Construction Industry Policy 2018

The construction industry is a key driver to the country’s economic growth and contributes greatly to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). It is coupled with various issues such as:

• Low completion rates of construction projects.
• Lengthy procurement procedures.
• Low access to affordable project financing.
• Inadequate harmony in policies, laws and regulations.
• Low technological uptake and exposure levels of stakeholders to international best practices.
• Use of inappropriate construction material.
• Poor quality of works as a result of poor workmanship and use of substandard materials.
• Unethical conduct and unfair business practices.
• Inadequate skilled and competent workforce.
• Inadequate capacity for enforcement of standards and regulations.

The National Government ,through the State Department of Public Works, and the Council of Governors, tried to take deliberate steps towards addressing the gaps by developing an overarching comprehensive Construction Industry Policy in 2018.

This drafting began in March 2018 and concluded in June 2018. A total of 35 stakeholders were engaged including from the private sector and reference made to 58 existing legislations.

The guiding principles were professionalism, innovation, sustainability, transparency, accountability, quality standard, devolution and decentralization.

The institutional framework was in 4 ranks:

• The policy steering council (highest) which is the oversight. Composed of officials from MDAs.
• The policy secretariat who was the coordinator from the National Construction Authority (NCA).
• Policy implementing committee for follow up. Composed CEOs of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and representatives of private sector.
• Sector policy implementing groups across 8 disciplines;Building,Transport,Water,Environment,Energy,Planning and ICT.

Further to it, a proper diagnostic study was done which created the following rationale:

• Decisions in the industry are influenced by political systems due to changes in government, manifestos and governance systems which will require a strong policy and institutional frameworks to enhance adaption and resilience of the industry.
• The economy will expect the industry to play its rightful role in terms of contribution to GDP, employment creation, reduction of inflation and linkages with other sectors.
• The social expectations include suitable infrastructure including affordable housing, roads, water and sanitation, transport, energy, health and education among others which include the input of the construction industry. In addition, construction sector is expected to enhance food security through irrigation.
• According to the Sustainable Development Goals, Africa Agenda 2063, East African Community Vision 2050,Kenya Vision 2030 and The Big Four Agenda of the current government, the industry is expected to grow and contribute significantly to Kenya’s development.
• The industry is still a net importer of construction materials, contractors, professional services and technology. Domestic construction players have not fully participated in construction projects commissioned by both the public and the private sector, especially in large scale projects which have higher economies of scale. Majority (over 80%) of Kenyan contractors are SMEs thus only eligible to be registered under lower categories of projects.
• There is a gap in skills and knowledge to meet the dynamic needs of the industry despite the available institutions that provide training. A research by the National Construction Authority (2015) on construction workers shows that, only 18% of the workers are formally trained, while 81% were qualified through on site experience.
• There are many laws, regulations and standards that govern the industry under the jurisdiction of different agencies. These laws in some instances conflict or create unnecessary bureaucracies, thus presenting weak regulatory environment. This affects the ease of doing business.
• The local construction industry lacks a one stop shop.

Bearing in mind that rationale, it was majorly by the hand of the Government which some assistance from the private sector to solve these issues. The policy was clear that the Government will:

• Create a harmonized regulatory and institutional framework for the industry to enhance coordination among institutions as well as enforcement of and compliance to set standards.
• Ensure a well-coordinated and efficient land management and physical planning to enhance the growth of the industry.
• Facilitate accessible and affordable funding programs as well as credit guarantee schemes to support local industry players. This will require promotion of SME’s through incentives, increased access to requisite resources and networking platforms through fiscal and non-fiscal means.
• Promote the use of local manufactured products and materials in the industry.
• Support capacity and competitiveness of industry players through Public-Private sector collaborations and promote continuous capacity development for professionals through their respective professional bodies/institutions and associations.
• Encourage self-regulation of industry players.
• Foster beneficial intra and inter agency coordination, cooperation and collaboration in the industry to eliminate bureaucracy, promote professionalism and enhance harmony.
• Utilize local citizens as technical experts and contractors, as a first option on all public funded construction projects and encourage the private sector to give priority to local expertise.
• Domesticate foreign construction and material standards designs to suit local conditions.
• Fast-track formulation and updating of construction regulations and standards on emerging technologies and best practices.
• Domesticate foreign construction and material standards designs to suit local conditions.
• Establish the National Construction Institute to conduct research, disseminate, coordinate (public and private sectors), incubate and accelerate innovations and start-ups in construction entrepreneurial ecosystem in the industry.
• Continually review the construction laws and frameworks to be in tandem with the evolving construction environment including the private sector.
• Create and maintain an Information Resource System that will allow wider and timely access and sharing of construction industry data and information including construction personnel.
• Map disaster prone areas and establish a database to enhance disaster preparedness and management. Create and maintain a database of “As Built” records of all infrastructural projects for ease in retrieval during emergencies. All structure records and plans should be digitized to aid in disaster management in the event that terror or structural failure occurs.

My personal Conclusion:

We are now in 2024 and I would give a an estimate of about 10% uptake of the policy in terms of infrastructure development and update of registry records.

As a matter of fact, what was to be done by the Government seems to be violated by the same institution on a daily basis. So much bureaucracy by professional bodies, no special funding schemes for small contracting firms let alone being disqualified for tenders, withholding of data and crucial industry information like bills and having discriminatory regulations.

In my opinion, what is ailing the sector is that everyone is in the business of wanting to be relevant at the expense of the rest and fail to pay attention to issues I highlighted as I began the article.

We can agree that policies may not be legally binding, however, they are principles guiding decisions to address societal needs or challenges and are to encourage best practices.

Enough of this per diem engagement and work with what we have. We can make it happen with the small steps, of which are progressive.

Published by CPM Mwangi.

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