Lagos tasks surveyors on project management, design development

Practising surveyors have been advised to get involved in project management especially at the planning and design stages.

The Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Housing, Mr. Kamar Olowoshago, made the call at the 37th yearly General Meeting of Lagos State branch of Nigerian Institution of Surveyors (NIS) in Lagos.

Speaking on the topic: “Housing Development, Monitoring and Management: The input of Geo-spatial Technology and Information Systems for Sustainable Progress”, Olowoshago, said in doing this, permanent aspects such as road and lot orientation, size, landscaping, house design, water design and energy consumption need to be considered.

According to him, government policies relating to the environmental protection agencies and State’s Environmental Planning policy as well as concepts such as water management in urban design should adopt and encourage the principles of Ecological Sustainable Development (ESD). He said, this would provide the framework for surveyors to convince their clients to create better, more sustainable housing development.

To him, it should be used as tools, along side community consultation to ensure that the developments in the present and in the future meet the needs of prospective residents.

The guest speaker, who was represented by Director, Public Affairs, Lagos State Ministry of Housing, Adeola Salako, noted that the concept of safe, resilient and sustainable cities advocated by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs Goal 11) is plagued by unending congestion, dilapidated or lack of social infrastructure, and housing.

On the role of surveyors in the building industry, Olowoshago stressed that surveying is the basic requirement for all sustainable development including infrastructural projects.

He urged surveyors to provide topographical surveys to help engineers and architects design buildings, construct pathways, drainages, roads and other right of ways.

“How can a state, region or country plan to use and manage effectively all its land resources without adequately surveying them?

“Surveyors determine the existing relative horizontal and vertical position, such as that used for the process of mapping and eventual construction. Surveyors establish positions, and marks to control construction or to indicate land boundaries. Surveyors also provide layout surveys for the proper delineation of plots and establishment of individual boundaries for the purposes of mass housing units. They do road setting out and construction set outs.”

He further said: “Surveyors help in control of vertical and horizontal dimensions in constructions to ensure dimensional stability during the construction process.

A well-developed urban city is a well-surveyed urban city. Surveyors are the pathfinders for every professional in the building sector. Surveying is indeed the bedrock of any meaningful development.”

“It is high time we started mapping our cities seriously for the purpose of planning, development and management for the provision of sustainable housing units for our teeming population.”

Earlier, chairman of the chapter, Olukolade Kasim, stressed the need for surveyors to adopt technology in their practices. He said the future of the surveying profession is bright.