Six out of Ten Buildings in Nairobi don’t have the Necessary Approvals

The Architectural Association of Kenya has proposed a raft of measures which, if adopted, will bring back sanity in the construction industry. The move comes in the wake of the recent collapse of buildings in Nairobi where several people lost their lives and others were injured.

Chairman Stephen Oundo said it was time building materials in the market were evaluated as it had emerged that some of them do not meet the quality stipulated by the Kenya Bureau of Standards.

The association also wants professionals only to be involved in the audit of all buildings in urban areas to determine their ‘structural integrity’. He said the team should include registered architects, civil, structural, mechanical and electrical engineers, physical planners, environmental experts, land surveyors, and public health and fire officers.

Furthermore, the association wants the planning and management of developments within cities to be outsourced to professionals in the private sector. This function should not be left to local authorities, said Mr Oundo in a statement.

“Impunity remains a major factor contributing to the unfortunate incidents that have occurred within the building sector,” he said.  “Important regulations such as those requiring developers to use duly qualified professionals, erect site signboard and building inspections have been ignored without respect to human life,” he added.

Mr Oundo said that his association had for a long time been calling for an audit of all buildings in urban areas considering that six out of 10 buildings in the city do not have necessary approvals. He held the view that buildings that are found to be unsafe should be demolished while appropriate corrective measures taken on those that have ‘rectifiable weaknesses’.