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Tag: BCPG

  • BCPG seeks better craftsmen

    Members of Building Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPG), Ikorodu Cell, Lagos, have urged stakeholders in the local construction industry to promote the use of competent craftsmen to reduce the spate of unsatisfactory works in building production across the country.

    The call was made at a seminar organised by the built environment professionals living or working in Ikorodu.

    The seminar was themed: “Profiling craftsmen competency in the Nigerian construction industry.”

    The guest speaker, a Department of Building Technology lecturer, Lagos State Polytechnic, Ikorodu, Salisu Harfiz, lamented that the  academic system has failed to pay adequate attention to handicraft training, a situation, which  he said has led to graduation of half-baked craftsmen, which has led to competency challenges for the industry.

    To overcome this inadequacy, Harfiz, who is also the Second Vice- President, of the Nigerian Association of Engineering Craftsmen (NAEC), advocated an increase in the provision of modern technological training, including modern day tools and equipment in technical colleges and construction – skills- acquisition centres across the country.

    He, therefore, appealed to the Nigerian Board for Technical Education to sustain the newly introduced National Skills Qualifications Framework, which is aimed at assessing and upgrading the competency of construction artisans and craftsmen.

    BCPG Coordinator, Ikorodu cell, Olusola Amusan, an architect, enjoined clients and those who would want to engage the services of craftsmen in the informal sector to insist on seeing and verifying the certificates of the craftsmen before giving them job.

    In his message to participants, Vice Chairman, BCPG Lagos State Chapter, Olajide Olayinka, an estate surveyor and valuer, encouraged parents to see future value in vocational education rather than pursuing mere academic programme that would lead their children to idleness from unemployment.

    Also, BCPG Lagos State Chapter Treasurer, Mrs. Olukemi Okusaga, a quantity surveyor, warned property owners of the implications of engaging incompetent craftsmen, adding that the extra cost that could be incurred in future corrections on the substandard construction works carried out by this category of workers, can be phenomenal.

    The National President of BCPG, Mr. George Akinola, a fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Architects promised that BCPG would upload on

  • BCPG seeks better craftsmen

    Members of Building Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPG), Ikorodu Cell, Lagos, have urged stakeholders in the local construction industry to promote the use of competent craftsmen to reduce the spate of unsatisfactory works in building production across the country.

    The call was made at a seminar organised by the built environment professionals living or working in Ikorodu.

    The seminar was themed: “Profiling craftsmen competency in the Nigerian construction industry.”

    The guest speaker, a Department of Building Technology lecturer, Lagos State Polytechnic, Ikorodu, Salisu Harfiz, lamented that the  academic system has failed to pay adequate attention to handicraft training, a situation, which  he said has led to graduation of half-baked craftsmen, which has led to competency challenges for the industry.

    To overcome this inadequacy, Harfiz, who is also the Second Vice- President, of the Nigerian Association of Engineering Craftsmen (NAEC), advocated an increase in the provision of modern technological training, including modern day tools and equipment in technical colleges and construction – skills- acquisition centres across the country.

    He, therefore, appealed to the Nigerian Board for Technical Education to sustain the newly introduced National Skills Qualifications Framework, which is aimed at assessing and upgrading the competency of construction artisans and craftsmen.

    BCPG Coordinator, Ikorodu cell, Olusola Amusan, an architect, enjoined clients and those who would want to engage the services of craftsmen in the informal sector to insist on seeing and verifying the certificates of the craftsmen before giving them job.

    In his message to participants, Vice Chairman, BCPG Lagos State Chapter, Olajide Olayinka, an estate surveyor and valuer, encouraged parents to see future value in vocational education rather than pursuing mere academic programme that would lead their children to idleness from unemployment.

    Also, BCPG Lagos State Chapter Treasurer, Mrs. Olukemi Okusaga, a quantity surveyor, warned property owners of the implications of engaging incompetent craftsmen, adding that the extra cost that could be incurred in future corrections on the substandard construction works carried out by this category of workers, can be phenomenal.

  • Guild wants FG to revamp building construction sector

    Guild wants FG to revamp building construction sector

    Mr Kunle Awobodu, the National President of Building Collapse Prevention Guild ( BCPG ), has called on the Federal Government to help revamp the local building construction sector.

    Awobodu said in Lagos on Friday that the sector was yet to get relief from the effects of economic recession recently experienced in the country.

    He said that lack of government’s assistance was a major factor militating against the growth of the building construction industry in Nigeria.

    Awobodu expressed regret that the government gave more support to foreign construction operators than the local ones.

    According to him, foreigners still dominate the sector in Nigeria, while their local counterparts are being neglected.

    “The few construction and capital projects in the country are being executed by foreign contractors and construction operators.

    “Any contract or construction work executed by foreigners will add little or nothing to the country’s GDP and economic growth.

    Read also: Budget 2018: Financiers to execute rail projects

    “Let the government invest in capital projects and engage the services of the local construction operators to help revamp the sector and equally enhance economic growth of the country,” he said.

    According to him, until the citizens and government learnt to value and make use of the local construction professionals and operators, the sector may not record significant growth.

