Stakeholders advocate sustainable building production process

Poised to achieve comfort in buildings, experts have stressed the need for professionals in the industry, especially builders to hone their skills and be abreast of developments in construction activities.

They noted that such expertise would enable them deliver services and products that are of high performance, value to clients and end users.

The professionals also called on governments and experts in housing sector to adopt the national building code and ensure compliance among designers. This, they emphasised would further enable builders to contribute their input in the building delivery process, thereby blocking unprofessional practices in building services design and installation.

The President, Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB), Mr. Kunle Awobodu, led the call during a virtual mandatory professional development workshop organised by the institute in Abuja.

Awobodu, who stated that professional builders are trained and recognised by law for construction and maintenance of buildings, including the assembly and integration of its various components and services, charged practitioners to enforce proper plumbing in building, installation of lighting and other electro-mechanical works.

He explained that building services must contribute to the comfort of users, utility of buildings, such as lighting and other transportation systems such as lifts and escalators.

In his remarks, President, Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Babagana Mohammed, called for increased cooperation and teamwork among various professionals in the construction industry to eradicate quackery, enhance service delivery and building quality in the country.

In his submission, Prof. Ikemefuna Mbamali, said building services ecosystem starts from design, equipment selection, optimisation, spatial coordination and user behaviour, hence the entire process must be well coordinated.

The Chairman, Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria, Prof. Kabir Bala, commended NIOB for organising the workshop amid search for sustainable solutions to the problem of services in buildings.

Also speaking, a quantity surveyor, Oluwole Olatunji, observed that defects in building design have huge cost implications on facilities operation and maintenance.

He argued that there are no perfect designs, but built drawings may be the answer to quality buildings. Olatunji further said Nigeria and indeed Africa do not lack capacity for building edifices, citing examples of the pyramid of Egypt. According to him, the problem of Africa is centered on the challenging environment in which building professionals operate.