AMEND EXISTING CONSTRUCTION LAW TO CURB BUILDING COLLAPSE – NIGERA INSTITUTE OF QUANTITY SURVEYORS BEGS NATIONAL ASSEMBL

The National Assembly has been urged to give speedy passage to the bill seeking to amend construction and factory Act of 1974 to check incidences of collapsed buildings in the country.

The National President, Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors, Mr. Obafemi Onoshile, made the call in a forum organized for stakeholders in the construction industry in Owerri.

He said the current laws guiding construction in Nigeria was defective as it did not provide for health and safety measures.

Mr. Onoshile attributed the rising incidences of collapsed buildings and loss of lives at construction sites to failure of some developers to engage services of competent professionals.

Mr. Onoshile said the bill, when passed in to law, would make it mandatory for a specific contractor who would be knowledgeable in health and safety measures to be attached to construction sites to save the lives of the people.

He explained that the construction law, which was amended in 2004, had loopholes that made it difficult to hold anyone accountable whenever there is an incident of building collapse.

Mr. Onoshile noted that there were so many unreported deaths at construction sites due to neglect of safety measures and appealed to state governors not to hesitate in domesticating the law in the interest of the masses.

CHINAZO ILECHUKWU