• Wahome sounded the warning on Thursday during The Board of Registration for Architects and Quantity Surveyors (BORAQS) Seminar at Safari Park Nairobi.
• The CS said one of the challenges facing her ministry is that of buildings collapsing, leading to loss of life.
The government has declared war on quacks practising as professionals in the building sector, warning those involved that their days are numbered.
Public Works CS Alice Wahome threatened stringent measures to curb the vice.
“As regulators, we need to do our job better. We need to remove quacks. We must take you out of practice for whatever years the regulator allows us depending on the gravity. I will not stand with anybody who agrees to go through shortcuts,” Wahome said.
Wahome sounded the warning on Thursday during a seminar for the Board of Registration for Architects and Quantity Surveyors at Safari Park Hotel in Nairobi.
The CS said one of the challenges facing her ministry is the collapse of buildings, which leads to loss of life.
Wahome said for a building to collapse, there must have been a compromise somewhere in the industry that involves different stakeholders.
Image: KEITH MUSEKE
Cases of buildings have in the recent past been a trend, especially in the capital and other urban regions.
This has led to the destruction of property worth millions, loss of lives, and to some extent unemployment.
An audit of collapsed buildings by the National Construction Authority in 2020 cited poor workmanship and ignorance of the laws as among the leading causes of such incidences.
Research done by NCA in 2018, revealed that the causes were mainly due to technical issues such as substandard materials and lack of quality assurance.
Other factors were ignorance of the laws and regulations, inadequate laws, poor coordination, lack of proper material testing tools, and poor construction supervision.
This could indicate that there is a lot of impunity and corruption.
Past incidents have revealed that the culprits are rarely prosecuted successfully. There is no clear record of any action taken.
NCA report 2020 showed, 10,791 of the buildings were unsafe and either needed to be reinforced before the occupation or demolished. This follows an assessment involving 14,895 buildings.
NCA found that thousands of buildings in Nairobi were not approved. At least 1,217 buildings were found to be fair and only 2,194 were certified as safe.
NCA said 723 buildings had been marked as very dangerous.
The report stated 87 buildings collapsed over the past five years while an estimated 200 people lost their lives and over 1,000 injured as a result.
65 per cent of collapsed buildings were residential, 25 per cent were commercial and 10 per cent were mixed-use developments.
According to NCA, 66 per cent of the building collapsed after completion while 34 per cent collapsed during construction.
The report also states that no action was taken in the case of 12 per cent of the building collapsing while more than 40 per cent of the building collapse cases do not have a clear record of actions.
Only one per cent of the cases have made it to court, following a public outcry while in most cases inconclusive investigations that do not lead to prosecutions are the norm.
It was also reported that more than 700 buildings, mostly in informal settlements, are at a high risk of collapsing and require demolition.
In 2020, the National Construction Authority announced that it had suspended 18 contractors over poor workmanship.
NCA executive director Maurice Akech said the suspension came after the conclusion of 21 inquiries.
“There is an inquiry that happens for any collapse that occurs. We have conclusively conducted 21 inquiries by the NCA board. Of those inquiries, 18 contractors have since been suspended,” he said.
Akech said five contractors were suspended for three years, 11 were suspended for one year and two were suspended for two years. The suspension period depends on the weight of what they have done.
He said NCA can caution, suspend or deregister a contractor, adding that deregistration is the most punitive.
Wahome urged professionals to work diligently, warning them against participating in corruption or cutting corners.
Wahome urged professionals to follow the laws guiding the sector.
Those in academia should ensure they are equipping the students with modern skills and knowledge to make them competitive regionally and internationally.
Wahome said collaboration between industry and academia is crucial ensuring that the upcoming professionals develop the relevant knowledge and skills.
She urged professionals to devise means and ways to land mega international contracts, saying they may create a large consortium.