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Tag: COREN

  • Lafarge Africa partners COREN, on concrete manual

    Lafarge Africa Plc has become one of the key partners of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) for the research and development of Nigeria’s first Concrete Mix Design Manual. The company is the country’s only cement and concrete manufacturer that contributed to the development of the manual which was launched on Tuesday in Abuja.

    Speaking at the ceremony, the Director of Marketing at Lafarge Africa Plc, Mr. Vipul Agrawal said: “We commend COREN for ensuring that Nigeria now has a credible, well researched Concrete Mix Design Manual to be used for concrete works in buildings and infrastructure projects in the country. We call on all those involved in the manufacturing and use concrete for infrastructure development in Nigeria to use the manual to make quality concrete in building durable structures.”

    On his part, the President of COREN Engr. Kashim Ali said: “I am glad that Nigeria now has its own Concrete Manual based on local environmental conditions and raw materials and does not have to depend on reference manuals of other countries.”  Ali stated that the manual will be constantly upgraded in line with improvements in building technology. The manual, he further noted, is a result of exhaustive research and testing with concrete materials in different parts of the country.

    The Deputy Governor of Bayelsa state, retired Rear Admiral John Jonah said the development was a big plus for engineering practice in Nigeria.

  • COREN appoints Omisore into varsity accreditation team

    COREN appoints Omisore into varsity accreditation team

    THE Council for the Regulation of Engineering profession in Nigeria, COREN has appointed former Osun State deputy governor and two-term Senator, Senator Iyiola Omisore, as a resource person in the accreditation visitation team to the Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun, Delta State.

    In a letter signed by the Registrar of the Council, W. Kamila Maliki, Dr. Omisore, a COREN certified engineer, is expected to serve as a resource person to the visiting accreditation panel.

    He is required to cover the undergraduate programme of Mechanical Engineering at the institution.

    The team is expected to stay for five days at the university, after which they will turn up their reports.

    Omisore has in the recent past been canvassing for the need for governments at all levels to embrace appropriate models in Public Private Partnerships (PPP) initiative.  In November last year, Omisore was a guest speaker at the Nigerian Society of Engineers Annual Conference and African Engineering Confab in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria.

    He presented a paper on the topic: Nigeria’s Infrastructure Deficit: Beyond the Limitation of Finance in Public Private Partnership and Project Procurement Options.

    He was also the guest speaker at the Nigerian Engineering Conference 2017, an event organised by the Nigerian Society of Engineers, Students Chapter of the Obafemi Awolowo University on May 29, 2017.

    He has authored several articles, literatures and presented papers on Engineering, Infrastructural Development and Public Private Partnerships in and outside the country.

     

  • NUC accredits six undergraduate courses in Landmark University – VC

    NUC accredits six undergraduate courses in Landmark University – VC

    Prof. Aize Obayan, Vice-Chancellor of Landmark University, Omu-Aran, says the National University Commission (NUC) has accreditation six undergraduate courses in the institution.

    Obayan told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Omu-Aran on Thursday, that the NUC letter conveying the approval of the courses was received by the management on April 3..

    She disclosed that the approval was the fall out of NUC team’s visit to the institution for the November/December 2016 accreditation when the courses were presented.

    Obayan listed the accredited courses and programmes as Computer Science, Economics, Biochemistry, Mathematics, Physics and Sociology.

    She further said that the approval was significant, showing clear demonstration of the success of the exercise for an institution that had penchant for best academic practices.

    The vice-chancellor also attributed the feat to God’s faithfulness upon the institution as well as the exemplary leadership style of its Chancellor and Chairman, Board of Regent, Dr David Oyedepo.

    She said the courses which were highly rated by the NUC would be for five years.

    Obayan also said other courses such as Accounting, Banking and Finance as well as five other engineering programmes had also been given full professional accreditation status by ICAN and COREN respectively.

    “Recently, the Computer Professional Registration Council of Nigeria (CPN) conferred full accreditation status on the institution’s Computer Science programme”.

    The vice-chancellor reiterated the commitment of the institution to pursue an agrarian revolution drive toward attaining sustainable agriculture production in fighting poverty and unemployment.

    Obayan, who commended members of staff and students of the institution for their dedication and cooperation toward achieving the feat, promised that the university would maintain high level of academic performance.

  • Nigeria needs N3trn to fix roads – COREN

    Nigeria needs N3trn to fix roads – COREN

    The Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), on Monday disclosed that Nigeria required about N3 trillion to address the massive road infrastructure deficit in the country.

