Safety institute seeks legislation on construction projects

Piqued by recurring incidences of building collapse in the country, the most recent being the 21-storey high-rise in Ikoyi, the Institute of Safety Professionals of Nigeria has called on the National Building Code Inspectorate, the Lagos State Town Planning Authority and other relevant authorities to carry out proper investigations and make their findings available to the public for the benefit of all residents of the state and Nigerians in general.

In a statement by its President, Ebi Kaizer yesterday, the Institute also urged relevant professionals to discourage their members who are in the business of selling their practicing licenses to unscrupulous developers and quack professionals just to get approvals of drawing without supervising the construction work.

Stressing that safety professionals must always be on the ground for proper management of construction sites, the Safety Professionals called for legislation to guide construction projects and steer constructions site execution in the country.

It also warned members of the public against occupying buildings under construction and others marked for demolition.

The statement read in part: “We condole with the government and people of Lagos State and the families of those who lost their lives in the unfortunate and avoidable incident at the 21-storey building site.

“While the relevant authorities continue to give excuses during building collapse, more innocent Nigerians continue o lose their lives. Buildings are essential to protect lives and not to take away. We do not want to agree that such a building can be constructed without the input of structural Engineers, Safety Experts, Fire Protection Specialist and other civil Construction Authorities of the Lagos State Government, hence our demand for legislation to guide construction projects and steer constructions site execution in the country.”