QSRBN Seeks Central Regulatory Body in Construction Industry
Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja
President of the Quantity Surveyors Registration Board of Nigeria (QSRBN), Obafemi Onashile, has called for the establishment of a central regulatory body to be known as the Building and Engineering Commission (BEC) to sanitise the construction market.
Speaking in Abuja at the 2025 Annual Quantity Surveyors Assembly and induction of newly registered members, Onashile emphasised the urgent need for the federal government, professionals and regulatory bodies to jointly set up the proposed organisation to curb the current challenges.
Onashile spoke on the theme: “Enhancing the Quantity Surveyors’ Capacity in Building, Engineering and Infrastructure Development Contracts, Dispute Management and Resolution.”
He argued that the creation of the commission had become imperative to save the sector from further unwholesome practices, especially the activities of quacks. Onashile suggested that the membership of the proposed agency will be nominees from each of the existing regulatory bodies in the sector.
According to him, the Federal Minister of Housing and Urban Development and Minister of Works, will also have nominees in the proposed commission, lamenting that the construction market is currently open, with all sorts of quacks.
He said: “There are quacks in the market, doing all other duties. Quacks as contractors, quacks as professionals or designers, and quacks also as surveyors.
“What we are trying to do against this is to now move beyond just controlling each profession. How do we control the market? Who goes to the market? What is available in the market? That is a major issue.
“And with this, we are saying, why doesn’t the federal government and the professionals, the regulatory bodies, set up a building and engineering commission to look to control and regulate the market, the construction market.”
On the issue of defective building code, Onashile pointed out that the code cannot be implemented because there are many challenges with it, explaining that not everything in the code as of today, can pass as law.
“The building code needs to be edited effectively such that things that are enforceable are left to be made into law. But with the commission, once settled, the commission regulates.
“The building code will be part of the duty or the documentation that will be effective in the industry to move on. So, the building and engineering commission, as we propose, will be set up to have nominees of each of the regulatory bodies,” he argued.
In his remarks, the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa, who was represented by Pemi Temitope, a quantity surveyor in the ministry, assured of the federal government’s resolve to actively engage with stakeholders to design and implement policy reforms that foster transparency, professionalism, and accountability across the value chain.
Dangiwa announced that the ministry has several ongoing projects, including: The Renewed Hope Cities and Estates, Slum Upgrade Intervention and other public private partnership projects designed to address Nigeria’s housing deficit and modernise the urban spaces.
“However, for these transformative investments to yield the desired impact, there must be a corresponding reinforcement of technical capacity, professional ethics, and institutional collaboration, which is why gatherings like today’s Assembly are not only necessary but essential,” Dangiwa added.