    COREN President, Mr Kasim Ali, stated this in Abuja at the Public Hearing organized by the House of Representatives Committee on Works.

    The hearing was on the repeal of the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency Act 2002 and on Federal Roads Authority Bill, 2016 and National Roads Fund Establishment Bill.

    Ali, who expressed support for the bills, said that the current institutional framework for the management and funding of roads in Nigeria was outdated, inappropriate and needed to be reformed.

    He stressed the need for sustainable funding mechanism of road projects in the country for improved autonomy in road management.

    He said: “Establishment of the National Roads Fund will be repository for revenues accruing from road-user related charges for financing, development, rehabilitation and maintenance.

    “Other activities related to the provision of national roads will promote an effective road management system in Nigeria.”

    In his presentation, Minister of Works, Lands and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, lauded the bills’ initiative.

    The minister called for consolidation of the five legislative frameworks regulating the road sectors into one, stressing that multiple laws and regulatory agencies would discourage investors.

    He argued that the proposed legislation would help in improving the ease of doing business in Nigeria by eliminating various bottlenecks that could hamper private sector investment.

    Fashola insisted on the need for upward review of the sanctions that will serve as deterrent to violators of regulations, adding that such sanction should be cheaper to comply with than cheaper to violate.

    He also emphasised the need for national consensus on policies and programmes.

    He advised politicians to desist from making political statements that could scare investors, especially threats of revoking concession agreements if their political parties were voted into power.

    Mr Jonathan Juma, Acting Director- General, National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), in his submission said that two billion dollars was required by Federal Government to kick-start massive rehabilitation of roads.

    He said that the rehabilitation would be across the country as a prelude to the introduction of user charges, including toll gates.

    Juma called for injection of funds either through capital market, pension fund or international sources for road sector development, since a viable means of repayment had been identified.

    He said that this would ensure adequate funding of the road sector infrastructure.

    He explained that introduction of the user charges would generate 250,000 jobs annually in the construction and allied sector and 10,000 jobs in e-ticketing and IT support infrastructure.

    In his remarks, Sen. Kabiru Gaya, Chairman, Senate Committee on Works, chided Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) for failing to remit the five per cent pump price levy to government.

    The five per cent, according to him, is worth N771 billion, which should have accrued since 2007 to government coffer as provided by the FERMA Act.

    “The sum of N536 billion accrued from Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), N174 billion from AGO were to be shared on the basis of 60 per cent to Federal Road Maintenance Agency and 40 per cent to state governments for road maintenance.’’

    Gaya, who expressed support for the passage of the bills, said that Lagos-Ibadan Expressway needed N150 billion to be completed while Abuja-Kano road required N130 billion to be completed.

    According to him, this warrants the need for private sector funding.

    “The fund which is expected to be sourced from capital market, inject the sum of N300 billion, is expected to be generated yearly from user charges through commuter contributions and other charges for road maintenance.”

    On his part, Mr Kyari Bukar, Chairman, Board of Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), who put the value of Nigerian road assets at N4.57 trillion, said that about N500 billion was spent yearly on operating cost.

    He also decried that 10 hours man-hour loss estimated at N1.02 trillion was incurred yearly due to the poor conditions of Nigerian roads.

    Earlier, Chairman of House Committee on Works, Rep. Toby Okechukwu, urged stakeholders to make informed inputs that would enable the house to come out with an implementable law.

    He added that such law would assist the nation in putting its road network in shape.

    The Speaker of the house, Mr Yakubu Dogara, who declared the hearing open, said that the bills were long overdue‎ and expressed the determination of the house in enacting laws that would stand the test of time.

    Dogara, who was represented by the Deputy Leader of the House, Rep. Buba Jibrin, noted that a road fund was imperative in view of the deplorable nature of federal roads.

  • Building collapse: COREN to sanction erring firms

    Building collapse: COREN to sanction erring firms

    Following the increasing spate of building collapse, Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) has vowed to sanction erring firms and personnel.

    A statement by the Registrar, Kamila Maliki, after its 151st council meeting, said: “Considering the report of the Regulation and Control Committee, the council noted the alarming rate of building collapse in Nigeria resulting in the loss of life and property.

    “The council resolved that more than ever before, erring engineering firms and personnel would be sanctioned in accordance with its Code of Ethics.”

