Following a series of huge projects crumbling down like cookies in Kenya local constructors are calling upon their government to FastTrack the implementation of the proposed engineers’ scale of fees.
As far as they are concerned, the shoddy works should be blamed on the state’s neglecting the Bill of Quantities, an issue which had previously been brought forward by the Engineers Board of Kenya in 2022.
The Engineers (Scale of Fees for Professional Engineering Services) Rules, 2022 was gazetted on 18th May, 2022 and commissioned on 19th July, 2022.
Thereafter, on 2nd August, 2022 the circular on implementation from the Ministry was issued to all consumers of professional engineering services that from 15 August, 2022, the Scale of Fees would go into effect.
Schedule 6 states that engineers should be paid during their involvement in preparation of Bill of Quantities since this is actually the work of Quantity surveyors and architects.
Engineer Nathaniel Matalanga who sits on the council of the world federation of professional engineering organizations, has called for the government to help in addressing challenges facing engineers both nationally and across the East African region.
Matalanga, who is a structural Engineer with over 30 years’ experience in structural engineering design of buildings and surrounding infrastructure says there is inadequate technical capacity in the local engineering field.
The engineers are thus proposing a multiagency approach in collaboration when executing projects to ensure quality and professional touch that adhere to safety.
Currently there are 3000 professional engineers, and the Board intends to boost the number to 10,000 qualified engineers within the next five years.
That should be in line with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)’s benchmark ratio of 1:5000.
Twelve years ago, UNESCO produced the world’s first comprehensive study on engineering.
Dubbed ‘Engineering: Issues, Challenges and Opportunities for Development,’ the document was prepared in partnership with the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO), the International Council of Academies of Engineering and Technological Sciences (CAETS) and the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC).
The UNESCO report highlights the importance of engineers to the socio-economic development of humankind.
Erick Olaga is the President of the Engineers Kenya who lauds the government’s intention of digitizing government and public services in the next six months.
The Engineers’ Board of Kenya is also developing the Engineers Project Registration Portal which will be commissioned in the course of the year 2023.
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