GSA presents copies of Ghana Building Code Book to MMDAs in 3 Northern regions
The Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) has presented free copies of the first ever published Ghana Building Code to Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MDAs) in the Northern, Savannah and North East Regions to begin implementation and enforcement of essential requirement for building and structural regulations.
The presentation of the code to the local assemblies is to ensure that they apply strictly the regulations and standards required in putting up any public infrastructure.
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It is also to halt the emerging bad public buildings and construction without due adherence to safety, accessibility and health standards.
Speaking at the presentation ceremony held at the Nyankpala campus of the University for Development Studies (UDS), on Thursday, April 11, 2019, the acting Director Standards of the GSA, Ms Joyce Okoree on behalf of the Director General, said the Code, GS 1207: 2018 was launched in October 2018 as part of the GSA's efforts to make available requirements for the building and construction industry.
She said GSA as a statutory body responsible for the management of the nation's quality infrastructure deemed it fit to present copies of the code to each of the MMDAs to ensure the safety of Ghanaians across the country.
She noted that the code has come in at a time that the integrity of every building must be ensured to avoid unnecessary disasters and hoped the assemblies will strictly enforce the regulations to ensure safety of buildings and other public infrastructure to be constructed in their various areas of jurisdiction.
The standards spelt out in the 1,430-page book with 38 chapters developed by Ghanaian experts, Ms.. Okoree said, was comprehensive and would ensure the country’s construction environment was safer and met international requirement.
The Senior Engineer and Head of Works of the Kpandai District Assembly, Mr. Mohammed Abass who received a copy of the code on behalf of his assembly gave the assurance that they would ensure that contractors conform to the regulations and standards contained in the code to ensure value for money and safety.
He thanked the GSA for coming out with the code which he said would go a long way to ensure sanity in the building and construction industry of the country.
The first ever Ghana Building Code was developed with the support of World Bank, Ministry of Works and Housing, Building and Road Research Institute and with a technical committee made up of local experts – engineers, architects, fire safety officers, lawyers, planners among others and the copies given out free of charge to the MMDAs was made possible through Muszer Automatika Ghana Limited, a construction firm that funded its publication.
The building code contains a set of rules specifying the standards for constructed objects such as buildings and non-building structures.
It regulates the design and construction of structures and therefore remains critical in every infrastructural development.
