Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, on Wednesday, launched a re-branded Certificate of Completion and Fitness for Habitation with a charge on building agency officials to discharge their duties diligently, saying Lagosians are watching them.
Sanwo-Olu tasked the officials to treat Lagosians with respect and decency whenever their services were needed, saying that without them and their buildings, there would have been no job for building agencies and their officials.
Speaking at the launch of the fitness certificate, Sanwo-Olu said that the fitness certificate was initiated to find a lasting solution to structural defects, building collapse and other building contraventions in line with international best practice.
He added that the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) has been empowered with a mandate to issue the certificate to all existing and new building developments, thereby ensuring their resilience and safety for occupancy.
The governor, who said that Lagosians are complaining about the officials, also described the initiative as a “game changer”, adding that the financial and emotional loss that usually followed incidents of building collapse led to the design of the innovative approach to control physical developments and safeguard people’s lives.
He said: “Lagosians want to have a positive experience when they come to your offices. Do you know what Lagosians are saying? They like you but sometimes, they also have a lot of complaints about you. You need to treat them with a lot of decency. You need to treat them well because they are the king, if they don’t have a building that they want to construct, we all would not have a job. So the fact they come your office to seek approval or planning permit, we need to understand that we are in it to serve them.
The State Government’s intention, Sanwo-Olu said, is to ensure close monitoring of building construction works by LASBCA officials, from the foundation stage to completion.
Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr. Idris Salako, said LASBCA would be conducting stage-by-stage inspections on building construction to ensure property developers adopt quality construction methods and materials throughout the period of work before issuing the fitness certificate.
The Commissioner said existing buildings seeking to obtain the certificate and buildings detected to be distressed would be required to present satisfying results of Non-Destructive Test in order to ensure structural integrity and prevent imminent collapse.
LASBCA General Manager, Arc. Gbolahan Oki, said the agency’s core mandate was to correct anomalies in the building construction industry, stressing that the agency would always act in the interest of the public to prevent loss of human lives and valuable properties.
“Without a doubt, the relaunch of the Certificate of Fitness for Habitation stands to benefit both the State and the citizenry. Obtaining the certificate entails that every stage of a building construction will be closely monitored by the LASBCA officials. This process is aimed at ensuring that all buildings in the state are deemed safe and habitable for occupants,” Oki said.
