Nigeria Content Online

The Lagos State governor, Babatunde
Fashola, on Monday signed into law a bill for the administration of
physical planning, urban regeneration and building control. The law,
which aims at regulating the construction of buildings in the state,
prohibits the activities of roadside block makers.

Mr Fashola, after
assenting to the bill at a ceremony at the Lagos House, Ikeja, said
that it marked the beginning of his administration’s promise to
regulate building construction in the state. The bill is a fallout of
frequent building collapses recorded across the state.

The governor said
that interactions with artisans, bricklayers, sand miners and others in
the construction industry, showed that building collapse was a result
of poor quality materials. He stated that artisans in the construction
industry had assured him of their support and cooperation to remove
roadside block makers and allow legitimate stakeholders to service the
public needs in the sector.

Mr Fashola said
that through the law, the life-span of developed property and the lives
of residents would be prolonged, noting that the law would enforce
urban and regional planning in the state to ensure safety of lives in
the case of emergencies or fire outbreak. “It will also assist the
state in planning the infrastructural needs of the citizens such as in
the provision of electricity, water, hospitals and schools… and
ensure that building contractors and developers abide by the building
codes, by using appropriate building and electrical materials,” the
governor said.

Building for the disabled

Mr Fashola added
that the law also provides that all buildings being constructed in the
state must take cognizance of the physically challenged, while
provision for the role of insurance firms in the construction of
buildings right from the outset by visiting construction sites, was
also accentuated in the law.

“They will ensure
that buildings are built to right specifications, with right materials
for the safety of the workers and fit for tenants’ habitation on
completion. When insurance companies are involved, they would be
responsible for the payment of compensation to victims of any collapsed
buildings if such eventually happens,” he said.

The governor
further explained that landlords with buildings above two floors must
obtain certificates of fitness from the Building Control Board. The
special adviser to the governor on Political and Legislative Powers
Bureau, Abdullatef Abdulhakeem, said that the law had provisions for
preservation of the trees within construction sites. “This is to ensure
that developers are friendly with their environment, to guide against
flooding,” he said.

He explained that
under the law, agencies such as the Lagos State Physical Planning and
Development Authority (LASPHDA), the Lagos State Building Control and
the Lagos State Urban and Rural Agency (LASURA), had been harmonised
“to reduce the apprehensions the public used to have when it comes to
issues relating to building permits in the state,” he said.

According to Mr Abdulhakeem, the law
stipulates that compensations would be paid to landlords whose
certificates of occupancy were revoked in the public interest.