Collapse building; Professionals sue for approving powers —NIA Chair

&NewLine;<p>The Chairman&comma; Nigerian Institute of Architects&comma; Lagos&NewLine;State Chapter&comma; Architect Fitzgerald Umah&comma; has advised governments at all levels&NewLine;to hand over building approving powers to professional bodies&period; Umah reckons&NewLine;that this would help to mitigate the rising incidences of collapse buildings&comma;&NewLine;orchestrated by unprofessional handling of construction works by quarks with consequential&NewLine;and untimely deaths of unsuspecting site workers&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>He stated this at the August breakfast meeting organzined&NewLine;by the Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce&comma; NACC&comma; at Oriental Hotel&comma; Lagos&NewLine;with a theme&colon; Building Collapse and the Need for Re-Certification&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>Among other reasons identified for recurring building&NewLine;collapse in Nigeria were faulty designs&semi; extra loads&semi; ecological position&semi; failure&NewLine;of expertise and poor supervision by regulatory agencies etc&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>As a remedy&comma; panelist at the event advocated an expanded&NewLine;enlightenment campaign by govern&comma;ment regulatory agencies&comma; stiffer penalties&comma; effective&NewLine;collaboration of stakeholders&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>The chamber&comma; in earlier remarks&comma; noted that &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The incidence of building collapse has&NewLine;become a recurring decimal in several parts of Nigeria which has raised much&NewLine;concern and anxiety about the safety of lives and property&period; Lagos especially&comma;&NewLine;has recorded an alarming proportion of this tragedy&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>As a chamber of&NewLine;commerce&comma; we feel compelled to create such platform as this to bring together&NewLine;relevant stakeholders in the industry through thought-provoking presentations&NewLine;and panel discussions&comma; thereby uncovering innovations in problem solving&comma;&NewLine;strengthening expertise and expanding collaborations through programmes like&NewLine;this&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>Renowned real&NewLine;estate operator&comma; Adron Homes and Properties Limited&comma; was the major sponsor of the&NewLine;breakfast event&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;