    According to the statement, the council considered the report of the Universities Accreditation Visitation to the Engineering Programmes of Nigerian Universities in the third quarter of 2016 where 10 programmes were visited in four universities in the country.

    Maliki noted that six programmes got full accreditation while four received interim accreditation.

    The statement said COREN noted that the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, graduated five sets of students, numbering 142 between 2010 and 2015 in two undergraduate programmes (Agric and Bioresource Engineering) and (Polymer and Textile Engineering, which were not accredited.

    It added that the council resolved that in line with its Act, the products of such programmes will not be registered and cannot practice in Nigeria or anywhere.

  • COREN to probe flyover project

    council for the Regulation of Engineering Practice in Nigeria (COREN) plans to investigate the flyover project in Owerri, the Imo State capital.

    The probe will include the Ama Wire Okigwe road and Akwakuma Orlu road flyovers under construction by the Imo State government

    This is coming after the alarm raised by the social justice group, Imo Bilie Initiative of Nigeria (IBIN) over the poor quality projects being carried out in the state by the government saying the projects do not meet international standard

    Meanwhile, the Engineering Regulation Monitoring (ERM) Owerri Inspectorate has been directed to visit the sites and report back to the council for appropriate action.

    COREN’s Registrar, Mathias Adoyi who spoke in a telephone interview at the weekend, said the council would remain committed to safety and value for money in engineering projects, among other things, adding that the regulatory body would do its best to retain its valued integrity

    The group through its Convener and National Coordinator, Obidinma Aku had written the Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE), COREN and the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) to investigate the work saying the flyovers are death traps.

    The Secretary to the Imo State Government, Ezenna Eche, denied any wrongdoing, insisting that the flyovers, including the one at the Okigwe road, met the required standard.

    He said though the foundation was laid by the previous administration of Governor Ikedi Ohakim, the government of Rochas Okorocha has been able to redesign and make them even stronger.

    Eche said: “In fact, I didn’t know that this present government would be able to work on that project, but it has been able to complete it. It seemed as if he was not going to complete the project because it was started by a government that would commission a project and would not complete it. They said he would abandon it but it didn’t happen that way.’’

    Eche said contractors do many of the jobs, and that it is the government is committed to the local content programme.

    He added that there was no need for contractors and technicians to come from countries, such as Korea, Japan and Lebanon, to work in Nigeria when there are competent Nigerians to execute the jobs.

    He, however, regretted that in most cases, people are not living up to standard.

    “We keep doing things the old way, some people when they are mobilised run away with it while others do shoddy jobs, nevertheless, the projects are up to standard, where there are errors we make amends he maintained,” he said.

    But, according to Aku, heavy duty trailers and tankers ply the road very often, a development, he said, would bring about the sudden collapse of the bridge if quality materials were not used.

  • Synagogue: Indicted engineers to face COREN tribunal — President

    Synagogue: Indicted engineers to face COREN tribunal — President

    The two engineers linked to the Synagogue Church of All Nations building collapse, will soon face the disciplinary tribunal of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), according to the council president, Mr. Kashim Ali.

    Ali said on Friday that   the council had requested a copy of the coroner’s inquest report, which indicted them for negligence.

    Chief Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe on Wednesday recommended that the two engineers – Oladele Ogundeji and Akinbela Fatiregun, should be prosecuted for criminal negligence, which, he said, led to the building collapse.

    Ali told the News Agency of Nigeria that the council would study the ruling before the two indicted engineers could face its disciplinary tribunal.

    He acknowledged that while the two engineers were listed in the COREN register, they were, however, not registered as structural engineers.

    According to him, one was registered as a petroleum engineer and the other as a civil engineer.

    “We have arranged to get the Certified True Copy of the ruling of the Coroner’s Inquest. Then, we will proceed to hear the matter at the investigative tribunal.

    “We need to confirm the status of the two engineers involved and whether they are registered by COREN.

    “We have found that they are registered by COREN but not as structural engineers. One is registered as a petroleum engineer while the other is a civil engineer,’’ he said.

    The COREN president said that while the coroner’s report unravelled the identity of the engineers who handled the construction, COREN’s preliminary investigation had established that it was a case of structural failure.

    “Before now, our preliminary investigation had established that it was a structural failure.

    “However, the coroner has been able to establish the identity of those directly involved in the construction of the failed building,’’ he told NAN.

     

  • COREN to MDAs: ‘Don’t patronise quacks’

    The Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) has urged ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to desist from using engineers that are not registered with the council.

