Building Collapse: Defaulters will be Sanctioned-ARCON

……. AMMC to conduct integrity test on buildings around the building collapse site
……….Rescue efforts winds down
The Architects Registration Council of Nigeria (ARCON) has promised the full weight of the law against any professional in the built industry involved in the building collapse in Gwarinpa district of Abuja.
Nigerians woke up early Thursday to the collapse of a two-storey suspended build located along 7th Avenue in the upper scale Gwarinpa district of the FCT.
As at the last count, 21 people were rescued by the emergency responders including the FCT Emergency Management Agency (FERMA) FCT Fire Service and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), while three people were brought out of the rubble lifeless.
The Registrar of ARCON, Arc Umar Murnai, pledged the full weight of the law would be visited on any professional connected with the collapse of the building. Murnai further stated that “necessary sanctions will be meted out on professionals involved in the building collapse”.
He stated that the council is working to identify the professionals involved in the project. To this end, he disclosed that ARCON will write the Federal Housing Authority in order to find out the Architect involved in the project.
According to him, as part of measures to ensure that the incidence of building collapse is brought to an end that informed the decision of ARCON to hold a meeting with all the professional bodies involved in the built industry.
The ARCON Registrar further disclosed that the meeting highlighted the need for all professional bodies in the built industry to set up a compliance committee as a way of ensuring strict compliance with professional standards.
Murnai stated that the Council has introduced ARCON Project Registration Number (APRN) as way of ensuring that only qualified and registered members are involved in the execution of projects in the country.
Meanwhile, the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC), TPL Umar Shauibi, stated that integrity test would be conducted on all the building around the collapsed building site to ascertain whether the buildings are still conducive and safe for human habitation.
Shauibi disclosed that any building that did not meet the minimum standard after the integrity test would be sealed and pulled down if need be. He further explained that an investigative committee would be constituted in order to unravel what would have led to the collapse of the building.
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