The Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB) will kickoff its pre-Builders’ Day programme with the induction of graduate students of building and inauguration of the Association of Building Artisans and Caftsmen of Nigeria (ABACON).
National President of the institute Kunle Awobodu said professionalism in building construction remained the first step to reducing substandard building construction practices across the country.
Awobodu, in a statement said, “Builders as professionals saddled with the responsibility of managing building production on sites, must be technically sound to ensure that the architectural, structural, mechanical and electrical designs are wholesomely integrated to form a massive product composed of various elements and parts that will work in unison and are sustainable.”
He said March 13 was chosen in commemoration of the collapse of a five-storey residential building at 63, Massey Street, Ita-Faaji, Lagos Island in 2019, leading to the death of over 20 pupils. It was an avoidable calamity that elicited world-wide condemnation.
Awobodu said the outcome of investigation into the Ita-Faaji building collapse and several similar past cases in Lagos, made the state government to stipulate in its Building Regulations of 2019 that building construction sites across the state should be managed by registered/ professional builders.