    Awobodu warned that if government policies were not channeled to favour the construction sector, the nation may slip back into recession.

    He blamed the attitude of politicians for the recent economic recession and other challenges facing the country.

    Awobodu described the country’s political system as too expensive.

    NAN

  • Govt, BCPG seek collaboration on building collapse

    The Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Mr. Abiola Anifowoshe, has said rofessionals’ contributions and ideas from residents will be further explored to stem the rising incidence of building collapse in Lagos State.

    He spoke at this year’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Building Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPG), which held in Lagos.

    Anifowoshe explained that the state, under Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, placed high premium on regulatory authorities’ collaboration with other stakeholders. This, he said, is why the administration welcomes suggestions, brilliant ideas, technical and professional advice towards curbing the menace. With this, according to him, the hydra-headed problem of building collapse in the state will be checked.

    Anifowoshe further said the state was ready to provide necessary assistance  in tandem with constructive engagement and high point of planning inclusion as contained in the state’s urban governance.

    Also at the event, Director-General, Lagos State Safety Commission, Mr. Hakeem Dickson, contended that the spate of building collapse suggested that some professionals could have been cutting corners, by either using substandard materials, or not complying with set standards. He said the governor was worried about the spate of collapse, especially those involving buildings under construction.

    According to the host and BCPG President, Mr. Kunle Awobodu, one of the major problems of building collapse is the total disregard and wilful violation of the law. Awobodu, who is worried by the development, explained that in an organised society where the laws of the land are strictly adhered to, building collapse is an aberration.

    “A person, who cheats on the recommended setbacks is aware that he has created problems of insufficient ventilation, lighting, parking space, privacy and protection from fire incident in the adjoining or neighbouring buildings. The two-storey building that collapsed at No. 68, Herbert Macaulay Way, Ebute Meta in Lagos on August 31, 2017 affected the four-storey building on No. 66 simply because No. 66 reduced the setback specified by the building regulation,” he explained.

    The BCPG President regretted that while building law provides for minimal airspace of three metres between a building and its fence at the sides and the rear, including six metres in front, sadly, according to him, most developments are at conflict with this specification. “This type of situation,” he said, “is an indication that the developer of such buildings, including the supervisors, must have disobeyed many other specifications in the building construction process.”

    He continued:“Such a person, who could have taken the risk of leaving a permanent evidence of disregard for setback regulations, will not hesitate to disobey other specifications such as concrete mix ratio and steel reinforcement, bar spacing that will remain hidden after construction. Obvious compromise on setbacks in many locations in our society heightens our suspicion and our fears that quality of several buildings has all along been compromised.”

  • BCPG moves against illegal cement re-bagging

    The Building Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPG) has urged the Cement Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (CEMAN) to hold regular training and re-orientation sessions for cement distributors and retailers. This according to the guild, will further educate them on the implications sharp practices of illegal re-bagging of cement with the aim of discouraging same.

    BCPG President, Mr. Kunle Awobodu, in a in a letter to CEMAN said the essence of packaging cement at 50kg quantity per bag is to ensure consistency in mix ratio on site. He explained that when such quantity is deliberately reduced by some dubious cement distributors and retailers actuated by profiteering, then structural defects in building become imminent.

    “The sharp practice of cement quantity depletion is prevalent in the building material markets in Nigeria, especially in Abuja and Port Harcourt. It is unfortunate that this illegal practice has been in existence for long without serious efforts to checkmate it. And it remains a big headache for construction practitioners,” the letter, dated July 2, read in part.

    The guild noted that head pans are the common gauge   This, it explained, is for ease of transportation and lifting, as a bag of cement of 50kg, is the equivalent of two head pans by volume.

    The letter further explained that “a mix ratio of 1:2:4, which is traditionally expected to attain a strength of 20N/mm2 at 28 days, the translation into practice is one head pan of cement (that is, half a bag of cement) will be added to two head pans of fine aggregate such as sharp sand and four head pans of coarse aggregate that could be clean gravel or granite. Then water of appropriate proportion is used to mix the cement and the aggregates together in a workability and compaction that will eventuate in the required strength at 28 days.”

    The group then cautioned that a reduction in the quantity of cement contained in a standard bag, though might not be noticeable, constitutes a serious danger to the overall strength of a concrete. The same is applicable to cement-sand ratio in screeding, rendering and block moulding.

    According to the BCPG, its investigations revealed that the unscrupulous act of cement re-bagging has been buoyed by greed and competition within the circles of some cement distributors and retailers. “The intention to attract customers by deliberately lowering the price, usually between N50 and N100 against the general market price, is identified as the major cause of re-bagged cement syndrome,” the BCPG observed.

  • Workers for training

    Professionals in the construction sector and other players in the industry will tomorrow hold a workshop for concrete workers in Lagos State.

    The Group under the aegis of Building Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPG) and the Lagos State ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development and others in a parley said the idea is to bring a multi-disciplinary approach to the problems of building collapse.

