By NAN

 Mr Thomas Mitchell, an expert in facility management, has called for the involvement of Facility Managers in building and maintenance of structures, so as to curb the incidence of building collapse in Nigeria.

News Agency of Nigeria reports that Mitchel made the call in a presentation to the African Facilities Management Conference on Monday, in Abuja.

The conference, with the theme, “Working together to accelerate facilities management adoption across Africa-A year on” was organised by the Nigerian Facility Managers and Safety Association, in collaboration with other relevant stakeholders.

“Building collapse is not unique to Nigeria alone. It has happened in Saudi Arabia, Korea and even in Miami, United States, we recently had a building collapse there.

” Buildings tend to collapse. They do not last forever, but to stop the trend of building collapse, facility managers should be involved in the process of the building as early as possible.

“Facility managers have value to offer when it comes to buildings, because they offer value for the rest of the life of a building in maintenance.

“The work of the Architect and Engineer ends when the building is completed, but the Facility Managers’ work continue for the rest of the life of the building.

“Thus, involving them in the whole process would help reduce or eliminate the cases of building collapse in Nigeria and the world in general,” Mitchel said.

Similarly, another expert, Mr Paul Erobami corroborated Mitchel’s position, adding input by Facility Managers were needed from the design of a building to its delivery.

He stressed that for a customer to enjoy the value of an asset, maintenance  was key and in maintaining an asset, facility management was of great importance.

“So, getting the professionals involved in setting up policies, developing the framework, technology, consulting in design process and final out put in documentation, to manage facility is what we are talking about.

“So, this is about protecting our past investment, infrastructure and securing our future investments in infrastructure via professional management,” Erobami said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the two-day conference attracted relevant professionals and stakeholders from different countries, who participated both physically and online. (NAN)