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Tag: NIOB

  • NIOB, Lafarge to partner on research

    NIOB, Lafarge to partner on research

    The Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB) had called for collaborative research and production of alternative building materials to help the Nigerian building industry in particular and the national economy in general.

    The NIOB past  President,  Kunle  Awobodu made the call when he led a high powered delegation  to Lafarge PLC in Lagos to  explore ways to collaborate and promote mutually beneficial goals for the two organisations  including the nation’s construction industry.

    Awobodu remarked that the NIOB has  a large reservoir of research resources, efforts and outputs. He further said some builders have researched and  are researching on locally available materials that are not producing inferior performance results to the conventional ones.

    One of such areas of research is the use of pozollana, rice husk ash and corn cob ash as a partial replacement in cement.

    Beyond publicising the research efforts and outputs  of researchers in building materials,  Awobodu further said the utilisation of those research outputs in the production of cement will increase affordability,  drive costs down and by the law of large numbers even help the profitability and bottom line of manufacturers making it a win-win to all stakeholders and the society at large.

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    The Chairman of NIOB Research and Development Committee, who is the immediate past Deputy Governor of Ekiti State, Professor Kolapo Olusola Eleka explained that the development of Nigerian standards for such pozollanic cement and other alternative but locally available materials is one of the steps necessary in manufacture and utilisation. Prof Martin Dada who is the Chairman of Association of Builders in Academia further explained that using some of these alternative materials would promote profitability. He painted a scenario to justify sustainability considerations and deconstruction explaining that if a building is demolished,  it takes efforts and resources to relocate the waste generated

    The Country Chief Executive Officer of Larfarge PLC, Khaled El Dokani, welcomed the proposal. He further raised the issue of reuse of items recovered from demolished or deconstructed buildings under some circumstances, thereby promoting sustainability and reduction of carbon footprint or carbon emissions. The two organisations acknowledged that a major challenge to be tackled in introduction of new and good products is getting stakeholders buy-in and managing perceptions of members of the society to take advantages of such products.

  • NIOB to end importation of artisans from other countries

    NIOB to end importation of artisans from other countries

    The Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB), says it intends to do its best to end the importation of artisans and craftsmen from neighbouring West African countries of Benin, Togo, Ghana and Cameroon.

    The institute said it is saddening that a nation well-endowed in all field of human resources spends whopping billions of naira to import artisans and craftsmen.

    The National President of the Institute, Bldr. Alderton Ewa said this in Abuja at his investiture as the 22nd President of the Institute.

    He said despite the acknowledgement and efforts put into addressing the challenges of inadequacy of artisans/Craftsmen in Nigeria by the past administrations, the problem still persists.

    He stated, “To aggressively pursue the training, assessment and Certification of needed artisans and craftsmen in the built environment as one of our core mandates. The Collaboration and indispensable auxiliary roles of artisans in decoding and transforming the two – dimensional abstract drawings into three dimensional realities by the builders is well acknowledged.

    “However, its saddening and it does not resonate well the fact that Nigeria, a nation well-endowed in all the field of human resources spends whopping billions of naira to import artisans and craftsmen from neighbouring West African countries of Benin, Togo, Ghana and Cameroon. 

    Read Also: NIOB, Lagos to prevent building failures

    “Despite the acknowledgement and efforts put into addressing the challenges of inadequacy of artisans/Craftsmen in Nigeria by the past administrations, the problem still persists. As a way of fillings the yawning gap in this cadre of our nation’s manpower needs in order to keep Nigeria’s jobs for Nigerian especially with the Renewed Hope Agenda where the Federal Government plans to develop modern cities in the six Geo-political zones of the Country, to stem the abysmal drain on our scarce foreign exchange.

    “We would not rest on our oars until this endemic challenge is overcome. We hope to sustain the momentum by building on previous foundations laid by our predecessors. We shall synergize and collaborate with government and stakeholders within and outside the Built Environment to create more skill training centres, effectively train and retrain not only artisans and craftsmen but also our Assessors in the needed skill competencies to enhance their marketability within and outside Nigeria.

    “Artisanal and Craftsmen training shall harp not only on competencies but emphasis will be placed on ethical values such as dignity in Labour, pride of earning a living legitimately through their skills, avoidance of sharp-practices etc.”

  • NIOB, Lagos to prevent building failures

    NIOB, Lagos to prevent building failures

    • By Lydia Raji

    Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB) says is collaborating with the Lagos State government to reduce building collapse in the state.

    Chairman, NIOB, Lagos Mr Lucky Isename,  stated this at a  conference in Lagos announcing  the 32nd Lagos Builder’s conference and Annual General Meeting slated for  Oct. 11 to 12th.   Isename  said the conference and AGM will X-ray issues of sustainability in construction to mitigate building collapse.

