Efforts by a lobby group of Construction Managers and Construction Project Managers to push for legislation to govern their professions have received mixed opinions from the industry, with many taking to the social media to voice their concerns.
While most of those practicing in these professions have hailed the move as long overdue, a section of the construction industry, mainly engineers and architects, feel their colleagues in the industry are attempting to usurp their roles.
Last Friday, the Construction Managers and Construction Project Managers Forum convened a stakeholders workshop at the University of Nairobi to discuss the Construction Project Managers & Construction Managers Draft Bill 2023. The bill proposes the creation of a Construction Project Managers & Construction Managers Registration Board and sets minimum qualifications for one to be registered as CPM or CM. It also defines the often-hazy delimitations of the twin professions. The proposed act appears to be modelled on Cap 525 of the Laws of Kenya that regulates architects and quantity surveyors.
For a long time, construction project managers have been at loggerheads with fellow professionals, especially architects, with the latter disapproving what they see as overbearing demeanor of project managers at construction sites.
A graduate civil engineer took to Twitter to express disappointment with the situation. Said Edith Mwirigi: “Construction supremacy wars makes the construction industry very frustrating for young upcoming professionals and breeds crooks from out there who siphon the benefits with zero education.”
But a vocal Construction Project Manager and Real Estate expert Nashon Okowa said they would push ahead with the legislation. “Regulation follows social needs. We are not seeking to do anything new. Project and construction managers are practicing in the industry already so it’s not that it’s about to start. We only want to make it regularized”, said Okowa, a former Chairman of the Association of Construction Managers of Kenya (ACMK).
You may find the draft bill here.
