The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

A Bahamian engineer is urging the Government to hire “third party inspectors” from the private sector as a means to relieve the burden facing the Building Control Department.

Ms Sonia Brown, principal at Graphite Engineering, told the Sustainable Grand Bahama Conference that the profession must “find creative ways” to access engineering details for small dwellings and “relevant data” on how to build “affordably, sustainably and with resilience”.

“We have a problem with inspectors,” she added. “There simply aren’t enough trained inspectors, and we in the engineering community have been lobbying the Government for many years to facilitate the introduction of third-party inspectors to help relieve the burden off of the Building Control Department.

“The challenges are greater on the Family Islands, and are exacerbated by a provision in the Local Government Act, which empowers any individual, regardless of education level, with the powers of a building control officer. This sets a dangerous double standard, because in New Providence, at the very minimum, you need to be a registered professional engineer or a registered professional architect.”

Ms Brown added: “Some of these challenges also relate to the failure to implement the Construction Contractors Act, so that there are clear guidelines for who is entitled to be called a contractor. For poor, unsuspecting prospective homeowners looking to invest their life savings in a home, selecting a contractor should not be a guessing game or Russian roulette.

“We need to improve the skill level and training of persons involved in the construction trades from masons to plumbers, electricians and the like. Further, we need to establish flood maps, no build zones so that consumers are protected from purchasing property that ought not to build to be built on.”

Asserting that consumers looking to buy low-cost homes need protecting the most, Ms Brown said: “Consumers need to be equipped with the basics when buying or building, and those purchasing low-cost homes need protecting the most. Admittedly, as we look at reforming how we approach housing, the balance between affordability, sustainability and, I will add, resilience, is a delicate one, but we must work to achieve it.

“When we look at affordability, we want to ensure that no more than 30 percent of household income goes towards servicing costs related to our home. When we refer to a house being sustainable, we mean the house has as little impact as possible on the environment and. for good measure, I throw in a requirement for resilience because we are in The Bahamas, and resilience in simple terms is the ability to weather the storms that will come.

“When we look at affordability, size does matter, and it is the single most important factor in keeping costs down, by which you can not only afford initially but what you can afford to maintain,” she added.

“Building for sustainability also means you will pay attention to elevating your home at least two feet above the crown of the road. It means preserving existing trees to help with shading your home, orienting your home to the extent possible to take advantage of prevailing winds, implementing shading elements such as porches to keep your home cool and, ever-so important, the use of insulation, especially at the roof, to minimise the amount of cooling required.”