    The Chairman, Investigation Panel, COREN, Engr. Olumuyiwa Alade Ajibola gave this charge during the investigation proceedings of case of forged certificate preferred against some companies alleged to have doctored NSE certificate in the quest for COREN registration.

    To forestall the menace f forgery, COREN, he said: “Is working with MDAs on giving jobs to companies that are registered with the council. COREN will use the legal system to fight any MDAs who deliberately give jobs to unregistered companies.

    “We invite the public to send complains to COREN if the find that there is any incompetence in the way engineers run their business. After the investigation by the panel, the case is directed to the tribunal,” he stressed.

  • Coalition to launch campaign for standardisation of cement

    Coalition to launch campaign for standardisation of cement

    A BIG battle – standar-disation of cement production and importation – is on the way in the construction industry.

    Leading the battle are major civil society groups and professionals, who will be pushing for 42.5 grade of cement as the standard product in Nigeria.

    The main aim, The Nation learnt yesterday, is to tackle building collapse – a phenomenon that has killed thousands.

    The lower grade cement (32.5) is common in Nigeria – no thanks to weak regulation. The popular thinking is that the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) seems not to be doing enough.

    The battle plan includes:

    •pushing for the National Assembly to probe manufacturers and importers for compromising standards;

    •enlisting the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) to give SON a wake-up call;

    •enforcing the National Building Code; and

    •enlisting the Council of Registered Engineers of Nigeria (COREN) in fighting sub-standard cement.

    The coalition of civil society groups is to confront the Cement Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (CMAN) for what it called the poor standard of local and imported cement.

    To the activists, standard should not give way in the face of monetary gains – to the detriment of lives.

    According to them, in the advanced countries, the lower grade cement (32.5) is being dumped for the higher level (42.5) “and even 52.5”.

    “With a uniform standard set by government, manufacturers and importers can be held accountable whenever there is infraction or reduction in agreed specification,” they said.

    The coalition’s spokesperson, Mr. Tunde Ojo, blamed the Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr. Olusegun Aganga, for what he described as complicity with manufacturers and vowed to mobilise block makers nationwide against manufacturers and importers of poor quality cement. He did not, however, name them.

    In a working document titled: Cement: Standardisation, safety versus affordability and poor quality, the coalition writes:

    “How do you identify good quality cement; is it by the manufacturer’s name or by its composition or pigmentation, if you like? Many a people, whether literate or not, identify cement merely by producer’s name. So, it is common to see most people, builders and non-builders alike, identifying with Eagle Cement, for instance or Elephant Cement or Dangote Cement, Rock Cement, UNICEM, BUA and so on, just to mention but a few. It matters very little to most buyers or customers what the composition or the contents or pigmentation of the cement bag is. For many, what influences what brand of cement to buy is the price and, in most cases, the proximity to the point of usage.

    “What that means is that, in a cement market where you have displayed products from Lafarge, Dangote, UNICEM, Ibeto and Northern Cement Company of Nigeria, BUA, Ashaka, for instance, buying anyone as experience has shown, would essentially be a function of price and proximity. Not many, without stretching the argument too far, would be concerned, or are even conscious about quality. To them, they are all cement, the difference perhaps, is that between six and half-a-dozen. But it is beyond that.

    “Maintaining standards for all products’ range, there are standards. Cement may not be a drug, but it has fatalistic effects as it happens in bridges and buildings collapse when low quality specimens are used. And this has been a recurring decimal in Nigeria. The unfortunate thing is, those who are charged with the responsibility of investigating these recurring mishaps have never looked the way of the quality of cement used in some of these structures; rather, only the contractors bear the brunt. It is important that the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), if they are the ones in charge, should take a closer look at the quality of cement churned out by local manufacturers and also the imported ones as well.”

    He went on: “Types of Cement; broadly speaking there are two, or may be three types of cement common in Nigeria. There’s the CEM 1 42.5 R and CEM 1 42.5 N on the one hand; and CEM 32.5 R, on the other hand. Besides, there are variants of these with different specifications. The CEM I 42.5 R and CEM I 42.5 N cements are produced with clinker and limestone in the ration of 95%: 5% respectively. The gypsum that is added during the grounding process is for adjustment of the setting period, which is usually obtained at the end of 28 days.