    He said the theme: “Safe And Sustainable Building Production Management In Nigeria” was chosen to correct errors and x-ray how far the neglect of the law had affected construction in Lagos State.

    According to him, Lagos State has beautiful laws that need implementation, hence NIOB’s collaboration with the government towards implementing and enforcing the Lagos State Development Planning Law, 2019.

    He said experts would discuss functions of registered builders, expectations, ethics, rights of clients, government regulation and other vital issues that would nip building collapse in the bud.

    “The collaboration with Lagos State Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development is to make sure that the Lagos State Physical Development Planning Law 2019, is fully enforced to mitigate building collapse in the state.

    “The construction industry through safe and sustainable building production management plays a vital role in the development and growth of the nation.

    “However, it is imperative that we focus not only on the speed and efficiency of construction but also on the safety and sustainability of our built environment.

    “We cannot discuss construction and building without touching Sustainable Development Goals,” he said.

    He said panelist would discuss safe and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the progress made to meet the deadline of achieving the sustainable goals as it affected the building construction sector in Lagos State.

    He said the event would start with the opening ceremony, which would be followed by discussions, adding that the second day would be for AGM and gala night.

    The Honourary Secretary, NIOB, Mr Abiodun Ogundare, said the theme was in line with Goal 17 of the SDG, which advocated sustainability in construction, hence the emphasis on use of registered builders.

    The Vice Chairman, NIOB, Mr Adeoye Thomas, said a building could be safe for a short time but engaging professionals would help it last longer.

    He said all stakeholders in the construction value chain including manufacturers, the professional builders, artisans, Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), among others, must begin self assessment on doing things right.

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    “We need to come together to reduce this issue of building collapse. With this I believe we will reduce it to the barest minimum,” he said.

    Immediate past chairman of the Lagos Chapter of NIOB, Mr Sunday Wusu, said the sub-themes of the conference were carefully selected to cover a wide range of topics and issues causing building collapse.

  • How to end building collapse, by experts

    Professionals and other stakeholders in the building industry have called for the collaboration of all in the built sector.

    They said: “All of us and related government agencies should be involved in putting up buildings to prevent collapse in Lagos State.”

    They spoke yesterday at a one-day public hearing on the collapsed building at 63, Massey Street, Ita-Faji, Lagos. It was organised by the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, at the Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre, Alausa, Ikeja.

    The seven institutes in the industry and some government agencies were represented.

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    They include Nigerian Institute of Architects (NIA); Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB); Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE); Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP); Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV); Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (NIQS) and Nigerian Institute of Surveyors (NIS).

    The professionals said most of the collapsed buildings were handled by quacks, who used substandard materials, without the involvement of the government agencies.

    The stakeholders called for synergy professionals, the government agencies, and owners or developers, to ensure that right things were done before, during and after construction, to end building collapse.

     

  • NIOB holds conference on safety

    The Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB), Lagos State Chapter, will tomorrow begin its 27th Conference and Annual General Meeting. The two-day event is themed: ‘Safety, health and environmental concerns and their management on building projects in Lagos State: Holistic and best practices’.

    According to the AGM Committee chairman, Mr. Lucky Isename, the choice of the theme is to put things right on how safety policies should be adhered to in building project site. For instance, he explained that speakers invited for the event would educate the participants on identifying safety hazards on activities in construction sites. Besides, workers would also be enlightened on the implication of not using personal protective equipment (PPE) while on site.

    The Chairman, NIOB, Lagos, Mr Adekanmbi Adelaja, disclosed that the Institute is collaborating with the Lagos State Safety Commission, hence the role of government agencies in the enforcement and prosecution of offences, would be discussed at the conference.

    A communique would be issued at the end of the conference, who’s theme was chosen as a follow up to the 2017 conference.

  • NIOB seeks regulatory agencies unification

    NIOB seeks regulatory agencies unification

    • 2017 AGM/conference begins today

    The Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB), Lagos State Chapter, has reiterated the need to unify regulatory agencies in the built environment to enhance better co-ordination among various government agencies.

    The regulators include the Lagos State Land Bureau; Lagos State Survey General Office, the state’s Ministry for Physical Planning and Urban Development, the Building Control Agency, the Physical Planning Permit Authority and the state’s Safety Commission.

    This position of the NIOB, among others, will form the fulcrum of the institute’s 2017 annual general meeting (AGM)/Conference which begins today place at the Academy Inn and Multi-Purpose Hall, Lateef Jakande Road, Agidingbi, Lagos, with the theme: Regulatory Authorities: Panacea for Building ProjecAt Delivery in Lagos State.The Conference, which ends tomorrow, will address issues pertaining to problems encountered by the developers, investors and other stakeholders in the state.

    According to the Conference Committee Chairman, Mr. Adelaja Adekanbi, the NIOB, Lagos Chapter, deemed it necessary to bring together the end users and government officials saddled with the responsibility of regulating the various activities in the built environment to educate, fine tune and discuss best mode of their operations.

