iii. Construction and Maintenance

Laws surrounding the construction & maintenance component govern the construction phase, and licences needed including registration of the project, payments of levies, and authorisation of workers.

Once all the planning approvals needed are secured, the site is serviced. Engagement with and approvals from various government agencies are required to identify the infrastructure gap and negotiate what may be provided by government vs by the developer.

The developer is also required to register the project with the National Construction Authority (NCA). The Authority ordinarily inspects the project site upon the owner paying a construction levy, and if satisfied, issues a compliance certificate. Workers at a construction site must all be accredited by the Authority and the owner must comply with all safety regulations at the site. The county executive member responsible for planning may issue an enforcement notice if the owner fails to comply with the development permission earlier issued or proceeds with a development without requisite approval. Construction activities are periodically monitored and inspected by relevant officers from different agencies. Upon completion of the construction, the architect must check the development/houses and issue a certificate of Practical Completion which the county government then certifies as fit for human habitation by issuing a Certificate of Occupation. Even then, continuous maintenance of the buildings needs to be done.

While all these regulations should ensure that good quality housing is delivered, NCA’s own audit in 2015 stated that up to 70% of buildings in Nairobi were unsafe for occupation.[1] Further, the regulations are often used to frustrate the delivery of players who seek approvals, with developers citing approvals taking much longer than intended. For instance, a study published in 2017 showed that it takes approximately 430 days to acquire building approvals in Nairobi County, against an estimated period of 169 days provided in the institutions’ charters.[2]

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[1] 70 per cent of buildings in Nairobi unsafe - NCA <https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2015-01-28-70-per-cent-of-buildings-in-nairobi-unsafe-nca/>Accessed August 21, 2024

[2] Irene N Wamuyu, ‘Evaluation of Building Approval Processes on Construction Project Delivery (Time and Cost)-A Study of Nairobi City County’ (University of Nairobi: Master’s Thesis, 2017) http://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke/bitstream/handle/11295/101627/Wamuyu_Evaluation%20Of%20Building%20Approval%20Processes%20On%20Construction%20Project%20Delivery%20%28Time%20And%20Cost%29%20-%20A%20Study%20Of%20Nairobi%20City%20County.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y