Code has all the responsibilities of various Professionals enshrined in it," Dr. Oswagwu explained. "The Architect designs, the structural Engineer designs the Structure, the Service Engineers do Electrical and Mechanical Drawings, the Quantity Surveyor does bill of quantities, and the Builder comes in to erect the structure as designed and specified."


The Expert warned that without legislative backing, the Code remains ineffective, leaving the State vulnerable to building failures.


"When the Government does not enact a law that will nail people going contrary to this, we continue to have collapsed buildings," he stated emphatically. "When you get Builders involved in your project, you have no case of building collapse."


Dr. Oswagwu also took aim at substandard building materials flooding the market, specifically calling on the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) to strengthen regulations.


"We are charging SON to go into our Building Material Markets and cut down that nonsense," he declared. "Builders in Imo State Chapter have cried out, written petitions, and protested against this issue of 'new mold, old mold.' If 12mm is 12mm, let it be 12mm, not new and old because one is thicker than the other."


He advised the public to verify builders' registration numbers through the Nigerian Institute of Building register before engaging their services, stressing that professional involvement significantly reduces construction risks.


Stakeholders have already engaged the Imo State House of Assembly to facilitate the Code's Domestication, which they believe would raise construction standards and protect lives and property.


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