Al-amin Abubakar —
The Director General of Standard Organisation of Nigeria, Farouk Salim, has cautioned builders against the use of low-quality construction materials.
Represented by the Head of Products Registration, Joseph Ugbaja, the SON boss gave the warning at the just concluded Building, Construction and Machinery Expo with the theme “Building Standards and Sustainable Structures”, in Lagos.
:17,000 Personnel Ready For Housing and Population Census In Osun State
Salim noted that the theme of the expo coincided with the efforts being made by the organisation to ensure that materials used in the built environment conform to the best standards.
“The building sector is an important sector because it contributes a high level of employment activities for sustainable development, he said.
“The sector is also important because of its influence on life, quality, security, comfort and health.
:We Did £50m Worth of Real Estate Transactions in Nigeria – Pearson
“However, construction maintenance and the updating of the construction environment have the potential of negative effects on the environment, while creating a lot of unrecoverable resources and creating lots of waste.
“The current challenge is to devise methods for creating economical buildings and structures while reducing social, economic and environmental effects.
Speaking on the monitoring of substandard materials aiding building collapse, the director general disclosed that the organisation carries out quarterly monitoring.
“Our officers monitor this once in a quarter. We know that a lot of sharp practices also happen, coupled with massive unemployment.
“So, we do not go about using the sledgehammer immediately after we catch someone using substandard products but when we see that it is a deliberate act to defraud by consistently producing low-quality products that do not align with the relevant standard, we will be forced to shut them down until they are ready to do the right thing.
“SON are like quality policemen. Just feel free to bring to our notice when you observe low-standard quality materials being sold out. In addition, any information you give us would be treated in strict confidence”.