    “Among other applications, this cement is used when good strength concrete is required, especially in concrete productions requiring high strength, or early strength. Also, it is used in production of thin section reinforced concrete and in highly reinforced concrete buildings, among other uses. CEM II 32.5 is suitable for flooring and wall plastering (rendering).”

     

  • Wanted: Monitoring engineers for building failures

    Wanted: Monitoring engineers for building failures

    THE Nigerian Institution of StructuralEngineers (NIStructE) has called on the National and state Assemblies to enact a bill that will make it mandatory for ministries to appoint their members from the private sector as “monitoring engineers”to reduce or eliminate building collapse.

    They said such bills would help fish out quacks who, they said, have infiltrated the building and construction industry.

    Besides, they want government agencies to desist from approving structural engineering drawings without the NIStructE seal alongside that of the Council of Registered Engineers of Nigeria (COREN) to eliminate quacks and unregistered engineers.

    Its President, Mr. Busola Awojobi, who stated this at the 25th Annual Conference and General Meeting of the institution in Abuja, noted that findings of investigations carried out by probe panels on collapsed buildings confirmed that the main causes of failure were either one or a combination of factors, including, faulty structural engineering design calculations and/or drawings; use of sub-standard building materials; constructions not in compliance with approved drawings and specifications and incompetent building contractors.

    He said incidents of buildings collapse could, however, be reduced, if not eliminated, if state and federal governments’ ministries in charge of giving approvals engage the services of experienced structural engineers from the private sector, as monitoring engineers to participate in the processes leading to approvals of buildings proposed to be built anywhere in the country.

    Awojobi said: “The Nigerian Institution of Structural Engineers had made it known on several occasions that the incessant collapse of structures in Nigeria can be avoided if only the approving authorities will give the most-needed recognition to the seal of the institution, when it is applied concurrently along side the COREN seal for civil engineers.

    “As a matter of professional responsibility, the institution has made a remarkable improvement in the admission of membership. This, we have done by ensuring that only candidates, who satisfy the seven hour test of professional practice are admitted as corporate members of the institution and are accorded the privilege and use of the NIStructE seal.”

    The NIStructE boss said the various ways to eliminate building collapse would only be possible if the state and federal governments agree to engage registered structural engineers as monitors, who would check designs, drawings and specifications submitted for approval; and later monitor the works during construction on site.

    He added that the engagement is obviously at no cost to any government; as the developer would have paid when the drawings were submitted for approvals.

    According to him, the engagement of the monitoring engineers would also relieve the ministry’s engineers of the pressure of approving some designs and drawings which they would otherwise not have if there were enough registered structural engineers in the ministry.

    In his presentation on minimising building collapse through quality management of design and construction, President, Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB), Mr Chuks Omeife, noted that since 2006, the industry has been undergoing transformation with the enactment of the National Building Code (NBC), adding that Section 2:32 of the Code spells out that the project quality management plan shall form part of the contract documents.

    According to him, a major amendment to be considered is the inclusion of the template for design quality management, adding that quality management is a potent tool in dealing with building collapse, which could be defined as the worst case scenario of poor quality projects.

    Omeife said a building is erected not to collapse but to stand for many years. He urged built environment professionals on the need to shift their practice orientation from mere detection of problems to prevent non-conformance with quality.

    He, however, suggested that the NBC could be improved to express the vision of the country on how building integrity could be achieved, and specify clearly the required quality templates and responsibilities for each member of the built environment.

    He stressed that buildings would continue to collapse if two important processes in a project lifecycle is not well-managed, particularly, the design stage which is primarily by architects, engineers and quantity surveyors and the construction phase which involves builders who play a key role to ensure that the wishes of the client are translated into workable drawings by the design team.

    According to him, the NIOB data based on collapsed buildings in Nigeria since 1974, indicated 76 major cases while many cases remained unreported.

    He said: “The suspected causes of collapse for the 76 cases ranged from natural disasters, faulty designs, contractor incompetence, and outright absence of structural designs, use of substandard materials, poor workmanship, overloading existing structure, and non-compliance with specifications among others.”

    Chairman, Building Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPG), Mr. Kunle Awobodu, a builder, who spoke on built environment professionals and incessant building collapse, said the guild has proposed a pragmatic approach to install due processes in building procurement. He said professional bodies in the built environment have submitted names of their active, financial members to be published on the BCPG website, noting that with adequate publicity, inquisitive clients would conveniently check the status of individuals they want to engage in their projects.

    He said such development would reduce quackery in building projects, while false claims would easily be detected.