Building collapse now a state of emergency – COBON

The Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria (COBON) has said Nigeria is now in a state of emergency following rising cases of building collapse. The Council fingered activities of quacks as the major contributor to building collapse even as it said it is working to reduce quackery to the lowest minimum. Dr. Samson Ameh Opaluwa, […]

The Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria (COBON) has said Nigeria is now in a state of emergency following rising cases of building collapse.

The Council fingered activities of quacks as the major contributor to building collapse even as it said it is working to reduce quackery to the lowest minimum.

Dr. Samson Ameh Opaluwa, the Chairman of Council, COBON, stated this in Abuja during the induction ceremony of newly registered professional builders.

373 new professional builders were added to the economy – the single largest induction since the inception of COBON.

“Building collapse used to be in few locations but in the past year, we discovered building collapses were taking place all over the country and that meant that an emergency situation has arisen and we needed to take drastic steps to curb it,” he said.

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Based on the building collapse crises, President Muhammadu Buhari in 2022 charged them to end building collapse and the Council has taken steps to address that.

“We set up nationally, a Project Evaluation and Monitoring Unit. This is a unit that is deployed all over the country and manned by registered builders” he explained.

“This unit will ensure all buildings across the country meet quality specifications. They are also to monitor the practices on-site to conform with the National Building Code, and relevant laws setting up the arms of various professionals in the construction sector. They are also to ensure safe practice at the site and meet international conventions.”

Dr. Opaluwa noted that states have regulatory authorities that approve infrastructure development and every construction in those states thus, the Project and Monitoring Unit must ensure these regulations are complied with.

He listed the four tools for every professional builder to include: “Programme or plan of work, construction methodology, project quality monitoring plan and project health and safety plan.”

He said these requirements must be provided for the design state and follow through till be project is completed. ¹

Commenting, Bldr. Tunji Adeniran, the Registrar COBON told the new inductees to be of high integrity and professionalism.

“Your clients trust you with their hard-earned resources to provide services for them. I dare say they trust you with their lives too as they ask you to provide buildings for their activities and living. Don’t betray these trusts on the altar of profits. Value the lives of your clients and the general public” he said.