BUILDING DEATH TRAPS! Only 2,873 Out Of 11,492 Inspected Buildings Meet Required Standards-ReportBUILDING DEATH TRAPS! Only 2,873 Out Of 11,492 Inspected Buildings Meet Required Standards-Report

Only 25 per cent of building developments inspected across Uganda meet the required construction standards, raising concerns about public safety and the effectiveness of building regulation amid persistent cases of building collapses and fires.

The National Building Review Board (NBRB) Executive Secretary, Eng. Flavia Gutto Bwire, disclosed this while appearing before Parliament’s Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE) to respond to queries arising from the Auditor General’s report for the financial year ended June 30, 2025.

Bwire told the committee that the Board inspected 11,492 building developments across the country during the financial year, but only a quarter complied with the required standards, leaving 75 per cent non-compliant.

She attributed the low compliance levels to weak enforcement by local governments, inadequate staffing and funding, fragmented building approval processes and the failure of local authorities to fully constitute building committees responsible for supervising construction activities.

An assessment of 102 building committees established at district and urban local government levels found that only 12 per cent were fully constituted. Another 82 per cent were partially constituted, while six per cent had not been constituted at all.

Under the Building Control Act, building committees at district and urban authority levels are responsible for enforcing building standards, while the NBRB regulates the sector, monitors compliance and builds the capacity of the committees.

Bwire said the Board was established in 2020 at a time when building collapses were frequent, particularly during rainy seasons, resulting in loss of lives. Although the number of collapses and associated deaths has reduced, she said fire outbreaks had emerged as a major challenge.

“Today, while the buildings are still going down, the rate and the number of deaths have reduced. My major challenge with the sector right now are the fires,” Bwire told the committee.

She said investigations conducted by the Board indicate that 67 per cent of the fires it has investigated were caused by arson, putting them largely outside the scope of engineering regulation.

“Someone comes and puts a school on fire. You invest a lot of resources, do forensic analysis and so on, and it is all someone having brought petrol and put this place on fire,” she said.

Bwire attributed the reduction in fire-related deaths partly to public awareness campaigns on safety measures that people should undertake during fire emergencies.

Despite the challenges, she said the Board was targeting zero building collapses and zero deaths arising from building-related incidents.

On building collapses, Bwire identified poor construction methods and the use of substandard materials as the major contributing factors.

She explained that the Board refers cases involving poor-quality construction materials to the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS), while concerns about poor workmanship are referred to the relevant engineering regulatory authorities.

Bwire said the Board’s role was not to undertake every aspect of construction regulation but to identify violations and ensure that the responsible institutions take action.

To improve compliance, the Board has developed a strategic plan covering the 2025/26 to 2029/30 financial years, with a major focus on digitising building approval and inspection processes.

She said the Board had onboarded 130 building committees onto its digital systems and audited 102 committees during the previous financial year.

It has also developed a geographical information system (GIS)-based compliance monitoring tool to help authorities track construction activities across the country.

Bwire said the Board was developing smart inspection systems incorporating artificial intelligence and remote sensing technologies to monitor building developments. She noted that Uganda has more than 12 million buildings, making it difficult for the limited number of NBRB staff to effectively supervise construction activities across the country.

The committee also questioned the Board about the safety and regulatory compliance of Parliament’s ongoing construction projects, including the parliamentary chambers.

COSASE Chairperson Muwada Nkunyingi questioned whether the Board had independently inspected Parliament’s buildings, considering the lengthy construction period and the possibility of structural defects developing over time.

Bwire told the committee that Parliament had secured a building permit and had a contractor and supervisors overseeing the construction.

However, Nkunyingi insisted that the Board should independently inspect the parliamentary buildings, arguing that Parliament should not exempt itself from the safety requirements imposed on other developers.

“We shall require you to also do an inspection on the parliamentary building. It is your mandate. And we shall not get rid of you until we are certain that you are doing your work without necessarily skipping any development,” he said.

Bukoto South MP Hakim Ssabula separately questioned whether the building permit for the ongoing construction of Parliament’s chambers had expired, asking the Board to establish whether it had been renewed.

He expressed concern that the Board appeared not to have followed up on the matter, arguing that Parliament should be subjected to the same regulatory scrutiny as other developers.

Ssabula also questioned the composition of the NBRB, arguing that amendments to the Building Control Act had removed political representation that previously provided elected leaders with a voice in the Board’s work.

He further challenged the Board over the cost of obtaining building certificates, citing a case involving a relatively simple residential building measuring approximately 240 square metres, whose certification reportedly costs Shs9.6 million.