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The government has given property developers countrywide 30 days to comply with building regulations failure to which they will face the full force of the law.

National Construction Authority (NCA) executive director Maurice Akech said contractors found to have violated the law will be cautioned, suspended for a period of time or deregistered.

“We have already enhanced our surveillance through a multi-agency approach to get rid of buildings that are non-compliant and putting the lives of mwananchi at risk,” he said.

Aketch said the government had employed a multi-sectoral approach incorporating the Engineers Board of Kenya, the National Construction Authority and the Board of Registration of Architects and Quantity Surveyors.

Weak foundation

Commenting the collapse of a nine-storey building in Ruiru on Sunday, Aketch said preliminary findings had established the building did not had a weak foundation.

“Our multi-sectoral team is still conducting investigations but from what we have been able to establish, the building may have collapsed because of a weak foundation.

We have invited a team from the Kenya Bureau of Standards and they are testing the materials used before giving us the final report,” said Aketch. 

He said the investigations team had also found out that the developer of the building had made an application for the verification of the building, but it was not approved.

CEO Engineers Board of Kenya Margaret Ogai said the team will be working closely with county governments to map out all the buildings under construction in the country.

Ogai noted that some of the challenges the authority faces while enforcing the law include developers impunity and inadequate skilled manpower.

The building in Ruiru is the fourth to collapse in less than two months, putting the  Kiambu County Lands, Housing and Physical Planning docket on the spot on how approvals are done.

On August 31, a five storey building that was under construction collapsed in Gachie, Kiambu County, killing five people. Last month, a building collapsed in Kinoo.

This is not the last time the government has put contractors on notice. 

In 2015, President Uhuru Kenyatta asked the Ministry of Lands to conduct a comprehensive audit of all buildings in Nairobi.