The Case for Building Regulations in Kenya, Uganda and Namibia ...

The second blog on this website was done on January 6th?2010??and it highlighted 10 flaws in the Kenyan Building Regulations as follows:

Today, I am very happy that the Government of Kenya has enacted into law the The National Construction Authority Act, Number 41 of 2011 which is is set to streamline, overhaul and regulate the industry in Kenya. It is also very great to note this will also trigger the implementation of New?National Planning and Building Regulations which had been proposed in the year 2009

This is expected to finally bring sanity to the Construction Sector and tackle most of the flaws identified as causing bottlenecks.?The?Act establishes the National Construction Authority (NCA) which has been given powers to regulate buildings, roads, dams and telecommunication apparatus amongst others. Its functions are to generally

• regulate the industry (including maintaining a register of contractors),
• promote the construction industry,
• ensure that quality is maintained,
• accredit training institutions and
• create a construction code.

The Act, Regulations and proposed Authority are in line with Article 10 (c) of the Kenyan Constitution which upholds national values like good governance, integrity, transparency, and accountability. This is a great boost to the Building and Construction Indstry in Kenya and sets it a standard above the rest in reforming the Business Environment.

Uganda and Namibia are also grappling with similar issues of overhauling Building Regulations.

In Uganda, there is a proposed Building Control Bill to tackle the thorny issue of quacks and collapsing buildings.?Builders and contractors who breach the law shall be subjected to stringent penalties if the government goes ahead to pass the newly proposed Building Control Bill into law.

The enactment of Better Planning and Building Regulations is the kind of relief many home owners and players in the Construction Industry would love to come take shape. It means among other things

1. A building law which is capable of spurring growth in housing, building and construction sector.
2. Harmonizing all existing laws scattered across 103 statutes to remove legal and bureaucratic impediments in the sector.
3. A law that accommodates the rapidly changing building and construction technologies and appropriate technologies to speed up housing delivery.
4. An institutional framework structure for effective implementation of the new law.

Slums in Windhoek Municipality of Namibia

Last year,?The Namibian carried a story which highlighted the need for a Construction Council in Namibia to regulate Contractors. The Namibian Engineering Council and other players in the industry are trying its level best to handle the imbalances caused by the former?apartheid regime.

Recently, Allafrica.com highlighted a particular scenario very similar to Kenya?s previous flaws in the Building Regulations that we have sought to address. In the story, we learn that

?IN recent years Windhoek has seen an unprecedented growth of informal areas on the edges of the city, yet with more and more people arriving in Windhoek and setting up informal dwellings, the Windhoek Municipality lacks building regulations for such homes.

A spokesperson for the municipality?s building control division has told The Namibian that in order for the municipality to issue a compliance certificate, an essential component in the construction of any dwelling, it must see an agreement certificate approving the building method used in the construction of the dwelling.

According to the official, the approval of the building method is granted in South Africa by a building standards commission.

The spokesperson said since no agreement certificates are issued for dwellings constructed using only corrugated iron, the municipality cannot issue a compliance certificate.

According to the municipal official there are also no regulations guiding the construction of informal corrugated-iron houses.?- Read Full Story

Construction Industry as Indicator of Business Environment

The performance of the Construction Industry is a key indicator of the business environment in a country as one can easily measure the ease or difficulty of dealing with the government acts, regulations and institutions. We hope that the coming of the New Changes will raise the Rankings of Kenya to the best?performer?on the continent.

Globally, Kenya stands at 37 in the ranking of 183 economies on the ease of dealing with construction permits. The rankings for comparator economies and the regional average ranking provide other useful information for assessing how easy it is for an entrepreneur in Kenya to legally build a house.

We also hope that the enforcement of the Act and Subsequent regulations will bid farewell to the chaos prevalent in the Industry.

Qs.Nahinga David

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Tags: Kenya, Namibia, Uganda

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