    Chairman of the group, Mr Kunle Awobodu, who spoke on behalf of his colleagues, said: “Noting the crucial role of the concreting managers and artisans, such as the machine operators, the carriers, spreaders, vibrator operators, bricklayers, carpenters and iron benders, there is no better time than now to bring the artisans under one umbrella to educate and assist them in applying the knowledge.

    He said the discussions, which involve the various arm of government, would include training concrete workers on the standards stipulated for concrete mixing by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), safety especially in the handling of concrete materials, quality control and need for materials testing including the essence of water in concrete with batching by weight and volume.

    Awobodu said the training would also involve quality control tests, cube tests and curing test. This is in addition to what would be a major exhibition from the Lagos Materials testing Laboratory of various machines and equipment for production and testing of concrete.

  • ‘Why buildings collapse’

    ‘Why buildings collapse’

    Faulty design, lack of comprehensive sub-soil investigation, quackery, use of substandard materials, poor workmanship, non-adherence to professional advice and  greed, have been identified as some of the reasons buildings collapse.

    Chairman, Building Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPG), Mr Kunle Awobodu, stated this at the 25th Annual Conference and General Meeting of the Nigerian Institution of Structural Engineers (NIStructE), in Abuja at the weekend.

    Speaking on Built environment professionals and incessant building collapse, he listed other common denominators in diagnosing building collapse to include copied design, non-adherence to approved design, quackery, use of substandard materials, poor workmanship, professional incompetence, cognitive dissonance, ignorance and pilfering.

    Others, according to him, are construction in crisis situation, unrealistic timelines, nocturnal concrete work/concreting in the rain, improper budget and financial control, change in use, poor drainage system, fire incident, lack of maintenance and force majeure.

    He called on professionals in the sector to join the association to save the sector from total collapse.

    Awobodu said the guild is promoting unity among built environment professionals, pointing out that a house divided against itself cannot sustain its relevance.

    According to him, the onus is on the professionals to turn the tide of  decay in the sector and save the lives of the people.

    Members of the guild at the event included first female town planner in Nigeria, Mrs. Catherine Kehinde George; a quantity surveyor, Mr Edwin Umolu, President of NIStructE, Mr Busola Awojobi; and immediate past president, Mr Victor Oyenuga.

    Awobodu said  BCPG, in the last four years, has been championing campaigns against building collapse menace, mobilising all stakeholders, especially built environment professionals and artisans including concrete workers, iron benders, block makers, and carpenters on the need to eradicate cases of collapsed building in the sector.

    He said the weakness of professionals in the built environment had been identified as their inability to create time for activities that will collectively benefit them.

    “We need to overcome the beggarly attitude and endeavour to develop a strong voice and necessary control in the construction industry that remains the nation’s economic barometer. We should not leave our fate completely in the hands of politicians, who are not committed to promoting standard construction but more interested in the juicy end of building contracts,”Awobodu stressed.

  • Lagos agency, group to train concrete workers

    DISTURBED by the incidence of collapsed buildings, the Lagos State Material Testing Laboratory (LSMTL) and Building Collapsed Prevention Guild (BCPG) are planning to train concrete producers and workers in the state next month.

    BCPG has been championing the campaign against building collapse while organising bricklayers, concrete producers and workers in Lagos in the last four years.

    Speaking  with leaders of the workers in the state on the modalities of the training, Chairman, BCPG, Mr Kunle Awobodu, said  workers, operators and other artisans in concreting on construction sites, comprising iron welders, carpenters and bricklayers would be part of the seminar.

    He said BCPG was out to correct the problems in the sector.

    He appealed to the stakeholders to check the excesses of their workers.He told them that they have a role to play by refusing to work on any site where owners or developers fail to provide adequate materials.

    The Managing Consultant, LASMTL, a monitoring agency,  Mr Shola Famakin, urged concrete mixers to always liaise with the Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB) on training that would enhance their jobs.

    He assured them that his agency would be part of the training scheduled for Ikeja, Lagos.

    He said: “There is need to go back to the basis and do the right things that people have abandoned. There is need for us to have standards for casting of concrete for decking and house columns.

    “With the look of things, he said it would be made mandatory for engineers, concrete mixers and operators on construction sites to sign certification document before embarking on concrete works on sites, urging that there was need to collaborate to get good results.

    Chairman, NIOB, Lagos chapter, emphasised the need for quality work.

    Another staff member of the Lagos LSMTL, Mr Gboyega Abisogun, said there was need for stakeholders in the industry including builders, engineers, iron benders  and concreters to work together to correct various anomalies  in order to move the sector forward.

    He blamed concrete workers for shoddy mix of materials in most construction sites, saying impatience on their part was responsible.

    Leader of concrete workers from Mushin, Alhaji Owonimess, said it was the first time professionals in the building sector  were planning such a training for concrete workers.

    He said: “I have been on the job since 1968. It is what we threw away before now that we are coming back to. I have observed that the houses we did the concrete works in the past have not collapsed but the new ones. Something must be wrong.

    “We are going to work with BCPG and government to end this embarrassment.”

    Another leader, Alhaji Olarewaju Alabede, promised that concreters would talk to themselves, saying: “It is the right time to do the right thing.”