Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors organizes a Total Cost Management Workshop

The Professional body constituted and licensed to practice total cost management and control of construction and engineering contract in Nigeria " Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors" has geared up its modus operandi to checkmate the prevailing real estate and construction/engineering finance challenges mitigating against the economy.
As part of its strategic effort put in place to restore unequalled transparency and accountability in the industry, the institute just concluded a Continous Professionals Development workshop tagged" Relevance of BESMM4 in total cost management of construction/engineering works" which took place in Abuja,Abeokuta,Bauchi,Benin,Enugu and Kano on the 6th & 7th April, 2016. The workshop emphasized immensely on the pertinence of how today's Quantity Surveyor requires to be vast and updated in the engineering cost practice in line with the prevailing international standards to be adequately competent in delivering value added service to the clients on simple and capital projects.

AfDB Funds African Housing Development with $8.2m

Shelter Afrique, a Pan-African finance institution supporting the development of the housing and real estate sector in Africa has received a $8.2 million injection of equity by the African Development Bank (AfDB).

In a statement by the AfDB, the injection is meant to strengthen its balance sheet and help achieve its objective of providing quality affordable housing in Africa.

“Africa’s economic landscape remains positive with promising scope for growth; Gross Domestic Product remains robust supported by multiple factors. The continent’s growing population, a growing middle class and the fastest urbanisation rate in the world are some of the factors driving increased demand for affordable houses and housing finance,” AfDB noted.

The Managing Director, Shelter Afrique, Mr. James Mugerwa, said the equity increase is a testimony to the confidence reposed by AfDB in his firm. “The African Development Bank has sent strong signals about the seriousness of housing on the continent, and by extension, the seriousness of what we do here at Shelter Afrique. It is a welcome development but we see it as a challenge as well. This equity increase means the AfDB wants to see more, they want to see impact and scale and that is what we will be aiming for this year; impact,” Mugerwa said.

Source: Nigeria Real Estate Hub

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CMB to Develop Block of Flats at Apapa GRA

CMB Building Maintenance & Investment Company Limited, a foremost real estate development company, has unfolded plans to boost its affordable portfolio of real estate development with the introduction of a residential housing estate in Apapa GRA.

The latest addition is situated in Apapa, which is the major port of the city of Lagos, Nigeria, and is located to the west of Lagos Island, across Lagos Harbour.

CMB’s development drive towards the Apapa axis is coming on the heels of the directive by the Senate to the Federal Ministry of Works and the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, to immediately begin the process of removing structures on rights of way (motor ways) and other locations impeding smooth traffic flow across the country.

The estate will constitute 2 blocks of 38 units of tastefully finished 3 bedroom apartments with a service quarter and 2 pent apartments. The estate will boast of facilities such as alternative power supply, potable water supply, adequate parking space, landscaped area, elevators, fire escapes, a serene environment and facility management services.

The Managing Director of CMB, Mr Kelechukwu Mbagwu, said the decision to expand its business to the Apapa corridor is largely based on the company’s drive to be a fore-runner in reducing the nation’s current housing deficit. He urged developers across the country to embrace this mandate of private sector participation.

SON Sets to Sanction Unscrupulous Building Material Manufacturers

The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has declared war on manufacturers of substandard building materials in order to curb rising trend of building collapse across the country.

The Acting Director General of the SON, Dr. Paul Angya, disclosed this in Abuja when the executive members of the Nigerian Institute of Architects (NIA) visited him.

Angya promised to partner with the Nigerian Institute of Architects (NIA) in a bid to fight the current wave of production and sale of substandard building material.

Angya said that the increasing rate of building collapse in the country was worrisome and called on the Institute to see themselves as partners in the development of Nigeria in terms of quality and standards.

He informed the Institute of an existing Task Force in SON, and invited them to join SON to fight and instil discipline in the build industry, particularly the Iron and Steel sector.

—DailyTrust

Gov, Quantity Surveyors clamour an enhanced Total Cost Management of Construction and Engineering Contracts

As the vagaries in exchange rate continues to affect prices of construction materials, the federal government has called for a new template, which will ensure proper costing of projects and prudent management of available resources.

Speaking at the 2016 National Project Cost Reduction Summit organised in Abuja, by the Quantity Surveyors Registration Board of Nigeria (QSRBN), the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, said the move has become inevitable in view of current fiscal constraints arising from fall in the price of oil and Government revenues.

He identified factors responsible for high cost of project implementation in the country to include price fluctuations due to vagaries in exchange rate, which in turn affects prices of construction materials; change in site condition, most time due to inadequate feasibility studies before project commencement, irregularities among project supervisors; and poor data used for feasibility studies.

According to him, addressing high cost of project implementation can be a panacea for inclusive and sustainable national development.

He noted that as a way of ensuring value for money, the Ministry in preparing the 2016 budget adopted a novel approach known as ‘Zero Based Budgeting ‘as against the envelope /incremental budget system that had been in place. The Zero-based Budgeting Approach (ZBA) is a method of budgeting by which all expenses must be justified for each year.

He stated that in a bid to free up resources for capital projects, the government in the 2016 budget raised the share of provision for capital projects to 30 per cent from about 12per cent in the 2015 budget and also re-prioritized the projects for implementation with infrastructure projects including power, roads, housing, transport among others being allocated over 30per cent of the total resources for capital projects.

