The National Construction Authority (NCA) will have the power to demolish faulty buildings in the country if a proposed law amendment sails through parliament.
NCA is seeking the new powers through the National Assembly when it amends the National Construction Authority Act 2011.
Upon successful amendment of the law, NCA will be able to investigate, arrest engineers, architects and quantity surveyors responsible for faulty buildings and prosecute them.
Section 2 of the NCA Act 2011 only permits the agency to suspend the construction of buildings if flagged for non-compliance.
For years, the agency argued that this impeded their ability to crack the whip on developers, which has seen the country experience tragedies following the collapse of substandard buildings.
“The National Construction Act is amended by inserting the following new section; the board may institute an inquiry into defects in a building to establish the cause of the defects on its own initiative or upon receipt of a complaint addressed to the board in writing made by or on behalf of any person alleging defects in a building approved by a registered person,” the proposed bill reads in part.
In recent days, the building regulator has been making surprise visits to construction sites to enforce compliance with building standards.
– Kenyans.co.ke and CKS file
