The national president of the Nigerian Institute of Builders (NIOB), Yuhana Izam, has identified the lack of regulatory laws in the building industry as the major cause of the frequent collapse.

He stated this in Gombe on Wednesday when the NIOB paid Governor Inuwa Yahaya a courtesy visit. Mr Izam said building sites were the most unregulated industry in Nigeria because “people who have no business with the profession but just because they can mix sand and cement thought they were builders.”

‘The national building laws have to be enforced. If not, quacks would remain in the building industry, and we will continue to see the development of slum settlements, collapses, cracked buildings in the country,’’ added Mr Izam.

According to him, to address the problem, there is a need for a law to back them because “without the legislative backing, it will be difficult to apprehend defaulters.”

He commended Mr Yahaya for making efforts to update the planning laws in Gombe.

‘‘Once you have laws that approve minimum standards in housing, then you can implement them to ensure the quality of houses you want. People are making mistakes of thinking that housing is just building a shelter,” the NIOB president explained. “But we are impressed because we have seen an integrated approach to the development of housing in Gombe; the capital city has changed dramatically and we think the governor has to be commended.”

(NAN)