Imokhai Applauds Fashola over Law on Insurance for Storey Buildings

After years of expectation and lack of commitment on the part of government to support the compulsory insurance of storied buildings under construction, the Lagos state governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola has broken the culture of silence. Over time, the Nigerian insurance companies have tolled hard to see to the enforcement of the compulsory builders’ liability, a product that promises billions of premiums to insurers. It was in the light of the above that Mr. Tom Imokhai, managing director, Standard Alliance Insurance Plc, recently applauded the giant strides of the governor whose law now makes it mandatory for developers to provide insurance c certificates as a prerequisite for government approval.  The SA boss described the governor’s action as “a bold step to enforce the compulsory builders’ liability insurance policy through the Building Control Bill it signed into law.”
The law would make it mandatory for developers of houses in the state, especially storey buildings, to obtain insurance certificate as a condition for getting government approval. While hailing the bold move by the governor, he stated that the action “would mean good business for the general underwriting companies in the state if compliance was fully pursued.”
According to him,” we, in the sector, have been expecting this supportive move by all state governors and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory to give bite to the efforts of the Commissioner for Insurance. With this bold move by the Lagos Government, we hope that other states and FCT would follow.” He added that there are a lot of such building projects presently under construction in the various states of the federation including the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. “We need this sort of backing to force builders to comply with securing such appropriate building insurance covers,” he said.
The insurance policy covers the liability to third parties arising from collapse of buildings under construction. Fashola tasked the insurance companies to live up to their billings stressing that the state government has opened a smooth way to ensure that the insurers no longer foot- drag in paying compensation to victims of collapsed buildings It would be recalled that Governor Babatunde Fashola, had stressed at the signing ceremony that the law was an “attempt to curb the menace of building collapse.” The issue of building collapse has been a recurring problem in the state from which lives and property worth billions of naira were lost. Going by the provisions of the new law, it was now “compulsory for builders and developers of buildings that are beyond two floors in Lagos to obtain insurance certificate that will cover general risk as a condition for granting building permit.”