As minister pledges support to quantity surveyors’ board
Towards transforming the nation’s construction industry, the Quantity Surveyors Registration Board of Nigeria (QSRBN) has advised the Federal Government to establish a Building and Engineering Construction Commission.
The commission, which will be under the oversight of the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, is expected to be saddled with regulating the entire industry like the Securities and Exchange Commission, which regulates the stock market industry.
The regulatory board is also asking the government to recognise Construction Health, Safety and Environment (CHSE) as an independent qualification, role and responsibility within the building and construction processes, as well as place stricter national controls over any building or structure higher than nine metres.
QSRBN President, Obafemi Onashile, who led the leadership of the quantity surveying profession to the Minister, Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa on a courtesy visit in Abuja, called for a stricter control of high-rise buildings, recommended, “laws such as a modified version of the current Building Code but without the design procedural prescriptions as currently included.”
“For such notifiable and high structures there must be complete professional documentation stating all the elements of the building structure by design, as well as by detailed specifications through the Bills of Quantities and well costed such that the owner is well aware of all that is needed to be done and the costs to avoid the pressure of finding ways to reduce costs, which always lead to building collapse.”
Onashile also expressed the need for government construction contracts to have adjudication (a more straightforward route of evaluating disputes from construction procedural/technical perspectives by technical experts rather than by legal) as the ultimate choice for dispute resolution after the initial possible mediation processes.
According to him, arbitration is no more working and has been turned into Litigation. “In the long run, for the nation to have Federal High Courts for construction dispute matters just like we have Federal High Courts specifically for financial frauds,” he said.
He appealed for the minister’s intervention on some challenges facing the board, which include funding, possession of the Board’s allocated plots of land, lack of coordination and cohesion in the construction industry.
The President of the Nigeria Institute of Quantity Surveyors (NIQS), Kene Nzekwe, also recommended ways to enhance the construction industry, such as enacting a robust legal framework for construction contracts and robust implementation, reviews of the Federal Housing Authority law for affordable housing, and creating a Construction Industry Development Board.
In response, Dangiwa reaffirmed the ministry’s commitment to supporting the board to fulfill its statutory functions. He acknowledged the role of the QSRBN in the collective efforts to reposition Nigeria’s housing and construction sector for greater efficiency, accountability, and professional excellence, saying that the quantity surveying profession was essential to ensuring cost transparency, value for money, and fiscal discipline in the execution of construction projects.
While commending the Board for its professionalism, Dangiwa urged them to take their regulatory oversight role seriously by ensuring proper training and licensing of professionals to practice ethically, stating that it was a sure way of safeguarding the integrity of the profession and supporting the government’s agenda of eliminating waste, corruption, and substandard practices in the built environment.
The minister emphasised the role of the QSRBN in contributing to the sector’s development and providing procurement standards, cost estimating methodologies, and benchmarking practices that align with international best practices.
“We will also count on your support in strengthening quality assurance and control on our project sites nationwide, particularly under the Renewed Hope Housing Programme, the National Urban Renewal and Slum Upgrade Programme, and the Building Materials Manufacturing Hubs we are working to establish across the six geopolitical zones”, he added.
Dangiwa further encouraged the Board to work closely with the ministry to deepen collaboration, transparency and accountability in housing delivery.On concerns raised by the President of the QSRBN, the Minister assured that the issues around funding for the Board, as well as recovering their hijacked plots of land, would be checked and resolved.
