THE COMPLETION of the National Building Code and the drafting of a Road Construction Code are vital for the health of the construction industry.
That was the message coming out of last week's forum at the Bureau of Standards' head office in New Kingston.
"The construction industry must work with standards," the Bureau's Deputy Director of Engineering, Herman Edmonson stated, noting that relevant legislation was "taking years to be enacted".
"This is too long, we need to look at that," he said. He listed the National Building Code and the Road Construction Code as essential parts of the Bureau's programme.
The Bureau's team leader in the Building and Non-Metallic Department, Richard Lawrence, warned the industry that "if we are building substandard structures it will ultimately lead to loss of life and poverty".
"In Jamaica, workmanship is in some cases poor," he said, citing poor quality building materials as another area of concern. According to Mr. Lawrence, there is a huge difference in the number of building block makers and aggregate producers in Jamaica and the number that are registered.
"The interest should not be primarily on making money, it should be on the safety of people," he said.
"It is important that road construction in Jamaica is safe," he continued.
The industry welcomed the move to push on with the development of the codes, but President of the Incorporated Master Builders' Association Malcolm Housen told The Gleaner, "the building code is long overdue".
"Much effort needs to be put into getting it completed, as soon as possible," he said. "The world is now driven by standards and we cannot afford to fall behind. Our association will support and participate in the establishment of these standards."
However, he asserted that enforcement will need to be effective as well as the participation of builders, contractors and building material manufacturers to ensure that materials used for construction are safe and up to standard.
"What we'd love to see more is the enforcement aspect being put into these laws that affect the industry," he said. "Clearly we have established these standards and the necessary penalties under the law should be applied."
His vice-president, Don Cummings, echoed his support but expressed concern that constructors are too often blamed for mistakes made at an engineering or design level.
"The problem often stems from lack of design and supervision on the part of the professionals (engineers and architects) and the government agencies," he said.
