Business Daily (Nairobi)
Johnstone Ole Turana
9 October 2009
Nairobi — Players in the building and construction sector have asked the government to relax the building and construction code to spur further construction of houses to meet growing demand.
The current code is seen as too restrictive, with issues such as zoning of areas determining the type and size of houses to be constructed, the type of building material to be used and the nature and size of walling materials.
The code is also seen to be archaic as it is out of touch with technological development that has evolved over time, bringing with it changes to construction.
Review code
A review of the code will allow the use of alternative building materials, scrap zoning regulation and allow thinner walling material which will subsequently bring down the cost of construction.
With demand for houses rising at over 200, 000 units annually and the industry managing to only supply 40,000 units, the need to bridge the gap is critical and affordable houses is seen as the best way to address the shortfall.
"The building and construction code needs to be reviewed to allow the use of alternative building materials which are affordable and readily available," said Reginald Okumu a real estate consultant with Ark Consultants.
Mr Okumu says local materials such as stabilised blocks, reinforced timber and allowing for thinner blocks for walls will cut considerably the cost of construction which will lead to more affordable houses.
In addition, doing away with zoning will open the door for investments into areas that have largely seen low investment due to limitation of the zoning code.
Currently the building code has zoning regulation which limits the nature of houses to be constructed in certain areas.
The zoning determines house sizes based on number of storey, wall spacing and units to be put up in particular zone.
For instance, the zoning regulation limits storeyed buildings in Buru Buru estate to one storey.
More houses would lower prices in the market.
However, some of these regulations were put in place to control unplanned development and to ensure services such as sewerage and water are not overstretched.
With land for further development of housing increasingly becoming scarce and expensive, the need to review such old regulations is gaining momentum.
This will not only unlock the potential for developing more houses but also provide the much needed houses.
In addition, the construction of multi -storey buildings will provide for exploiting the advantages of economies of scale which lowers the overall unit cost of construction.
The cost of putting up smaller units tends to be higher which is eventually reflected though high unit prices in the market.
Modern technological development in building and construction industry has rendered the building code archaic making it out of touch with advanced construction technique which if widely adopted will reduce the time taken to put up a house consequently reducing the overall cost of housing.
The potential benefit to be derived from the use of ready made walling blocks is immense.
This will cut the lag time in construction by using current building materials such as normal blocks which require time to dry before further construction is carried out.
In addition, Mr Okumu says the use of prefabricated construction material will not only shorten the time of construction but it will also lower the cost which can be passed over to the final consumer.
Other players in the industry are echoing the sentiment with some calling for replacement of timber as roofing material with aluminium rods.
This will not only halt the massive environmental degradation through cutting of forests to provide the much needed timber, but it will also cut the cost of roofing by as much as 30 per cent.
"The steel hat-channel batten is cheaper compared to timber and it provides a much stronger roofing structure that is resistance to fire, termite and other boring insects that affect timber roofing structures", said Mr. Mukesh Patil of Safal Mitek, a company producing the steel batten.
The steel batten a relatively new roofing technology is seen as 'a green roofing' option which will slow down forest cutting to provide timber commonly used in roofing structures.
The rising demand for timber to meet the growing needs of the massive construction witnessed in the country is partly to blame for the wanton destruction of the country critical water catchments areas such as Mau forest and Aberdares.
This has led to erratic and unpredictable rainfall with effects such as water and power rationing being experienced currently in the country.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 Business Daily. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
