EBK Chairman Eng. Erastus Mwongera (centre) address a press conference at the body headquarters in Nairobi. On the right is the body CEO Eng. Margaret Ogai and on the left is body member Eng. Johnson Matu.
By Vincent Munga
The Engineers Board of Kenya (EBK) now want members of the public to demand an occupation certificate before committing to rent or occupy any building in the country.
This comes after at least 200 tenants were evacuated from a building that developed cracks in Thindigua, Kiambu County.
Speaking during a press conference, EBK Chairman, Eng. Erastus Mwongera said the body has established an independent team of three engineers to carry out geotechnical and structural investigations on the cause of the settlement and advise relevant stakeholders on remedial actions.
Mwongera has also urged developers in counties to engage professional registered engineers in the professional or consulting category.
“In a March 2022 report on Structural Assessment of building under construction, investigations revealed most developers do not involve engineers in the Professional (P.E) and Consulting Engineers (C.E) categories for supervision,” EBK Chairman Eng. Erastus Mwongera said.
He added that the Board is working to complete an EBK engineers portal to ensure engineers report on their projects for follow-up.
Currently, the Board is undertaking 20 disciplinary hearings on complaints received against registered engineers.
“The process is aimed at ensuring that registered engineers adhere to the engineers code of conduct in the exercise of their duties. The relevant sanctions will be effected against the engineers found to be non-compliant as provided under the Engineers Act 2011 and the Engineers Rules 2019,” he said.
The body names weak structural foundations, choice of wrong sites, lack of technical capacity and compromise of materials as main reasons for rampant collapsing of buildings.
