How to Avoid Building Construction Failure in Kenya

Of late, several buildings have collapsed in Kenya.

There are procedures and best practices that should be followed to avoid this.

Step 1.

Have the building designed by registered professionals. Architects in Kenya are registered by the Board of Architects and Quantity Surveyors of Kenya. The Board of Architects and Quantity Surveyors of Kenya is under the Ministry of Public Works. The registration process is rigorous and is a 2- year examination whereby the Government ensures that the applicant has undergone training under a registered Architect for a certain period after graduating from a recognized Architecture School.

After registration as an Architect, the applicant can then register with the Architectural Association of Kenya as a corporate member.

The Architectural association of Kenya also registers students-student membership, architecture graduates who are not registered-graduate membership, building contractors, developers, draftsmen-virtually everyone with an interest in construction.

This begins the confusion in that a would-be developer will approach a quack who is not registered to give Architectural services in Kenya. The quack will then prove to the innocent developer that he is registered to offer Architectural services by producing a registration certificate from Architectural Association of Kenya as a Licentiate member. What the developer doesn't know is that only Corporate and Fellow members have the Board of Registration of Architects and Quantity Surveyors certification as a must have requirement.

I also noticed that even leading Banks and Financial institutions still can not differentiate between the Board of Registration of Architects and Quantity Surveyors of Kenya certificate and an Architectural Association of Kenya certificate. They insist that for someone to offer Architectural services to their customers, one has to hold the Architectural Association of Kenya certificate. What they don't know is that the Architectural Association of Kenya Licentiate certificate is open to a wide variety of applicants-except the Corporate Membership certificate. This is the trick that is used by most quacks to confuse innocent developers and Financial institutions that they have certificates to offer architectural services since none of the developers will insist of Corporate Membership certificate because they don't know about the categories of membership.

If a law is established to create one centre of reference for Architects-such as with the Law society of Kenya, we will be one step ahead in ensuring qualified personnel offer Architectural service to Kenyans.

Step 2.

Once the developer has maneuvered their way into getting a licensed Architect to offer the service, drawings are produced and lodged for approval at the relevant Local Authority.

Most local authorities don't have adequate technical personnel to decipher the drawings and give the necessary input for approval.

Nairobi city council has the personnel but they are too few to handle all the workload that comes to them daily.
Since the council can not offer professional technical information regarding the approvals, due to understaffing and lack of the technical know-how, this creates a perfect recipe for corruption. The developer's approvals are delayed to the point that he is forced to part with some money for the plans to be approved-usually without the plans being scrutinized. If the plans are scrutinized and all processes are followed, a fatal omission will be easily noticed and structural drawings from a registered structural engineer are supposed to be produced. The Local authority is also supposed to check that the plans have been produced by a registered architect.

Of late, local authorities have been insisting on the architect's registration-registration from the Board of Architects and Quantity Surveyors of Kenya.

This is a good step but the quacks and corrupt council officials have found a way of going around this by attaching a 'real' architect's certificate on the drawings produced by the quack. This can be easily stopped by ensuring that all buildings being constructed should have a sign-board showing the name of the professionals who have been involved in the design.

Step 3.

After the developer getting the necessary approvals to commence construction, he is supposed to contract a registered building contractor for construction services.

Building contractors are registered by the Ministry of Public Works.

The developer can either single-source a contractor or request several registered contractors to quote or the building construction and choose the best.

The registration of the building contractor is supposed to show that the contractor has proved that he understands building construction and has agreed to adhere to the best practices as stipulated by the Government.

In Kenya, most developers do not use the building contractors. This requirement is again not enforced in private developments. In Government, Parastatals and corporate developments, this requirement is fully followed to the letter.

The Architect who has been contracted by the developer is supposed to offer periodic supervision of the building construction until completion of the building whereby he is supposed to certify that the building is complete and ready for human habitation. These processes are enforced by the local authority who as we said earlier, are understaffed and don't have enough technical personnel hence this step is rarely taken unless when the developer wants to insure his building and the insurance company insists that they need to see the completion certificate.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Frank_Gichuhi

Do You Need a Business Consultant?

The option to employ a business consulting service is not always an easy one, numerous factors demand consideration. It's true numerous businesses succeed without the assistance of a consultant; conversely business consulting constitutes a valuable asset for various companies successes that do utilizing such services. Whenever you're uncertain whether or not to use the services of a business consulting company here are a few questions to ask yourself to make the determination more effortless.

Does your business organization demand an unbiased outside look?

The short answer is whenever you are even considering that you might need help from a business consulting company you in all probability will profit by their services. Business advisors can be helpful irrespective where your business is positioned; whether you are barely taking off, or you're a seasoned company that has bumped into some obstacles. Even if your business is doing well a consultant can help you to expand and diversify to reach new or additional profitable clients. If you need help starting your business, have run into problems that necessitate mastering; or just want some fresh ideas helping your successful business grow and prosper you could reap benefits from the ideas of a business consultant.

What areas will a Consultant handle?

Most consultants quickly realize their clients are more astute in the day-to-day operations of your company than any consultant will ever hope to be. How to produce your product or supply your service is certainly your forte. However, the outside influences, or staff-type operations, may require fine tuning. For instance, if you set up your website with a web designer who was not attuned to the conundrums of optimization for search engines, or the latest theories of landing page design, these factors may have a negative impact on your overall marketing plans. Oft times clients first, perhaps sole, impression of your company may be through your website. This same skill can be used to address your marketing, printed communications, employee relations, or even bringing your hotel from two to three or four stars.

How do I decide which consultant to hire?

There are independent consulting companies available for every business niche imaginable. It is important to find a consulting company that has experience in the industry in which you operate and have provided other businesses with the services you need. You can always ask friends, colleagues, or other business owners who they have used if the consultant helped their business. You should have a good idea of what you want to accomplish by hiring a consultant, and how much input you want to have; or whether you want the consultant to deliver to you a finished packaged solution. It is always a good idea to interview a few business consulting firms to get a feel of their experience level and how well they will work with you. Probably most importantly you want to deal with someone you are comfortable working beside. Without a good comfort level, the give-and-take necessary to accomplish your goals may be compromised. Be sure to insist you meet the actual person or persons that will be doing the job not just a point person who sells you the consulting firm and then moves on to the next lead.

Do I need a contract?

You will also want to carefully consider the contract you arrange with the consultant you choose. Most business consultants will write a contract outlining the details of their services, and what you can expect from them. A contract is always good to have because it will clearly state the details of the service you can expect. Your consulting contract should include a begin date and end date or specify if they will be providing an ongoing service, the specifics of the project they will be completing for you as well as the project goals you want them to accomplish, and the methods they will use to complete their services. The pricing should be clearly stated - whether by the day/hour or flat rate for the project. You should also agree as to how the payments will be made - at what stage of the contract or just divided into weekly installments over the project timeframe.

With a bit of effort in the first place, you and your consultant will work harmoniously and attain a smooth, more profitable solution for your business.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_Moran