    He further explained that the designated agencies are not giving adequate information on their mode of operations, thus, the cause for many abberations encountered by the major players in the industry.

    “Their performances in their respective capacities tend to not only be contradictory, but filled with duplicity and in some cases, causing confusion by which developers, investors and private project owners become wary of their activities,” Adekanmbi said.

    In similar vein, the NIOB Chairman for the state, Mrs. Adenike said while regretting that the incidences of building collapse in the metropolis have become not only an embarrassment to government, but also to the professionals in the sector, observed that the regulatory agencies most times cause conflict, deliberately or otherwise, which needs to be addressed; hence, the convergence of all relevant stakeholders in the industry at the conference.

    For the Honourary Secretary of the NIOB Lagos chapter, Mr. Alani Adegoke, some of the laws put in place by the authority appear to be contradictory, a situation that has been a source of concern to the investors. This, he said, is why it is necessary to ensure that these agencies come open to clarify their roles and functions in clear terms so that the public would know every requirement, stage by stage, in the processing of their building documents.

  • Lafarge, NIOB, partner on capacity development

    Worried by the continued dearth of skilled and experienced manpower in the construction industry, the Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB), and cement, aggregates and building solutions provider, Lafarge Africa Plc, last week began a construction and building community dialogue series.

    The dialogue series, which held in Ikeja, Lagos, was geared towards bridging the link between the manufacturer and end users through more active participation of professionals in the sector, especially in the built environment.

    Lafarge Africa Marketing Director,  Mr. Vipul Agrawal, while expressing his company’s entry into partnership with NIOB on the dialogue series, explained that Lafarge was not just a cement or aggregates manufacturer, but also a building solutions provider. He further explained that providing building solutions would also entail knowledge sharing with critical stakeholders in the built environment and construction industry.

    The dialogue series, he argued, presented the multinational firm the opportunity to do this and ensured that Nigeria was provided with quality artisans, masons, and other skilled hands needed in the industry.

    “We see ourselves as a partner in the built environment and not just as a manufacturer. When you build a house, you need to have the right plan, the right structural design and we have to work together, good materials are not enough. As Lafarge, we are going beyond the supply of cement and aggregates. We want our clients to be healthy and safe, and there is nobody better to partner than the NIOB; our objectives with theirs are one and the same. People have identified us as a genuine participant in the building process. Nobody has exclusive reserve of knowledge, so we have to think beyond what we are doing,” he explained.

    The NIOB Lagos branch Chairman, Mrs. Adenike Said, who was a panelist at the dialogue session, agreed with Agrawal that a missing link has long existed in the industry, which she identified as the failure to have an interaction between the professionals and other stakeholders in the industry.

    Unknown to several people, Lafarge, she revealed, has done and is still doing a lot in the sector in bridging the gap and cementing stronger ties for all in the sector. She then noted that the dialogue series was a veritable avenue for passing information through professionals to end users who they interact with.

    “Artisans and developers needed to have the right information, which the professionals must provide; we cannot give it if we don’t have it. People need to get value for the investment they make in construction. We are looking at transforming Nigeria’s building and construction industry,” Said remarked.

    She saw the dialogue, first of its kind between Lafarge and the NIOB, as a good cooperation between both entities, basing her submission on the fact that as professionals, they are always in constant touch with the building public always-either in the production process or construction process.

    “So we can bridge the innovation gap between the manufacturer and end users, especially now that we are having cases of building collapse,” she assured.

  • NIOB seeks better professionalism in construction industry

    The Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB) has reiterated the need for builders to hone and sharpen their skills in the core area of building production management. The body also called for the quick passage of the bill for the enforcement of the Nigerian National Building Code.

    The NIOB, arising from its 2017 Mandatory Continuous Professional Development (MCPD) programme held across four locations of Lagos, Abuja, Katsina and Uyo, made the call in a communiqué it issued at the end of the workshop. The communique was signed by the Chairman, Professional Development and Practice Committee of NIOB, Mr. Kunle Awobodu.

    The workshop, themed: “Site Management Practices for Builders,” also had as sub themes: “Concept of Site Management;” “Construction Methodology;” and “Construction Programming using Primavera 6.”

    The NIOB, noted in the communique obtained by The Nation, that government should take steps against such environmentally unacceptable characters manifesting in the form of social miscreants, land grabbers, the “omo onile” menace as these were already affecting the delivery time of projects.

    The NIOB commended the Lagos state government for its proactiveness in this aspect, urging other states to emulate the gesture.

    While admonishing its members on ensuring proper construction layout to avoid fatalities, accidents, waste and double-handling at sites, it recommended that construction site layouts should be well defined and designed at the commencement of a building construction project by a registered builder. It urged the public to take advantage of temporary site layout planning for building construction works as rendered by builders.

