Building Collapse: Fashola recommends compulsory Project Registration Number for architects

In order to stop incidents of building collapse in Nigeria, the Minister for Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, has recommended a compulsory Project Registration Number System for architects in the country.

According to Guardian, Fashola made the recommendation in Abuja, on Thursday, April 25, 2019, at the 2019 Architect Colloquium organised by the Architect Registration Council of Nigeria (ARCON)

Represented by the ministry’s Director for Public Private Partnership, Eucharia Alozie, the minister said “The Federal Government is therefore in full support of the APRN concept, especially the idea that architects are to tag projects with registration number. We are thus waiting for its implementation and that training and re-training of architects should be intensified as obtainable in other clients.”

Fashola noted that architects should not only design durable structures that are safe and resilient but must ensure they are fit for purpose, Guardian reports.

The former governor of Lagos state, therefore, advised ARCON to ensure that the activities of quacks in the profession are checkmated saying this would improve the efficiency of the building designs and supervision process.

Also speaking at the event, Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi asks ARCON to ensure implementation at the state level saying the country needs more architects at the state level.

Recall that a three-storey building located at Itafaaji area of Lagos Island, collapsed with school kids trapped and many residents of the building feared dead on Wednesday, March 13, 2019.

The incident put the spotlight on weak houses already marked for demolition in the state as the state government announced its readiness to demolish over 180 houses in the state.