Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola (middle) and members of the newly-reconstituted board of the Quantity Surveyors Registration Board of Nigeria (QSRBN) in his office in Abuja… yesterday.
The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, has urged the reconstituted Quantity Surveyors Registration Board of Nigeria (QSRBN) to develop a cost data bank to support the formation of estimates that would serve as a reference material for stakeholders in the construction industry.
Fashola, at the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja, urged the professionals to develop a range of costs for the different ecological zones of the country as well as evolve means of making the practice of quantity surveying simple enough and responsive to the man on the street.
Emphasising the importance of Quantity Surveyors in the economic growth of the country, Fashola declared: “These are people whose core professional mandate is really ensuring that clients get value for money on all building construction projects.”
He challenged the members of the board “to develop a very open and possibly nationwide cost data bank that will be used in different parts of the country, so that at least in water lodged environment, for example, we can know what is the minimum cost of materials required to complete a project as against what would be required on normal land.”
Congratulating the chairman and members of the reconstituted board, Fashola who noted with pleasure the broad mix of experience and value that were brought to the board, said: “This board has, among many other roles, the responsibility for registering persons who are fit and qualified to serve and practise as Quantity Surveyors and also the responsibility to regulate the standard and the knowledge and the general practice of the profession in our country.”
He said the current crop of professional Quantity Surveyors have a duty to bridge the gap between town and gown to ensure that young Nigerians studying to become professionals are put on the right trajectory.
President of the Board, Malam Murtala Aliyu, thanked the minister and the Federal Government for the opportunity and privilege given the members to serve, adding that the members of the profession were in a fit position to contribute to the economic growth of the country.
He expressed satisfaction that the board has been captured in this year’s budget and pledged that with the collaboration of the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, it would carry out its job effectively.
Aliyu said the QSRBN was already working hand in hand with the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (NIQS) on a cost database that will be used across the country.
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