    The body noted that collapsed buildings were as a result of unrealistic and unprofessionally projected timeframes.

    The communique read in part: “Nigerian public and private clients are enjoined and required to embrace the use of Construction Methodology Document duly prepared by registered builders for their building construction works. Registered builders are equally enjoined to prepare this critical document on all their building projects for all public and private entities.”

    Furthermore, stakeholders at the workshop submitted that “while the construction methodology is a precursor to the preparation of construction programme, a construction programme has implication on time, cost, resource deployment, safety and even the legal status of a project. Some collapsed buildings are attributable to unrealistic and unprofessionally projected time frames. Consequently, the Workshop enjoins all public and private sectors procuring and executing entities to request for and use Construction Programme duly prepared by registered builders for time and other resource management.”

    The communique submitted that poor project record keeping affects future projections of projects. Additionally, poor house-keeping (project site cleaning) can lead to avoidable hazards on project sites. Consequently, there should be proper record keeping of different activities during and after the life span of a project. Proper house- keeping should be planned and cost into the project as routine practices and should start as soon as the building project starts. Builders should enhance these best practices on their projects while clients should play their roles accordingly.

    Participants at the workshop were taken through first principles, real life case studies and simulations.

  • NIOB to hold workshop

    A two-day mandatory professional development workshop of the Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB) is scheduled to across four cities of Abuja, Lagos, Uyo and Katsina. The Abuja and Lagos version will hold from March 29 to 30, while Uyo and Katsina will take their turn on April 5 and 6.

    According to the Chairman, Professional Development Committee of the NIOB, Kunle Awobodu, the theme of the workshop is “Site management practices for builders.” The theme, he explained, is further broken down into sub themes to deal with “Concept of Site Management”; “Construction Methodology” and “Project Programming.”

    During the two days, Awobodu said participants will be taken through the rudiments of site management. The training will also empower builders on understanding the importance of building site management; practical ways of managing a building site; ability to develop a work breakdown structure for a building project; preparation of a construction methodology for a building project, among others.

  • NIOB, CORBON push for passage of Building Code

    The President, Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB), Mr. Tijani Shuaib, has decried the non-passage of the National Building Code (NBC) draft bill sent to the National Assembly (NASS), since 2006.

    “It is quite unfortunate, that since 2006 that the draft bill of the National Building Code (NBC) was sent by the Executive to the National Assembly (NASS), not much had been done by the body to pass the bill. This development has continued to be a source of concern for the seven professional bodies in the built environment,” he told The Nation.

    Shuaib, however, disclosed that the NIOB and the Council of Registered Builders of  Nigeria (CORBON) have commenced fresh moves to actualise the passage of the Bill. This, he said, involves impressing it on the relevant authorities and top government officials, the importance of the bill hence, the need for it to see the light of day.

    The NBC draft bill has undergone the second reading, and awaiting the third reading before being committed to the committee stage.

    Expressing optimism that the Senate would expedite action on the bill, Shuaib said the early passage of the NBC would help in sanitising the construction industry.For instance, it as it would serve as a document to regulate workings in the construction industry and also help to define the duties of all the seven professional bodies in the built environment to avoid the frequent conflict among them.

    The NIOB helmsman regretted that the country has witnessed several building collapse in the last two years, a development he attributes to greed on the part of most developers and the use of sub-standard and inferior building materials. Most developers, he further explained, in a bid to maximise profit choose to cut corners, hence jeopardising the lives of the ordinary people. For instance, where a developer is supposed to use one bag of cement to produce 35 blocks, he would rather use same to produce 60 blocks. This development, no doubt, would be detrimental to the finished product.

    Besides, Shuaib identified quackery in the sector to be in two folds – intra and extra quackery. Intra quackery, he explained, involves genuine professionals. For instance, if an architect whose job is to design a project goes ahead to supervise its construction after his drawing, even though he is not a trained builder. Likewise, he said, if a builder decides to evaluate the cost of a project when he is not a quantity surveyor, then he automatically becomes a quack because that is not his area of specialisation.

    On the other hand, the extra quackery involves a non-professional who engages in the building process without any form of certification by a recognised professional body. This, he noted, is the worst form of quackery that is bedeviling all the professional bodies.

    This development has led to the establishment of the Association of Presidents and Registrars of Built Environment Professionals (APRBEP), which tries to ensure compliance with guidelines for all the professional bodies in the built sector to avoid conflicts.

    Also, developers, Shuaib said, should engage the services of professionals. “We as an institute would continue to canvass the use of genuine professionals in supervising on-going projects. There is the need for developers to use genuine and standard building materials for construction and finally anybody found culpable should be severely sanctioned,” he said, adding that in the last two years, no builder has been involved in any of the collapsed building that were witnessed in the country.