NCA plans inspection of partially occupied buildings

Hundreds of buildings risk closure in a National Construction Authority (NCA) plan to clamp down on developers who flout partial occupation certificate requirements.

NCA acting general manager for research, training and capacity building Stephen Mwilu said developers defying the regulation are exposing occupants’ lives in danger.

Building owners normally opt for partial occupancy of projects in a bid to raise a return that is then applied to finish the remaining construction works.

Mr Mwilu said if a building does not have a partial occupation certificate and it is occupied, then they will order an immediate suspension of occupation and construction.

Nairobi has had numerous cases of collapsed buildings, raising concerns on the standards supervision.

In 2016, an audit ordered by President Uhuru Kenyatta revealed that most buildings collapse because of poor quality concrete, lack of proper foundation and low quality building stones.“Once we close these buildings, the constructors later proceed with their projects even though we had stopped them. It becomes like a game of cat and mouse game,” he said.

However, the authority faces plethora of challenges in enforcing the guidelines due to inadequte number of workers.