This is a post that looks into some of the nitty grittys of Construction Development in the

Building & Constructing Industry. The blog looks into, the KEY players in this industry, their
ROLES and responsibilities, why you need to involve them and when to involve them.
First and foremost I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for taking the time to read
this post, my desire is to impact you with the RIGHT KNOWLEDGE, for you to be at the right
place doing the right thing at the right time, in Swahili we say, sio kubahatisha (not taking
chances or unnecessary risks). Information is power, power to make the right and cost
saving decisions.
So, a common question any person interested in any form of construction asks themselves
is, Where do i start from? People who have tried to construct a house without a clue on
where to start from have a story to tell.
A fundi from the village would normally approach you. They promise to design and build
your home for you and due to their bragging rights of years of experience; youd go ahead
and pay the guy. Only for the guy to leave the job halfway complete. There is also the risk of
actually hiring your future robbers as builders, the risk of the Kanju man visiting and you
dont have approved plans. You would argue and say its your land and your money anyway
and you would do WHATEVER YOU WANT?? Did you know thatNO they actually dont
belong to you (Land and Money) and therefore cannot do what you want with them? (To be
explained much later in the blog series)
There are several issues to consider before actually entering into constructing, especially in
a Kenyancontext. These include,
A). Legitimacy and conditions on the property (land) you are about to purchase or just
purchased- the ministry of land under Hon. CS, Charity Ngilu has done some
recommendable work of reorganizing the land ministry. One is now able to check using the
LR No. of the title whether the land is available for sale or not at the relevant county offices.
PLEASE DON'T GET CONNED, CAVEAT EMPTOR.
I.

Ministry of Land Offices.

B). Professionals to consult when ready to construct- I am a strong believer in

experience, but hands-onexperience needs to be matched with theoretical knowledge. We
need people in the industry who can attach and explain the process of what they do (or
claim can do). If you cannot attach a process to what you do, then you dont know what you
do. The key people to consult include,
I.

A Qualified Surveyor-

Registered.

II.

A Qualified Planner-

Registered.

III.

A Qualified Architect-

Registered, MAAK.

IV.

A Qualified Engineer-

Registered.

V.
VI.

A Qualified Project Manager-

Registered.

A Qualified Quantity Surveyor- Registered.

The involvement of the kind of consultant or professional mentioned above depends on the
level (simple or complex) of the construction.
C). Processes that need to happen before you construct and after you construct- The
Local Government in the location where your land and sits are very IMPORTANT PEOPLE.
They are in charge of checking whether your application matches up to their safe and well
specified by-laws. These are laws passed by Parliament regulating a portion of the building
and construction industry. The law especially affects what you put up on the land and how
you do it. Your proposed development has to go through the following departments before
you are given a green light to construct. These include,
I.
II.

Development control
Forward planning

III.

Health Department or the Ministry Of health MOH

IV.

Fire and,

V.

Engineering, Structural/Civil etc. (to be explained further in future blogs)

Other departments to check with include,

I.
II.

Kenya Airports Authority, KAA

Kenya Ports Authority, KPA

III.

National Environmental Management Agency, NEMA

IV.

Water Resource Management Authority, WARMA etc.

These are the people or departments that either give the conditions for your approval or give
direction for your approval. They are basically the BIG KAHUNAS of the industry. (Please
Note that these services are not for free. These are government agencies that have to
charge for the maintenance of the service).
Before you construct get the right consultants to submit the right proposal to the right Local
Authority that is involved in Building and Construction, i.e. The City/County Council for
approval. Once successfully approved, an approval later is given valid for 2 years which after
that a resubmission is required by law.
Much later after the construction is done, an application for an Occupation certificate has to
be done. This allows the council to come back to the site of the approved proposal and
check or re confirm that what was approved is what was built. Afterwards they give you a
letter to confirm a clean bill of health for the proposal. You can now move in to your
wonderful house.
A construction process done right is construction done wisely. If properly managed from,
purchase of land, to design, all the way to construction and completion saves on a lot of
MONEY, TIME and CONSTRUCTION MISMANAGEMENT, which always ends up badly.

This is just a brief (yeah right) over view of some of the key issues we shall be looking at
over the weeks. If you would like to add to this blog, remove from or comment about in
relation to this blog, feel free to do so. Your input will be highly appreciated.
By Njueni Ndung'u
Dip. Arch. (KNEC), BA. PPM. (UoN).