Worried by the high rate of building collapse across the country in recent times, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), at the weekend in Lagos held a zonal stakeholders’ forum on blocks and allied products in South-west states to begin implementation of the cement standardisation and reclassification scheme.
This is in line with a directive of the Federal Ministry of Industry Trade and Investment (FMITI) to immediately commence the full enforcement of the policy across all segments of the cement and allied products sector.
The exercise began with the official unveiling of the new packaging and labelling model for the three different classes of cement in the nation’s market, with clear labelling and colour coding to help stakeholders easily distinguish between the lower 32.5 cement grade and the higher 42.5 and 52.5 grades to prevent misuse.
The Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) collapsed some weeks ago, killing about 115 people and injuries several others.
To stem the tide, the SON started a review of the standards of the major building materials beginning with iron rods, steel products and roofing sheets in 2012/2013, and then cement and allied products in 2014.
Opening the implementation of the cement standardisation scheme, the Minister of States for Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Samuel Ortom, expressed delight over move by SON to firm up the regulatory frame work for building materials in the country, including cement and its allied products such as sandcrete blocks.
He also endorsed the decision to contrive the new cement packaging and labeling in line with the recently approved Nigeria Industrial Standard for Cement, stressing that these steps will go a long way to enhance the sanity of the building and construction industry.
“One key focus of standardisation all over the world is continual improvement aimed at customer satisfaction and this is only attainable through the diligent implementation of specifications for products and services as prescribed in the relevant approved standards. Standards in themselves are dynamic in that they undergo reviews as necessary towards ensuring continual improvement in products quality.
“Today’s event I understand is one of the quality assurance initiatives as part of the implementation of the Mandatory Conformity Assessment Programme (MANCAP) for all locally manufactured products in Nigeria to ensure that they meet minimum specifications in applicable standards, are safe and would give value for money before being offered to Nigerians for patronage. This will also ensure consumer confidence and repeated patronage that will ultimately lead to increased capacity utilization and employment creation in line with the transformation agenda of the Federal Government,” Ortom explained.
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