Countrywide building inspections to start next week

Land and Housing Cabinet Secretary Jacob Kaimenyi during a press conference at his office on April 28, 2016. He has said countrywide building audits will start on May 10, 2016. FILE PHOTO | ROBERT NGUGI |

What you need to know:

  • Prof Kaimenyi said buildings found to be defective will be demolished.
  • A 2015 audit revealed that 226 out of 2,601 buildings were unsafe.
  • He admitted that the building that collapsed last week in Huruma killing more than 30 people was among those classified as unsafe.

A countrywide audit of buildings will be launched next week, Land and Housing Cabinet Secretary Jacob Kaimenyi has said.

The CS said in a statement Thursday that Kenyans will be educated on building safety during the audit set to start on May 10.

He also said buildings found to be defective will be demolished.

He said his ministry, through the National Construction Authority and the National Buildings Inspectorate will ensure that Kenyans live in safe buildings.

The CS said his ministry is testing structural integrity of some of the buildings which have been marked as unsafe and its occupants will be required to move out as soon as evacuation orders are issued.

“I would like to assure Kenyans that for all those buildings that will be found to be defective, the owners will be required to demolish them and where they fail to comply, the government will step in and carry out the demolitions at the owners cost,” he said.

He pointed out that an audit of buildings in Nairobi was conducted last year during.

The audit revealed that 226 out of 2,601 buildings were unsafe.

Prof Kaimenyi said the National Buildings Inspectorate also audited buildings in Huruma Estate in February and March.

He admitted that the building that collapsed last week in Huruma killing more than 30 people was among those classified as unsafe.

Other areas where the audit has already been conducted include Umoja, Dagoretti, Zimmerman, Thomeestate, Githurai44, Garden Estate, Marurui, Mirema, Roysambu, Ngumba, KahawaWest,Baba Dogo and South B.

He said the audit is ongoing in Nairobi West and that the National Youth Service are set to demolish two houses in Mathare.

Prof Kaimenyi also said the ministry is conducting a building training for officers from all the 47 counties.

The three-day training, which kicked off Wednesday in Nairobi, will also involve residents associations and other civic bodies later next month to promote partnership in identifying unsafe buildings being “secretly erected”.

The ministry has further issued hotline numbers, 0719123123 and 0726123123 which the public can call to report unsafe buildings.