NIOB Appeals For Land Allocation To Build Secretariat …Calls For Department of Building in OCDA

The Chairman, Imo State Chapter of the Nigerian Institute of Building, Builder, Dr Andrew Osuagwu has passionately appealed to the Imo state Government for allocation of land to build its state Chapter Secretariat.

Dr. Osuagwu made the appeal in his address at the opening ceremony of the 2023 workshop of the Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB) which took place in Owerri, the Imo state capital last weekend.

Dr Osuagwu regretted that inspire having long applied for land allocation, the Nigerian Institute of Building is the only built environment profession that has not been allocated land by the Imo state government despite the fact “that his institute is at the centre of the solutions of housing needs of Imo state”.

Dr Andrew Osuagwu

Speaking further at the 2-day workshop which has the theme: Builders Documents: “Tools for sustainable Building Production Management”, Dr. Osuagwu advocated for the establishment of building development control department in the Owerri Capital Development Authority (OCDA) in order to ensure building standards are maintained during construction of buildings.

The Chapter Chairman who is a lecturer with the Building Technology department, Federal Polytechnic Nekede, Owerri, Imo State stated that through the workshop the members, participants and other built environment Stakeholders are exposed to providing professional excellence and leadership for sustainable shelter that addresses the housing needs of Nigeria through research, development and global best practices.

Dr. Osuagwu expressed great gratitude to His Excellency, Sen. Hope Uzodimma, Governor of Imo state for appointing Bldr, Dr Christian Ezeh who is one of their members into the Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria (CORBON).

The Chairman of the occasion, Builder Pastor Reginald Uka, enjoined members to always update themselves professionally by attending relevant workshops Conference and Seminars. He advised them not to cut corners in the discharge of their duties and should strive at all times to maintain globally approved professional standards.

Pastor Reginald Uka

Dr. Uka called on the government to appreciate the facts that the Builder is indispensable in any building production and should therefore accord them their well deserved recognition in the built environment.

In his remarks, the representative of the General Manager, Owerri Capital Development Authority (OCDA) Surveyor Anselem Okere, congratulated the Builders on mounting the workshop and remarked that continuous professional development courses, make for good professionalism and being abreast with modern development in the industry.

Surveyor Okere

Surveyor Okere pointed out that the main duty of OCDA is building Control development and that OCDA is favourably disposed to liaise with NIOB in the achievement of this objective.

In his paper, “The Role of the Builder at the Pre-Contract Stage of Building Projects”, Builder Dr. Raphael Uwazuruonye, the Principal Consultant of ERG Partners, Port Harcourt, Rivers State pointed out that the delivery of a project is significantly impacted by buildability and maintainability analysis reports which is a major Pre-Contract Contribution of a Builder.

Dr. Uwazuruonye

Dr. Uwazuruonye explained that the biggest benefit is that it makes construction easier and lessens designs errors which are encountered during the construction stage.

According to him, “the goal of the buildability analysis is to make building operation and maintenance easier during use”.

He emphasized that engaging the Builder right from the Pre-Contract Stage assures the best performance throughout the life cycle of a building or its components.

The highlight of the opening ceremony was the conferment of an award if excellence on Dr. Christian Ezeh who is presently the Vice Chairman of Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria (CORBON).

The workshop attracted eminent professionals in the built environment across the country.