He explained that the emphasis on infrastructure rests on the fact that such projects can contribute to poverty reduction, job creation and equity in the society, adding that it is in consideration of pervasive influence of infrastructure on inclusive growth, among others, that the Ministry coordinated the development of the National Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan to raise the stock of available infrastructure.

His words: “Sound public procurement policies are among the essential elements of good governance. The Public Procurement Act 2007 established the Bureau of Public Procurement charged with the responsibility to among others, provide legal and institutional framework and professional capacity for public procurement in Nigeria.

“Experience in the last 2016 budget preparation process showed the need for uniformity in the prices for similar items submitted by the Ministries, Departments and Units. The Bureau will therefore, need to provide standard price list for items for consideration during budgeting process. The support to achieve value for money in this regard may not be over-emphasized.

“Driving development through better infrastructure is, therefore, key to sustainable development. The present administration, as we all know, was elected into office on a change mantra. This presupposes that the Administration will be doing away with old and unsustainable ways of doing things and, therefore, will be entrenching good governance practices.

“As to addressing suitable choice of projects sites, the Ministry will popularize among the MDAs the use of the Nigeria Assets Decision Support System (NADSS) developed with the technical support of the Nigeria infrastructure Advisory Facility (NIAF) to aid decision on project sites as well as check cost escalation that may arise from wrong choice,” he said.

Meanwhile, the President of QSRBN, Mallam Husaini Dikko has stressed the need to develop templates for determining costs of buildings, Roads/Highway, Bridges, Railways, Dams and other Civil Engineering projects in Nigeria.

According to him, the absence of these templates often places project costs at large, subject it to the whims and caprices of administrators and politicians who see it as a loophole to siphon public funds into private pockets.

QSRBN President said that high cost of construction arising from corrupt inflation of prices/costs, contract padding and other corrupt devices is the major cause of poverty and under-development in Nigeria.

He observed that costing template will provide the tool for benchmarking costs of all types of construction projects across the country.

Dikko noted that National Project Cost Reduction Summit is designed to find solution to the irritant challenge posed by corrupt practices and other ignoble tendencies by participants in the construction project delivery in Nigeria.

Lekki Gardens Residents Request a relocation plan from Lagos state Government

Residents of Lekki Gardens Estate located along Lekki-Epe Expressway, Lagos State have called on Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to have a rethink on his vacation order given to the residents of the estate.

This may be the reason there appears to be no sign of any resident of the estate moving out as at the weekend.

Following the collapse of a five-storey building belonging to Lekki Gardens Estate Limited, which claimed several lives, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode while inspecting the site last week directed all occupants of the estate to relocate.

Ambode said the movement of the residents became necessary to allow for integrity tests to be conducted on all properties owned by the developer within the estate.

During the inspection, the governor ordered the conduct of integrity tests on all buildings already developed by Messrs Lekki Worldwide Estate Limited, the owners of the estate, to ascertain their fitness, adding that the developer should take responsibility for the relocation of occupants of the buildings as government would not wait for another building to come crashing down and kill other people before taking proactive action.

But investigations by The Guardian at the weekend showed that, no resident has moved as directed by the Governor, as activities have returned to normal in the wide estate.

The resident association met over the weekend. They resolved to engage the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development and the governor on the directive to vacate their buildings.

An official of the association said: “We need to know the issues, hence we will be meeting with both the commissioner and Governor.”

She added: “ This guy (Lekki Garden) should not be persecuted but be encouraged as Lekki Garden has shown to have delivered so much housing units within a very short time.”

According to her, the residents would have to be part of the process of carrying out any tests on their property. “We need to know what the issues are. We should know whether the buildings complained about have issues of compliance or structurally defective.”

Ambode had explained the significance of ordering the structural stability test, noting that his administration is built on safety and the security of lives and properties in all parts of the state.

He said: “The state government will undertake a stability test on all other buildings constructed by the developer in the state, whether occupied or not, to ascertain their structural stability. The developer will pay the cost of the tests. Any building found to be defective would be demolished.

“For those that pass the integrity test, the developer will pay a penalty for any overdevelopment on the site. Further to the above, the state government intends to carry out an audit of all structures in Lagos to ascertain those with or without planning approvals and evaluate the physical developments vis-a-vis the approved building plans.

“The details of this initiative are being finalised and you will be brie

fed in due course. Let me reiterate that Lagos is open to business for those who must comply with the state’s laws and regulations in order to prosper.

“Our main concern is to continue to improve on the ease of doing business and uphold the rule of law at all times. Those who choose non-compliance and defiance will henceforth face the full weight of the law without fear or favour.”

He added, they, like any others are getting information on the development in their estate through the mass media. She said it was unfortunate that till date (time of filing the report), nobody has come to talk to them on the next plan action.

The resident, who confirmed no resident has moved asked: “Where are we or our tenants moving to. What is the relocation plan? Nobody has spoken to us on the way forward, apart from what we read on the newspapers.”

A commercial motorcyclist, also said he was yet to see anybody packing out of the estate. Speaking in pigin English, he said: “Nobody is moving out, as I am yet to see any of the residents packing out.”