The Lagos State Government on Wednesday said it was adopting proactive measures towards the provision of quality mass housing to keep up with the rising population of the state.
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The State Commissioner for Housing, Mr. Moruf Akinderu-Fatai said this at the 4th Edition of the Builders’ Business Workshop organized by the Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB) in Ikeja.
The combined physical/virtual workshop had the theme “Building Surveying Practice, Charting a New Course in Building Post Construction Services in Lagos”.
Akinderu-Fatai said daily influx to the state was widening the shelter gap hence ongoing efforts for constructing highrise buildings while not losing sight of quality.
He added that the state government introduced vertical construction while capturing safety, cost, and quality.
Akinderu-Fatai revealed efforts towards closing the shelter gap through its various housing schemes and partnerships.
He said some residents of the state were not interested in owning houses as such efforts were ongoing for housing schemes for rent only.
The commissioner said the renting laws were being examined to make it attractive for the private sector to inject funds into housing schemes.
He urged professionals to collaborate towards assisting the efforts of the government while urging them to shun unhealthy competition.
“I want to assure you that government is ready to collaborate at all levels,” he said.
The Director General, of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Malam Farouk Salim, called for the prosecution of building collapse offenders to ensure compliance with quality.
Salim lamented what he described as disturbing statistics of building collapse with Nigeria topping the chart in Africa and Lagos accounting for 60 percent of them in the nation.
He however admitted that Lagos state is a huge construction zone hence its higher figures.
He commended the leadership of the Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB) Lagos state Chapter for organizing the workshop to boost the capacity of the professionals.
He advised the builders to use knowledge from the workshop to carry out a post-construction building survey for Lagos State towards taming building collapse.
“This workshop underscores the commitment of the Institute to address the challenges of building and construction deficits in Nigeria.
“The survey practices and procedures for building and post-construction services are essential aspects of the construction industry to ensure that buildings are constructed and maintained in line with international best practices thereby promoting public safety, and improving the lives and security of the citizens of Nigeria.
“The post-construction stage of buildings and construction is critical in the life cycle of a building. Surveyors and other professionals are expected to inspect buildings to ensure that they meet all relevant regulations.
“This will provide the clients with a report detailing the results of the inspections and recommendations for future maintenance or repairs,” he said.
He said SON had actively played its roles to develop and regulate standards for all the sectors of the economy including the building sector.
“There exists a number of standards for building materials including cement, blocks, roofing sheets, and iron rods for use in the construction sector,” he said.
He said in spite of efforts by SON, building collapse was increasing with Nigeria leading in Africa and Lagos State alone accounting for 60 percent of the cases.
He listed causes of collapse to include lack of enforcement of existing standards and regulations, poor designs, poor quality control measures, use of quacks, and sub-standard materials, amongst others.
He urged professionals in the built environment to ensure that the materials and manpower used in the building meet the requirements of the relevant standards.
