‘Impostors are out there claiming to be architects when they are not’- Asomba Egbuonu

Worried by the spate of building collapse in Rivers State, the Chairman, Nigerian Institute of Architects, Rivers State Chapter, Architect Asomba Andrew Egbuonu, discloses cause and preventive measures in this exclusive interview with Africa Update. Excerpts below

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Question: We have had a lot of incident of building collapse, even on its owners, what do you think is responsible for that?
Response: Well I think the problem basically starts with the general public. Unfortunately right now, today, we don’t have a general public that is properly informed.
When it comes to anything that has to do with building projects, building constructing the architect’s role is prime there.
He is said to be the chief consultant or presiding consultant in any building project. So he is the prime consultant for any building project. So if somebody wants to erect a building, the first thing the person must do, especially if you already have a land, and you are now move to the stage if what do I want to do? I want to design; I want to build a house, consult your architect.
And when I say architects I am not talking about quacks; I am not taking about educated or the uneducated quacks, because we have these categories of quacks.
I am talking about someone that has been licensed to practice architecture by the Architects Registration council of Nigeria that is what the law says.
Architect registration Act of Nigeria , we are talking about laws of the Federal republic of Nigeria, CAP A19 licensing individuals who are Nigerians to practice architecture in the Federal Republic Of Nigeria.
So you need a proper architect, I’m not talking about quacks. He would be able to take you through from your pre development from when you even decide, ha! What I’m I going to build on this land? You need an architect and he would help you develop your brief. And once he helps you develop the brief of what he feels you can do with your land based on what you want then, it is a back and forth game. He gives you your brief; he works on it on what it should be and all that.
At the end of the day, you have something. At the end of the day, it is viable, sustainable and something that would make you happy. You know and frankly when it comes to buildings, if you don’t get it right from the very beginning, from the conceptual stage, then you have gotten it wrong all through. It doesn’t matter whether you successfully build. You might finish building a house and you enter into the house and you’re unhappy, you’re an unhappy human being. You can finish a house and enter into the house and you find out that your children that were otherwise very smart children becomes suddenly very rowdy and become very, very dull.
There are lots of things in the design of a house. It is not just a drawing in architecture we have over 418 courses and only 25% are design based courses. The others have to do with the sciences, psychology, sociology, lightings, conventional movement of the air, you know everything geophysics, we deal with structures, we deal with so many other things that have to do with the sciences. So, an architect does not just draw houses as the popular parlance out there, we are actually in charge of the arts and science of how a building should be.
Unfortunately, buildings are not like paintings, you actually live inside them, so you’re stuck with them.
It is not something that you can say ho! this paint I don’t like it, remove it, and put another paint on the wall. When it comes to buildings you live in it, you’re stuck in it.
You’ll find out that you have invested hundreds of millions or a few tens of millions to erect that building at the end of the day, you might even have been penny wise pound foolish.
So going back to the collapsed buildings syndrome that seem to be rampant all over Nigeria and not just Rivers State, it is very important that clients should use the proper professionals. The Architects preamble is very very clear, it is not being disputed. But beyond even the Architect, the Architect can assist the client in putting together a complete team of building professionals. You’ll have to conduct a proper geophysical examination, people call it soil test, after the soil test has been done and all that and the architect has done his design, you will still need to get a proper structural engineer to work with so that he will come out with the full structural designs of the place that is in conformity with the architect’s original designs, because even when that drawing evolves from the architect’s design, the structural drawings, the electrical drawings, the mechanical drawings, all the service drawings you can think of, they all come out of the architect’s drawings and the structural man will also make use of the geo-physical test (the soil test) in making sure that your foundation design is prime and proper, the structural is sustainable and can last for the next 100 years or more, that is the proper way to go.
When the design designs are full and ready and you have gotten the statutory approvals from government and you now move to the post contract stage of construction, make sure that these professionals are available to help you supervise the construction, make sure you build according to the design, that is also very important because the truth also is that some people just finish designing when they get to site, they suddenly say, ho! I went to a party and I saw this one let me put it there or my friend is building in Agege, somewhere in Lagos and he put something there. Let me put it there.
You must build according to your design. If there must be any kind of change, you must do it in consultation with the professionals. It must involve going back to redo your entire design, but as much as possible, these changes are not even necessary. Build according to the design you have and at the end of the day, you will find out that you will not have any problem in your construction. Building is an essential of life, shelter is an essential of life, so let us just try and follow the rules, that to me is very important.
Question: Are there any measures, especially in Rivers State to ensure that the activities of quacks are either eliminated or checked?
Response: Yes, for now we are working with the Ministry of Urban Development, we are working with the Government of Rivers State to play our own role. We are collaborating with them to ensure that first of all, the proper plans go for approval. That these plans are done by the proper professionals, I strongly believe that any design that is not done by the proper professionals should not get government approval because once it gets government statutory approval, what it means in essence is that you have gotten development permission to develop any property you want.
So, if it is not a properly designed work that is done by a licensed professional; architect, structural engineer and all those on the field, if it is not done by the proper persons, please government must not approve it because that will become the beginning of the failure of the building environment in Port Harcourt.
Now we are working in collaboration with the Ministry of Urban Development and they are cooperating with us in this regard and I believe that we will succeed.
I hear that there is a new commissioner appointed to the Ministry of Urban Development and I want to use this opportunity to congratulate him on his appointment and urge him to also see these professionals in the building profession as partners of progress.
Now moving forward, the Nigerian public need to be properly enlightened, because a lot of people are moving around posing as architects, when they are not, these people are impostors. Sometimes it comes down to criminal impersonation because if somebody says he is a medical doctor and in truth he is not a medical doctor, that person is committing a criminal offence of impersonation. This sometimes applies to a pharmacist, a policeman, the same applies to an architect.
So, a lot of impostors are out there claiming to be architects when they are not. If somebody comes to you and says he is an architect, insist on seeing his practice license. The practice license is an identification, it is a license that is given by the Architect Registration Council of Nigeria to architects that are registered and licensed to practice within the federal Republic of Nigeria, so insist on seeing a practice license.
If the person is not registered to practice then he is not an architect, at best he is an educated quack because if he is doing the right thing, he will introduce you to his principal who will be a registered architect that will guide you through. That is very important because these people even the educated quacks and the uneducated quacks they do not have any vicarious liability if your building fails.
If something happens to your building, they will just walk away. Nobody can do anything to them because how do you show you have consulted the wrong person? So, you will have yourself to blame. So it is very important that you ask for practice license. It will show the architect’s registration number, the NIA number, also the membership number of the Nigeria Institute of Architects. If he has none of these two documents, know immediately that you are dealing with maybe someone that has gone through a certain level maybe OND, HND, BSc, whatever level of architect education but he is not yet an architect and that will not suffice for any kind of building within Rivers State.
So, these are important information that the general public need to know and also let me also add here that if someone poses as one and is impersonating as an architect, please take down his name and contact and come to #10 Abuja lane, D/line, Port Harcourt, it is off Emekuku Street and report him to the institute and we will find a way of handling the situation.