PEOPLE INVOLVED IN CONSTRUCTION should soon have a regulatory body to ensure certain standards are met.
In an exclusive interview with BARBADOS BUSINESS AUTHORITY Minister of Housing Michael Lashley said the Ministry of Public Works was currently working on a Building Standards Authority for the industry.
“In view of what we saw in terms of Tomas and the quality of workmanship that we came across, there is a need for a Building Standards Authority to necessitate inspectors checking on standards and the substandard material [builders] use,” he stated.
He said he believed there was an area in the Building Standards Authority which will require contractors to have a license.
The minister shared the sentiments of Williams Industries chairman Ralph “Bizzy” Williams, who said the cost of land in Barbados was too high.
“In particular, you can’t buy land in St Philip for under $10 or $15 per square foot. To purchase 4 000 square feet of land, you have to look for at least $90 000 and then you have to get a mortgage to build a house.
“So sometimes the best option would be to go to the state. That is why the state, we have intervened in the market, so that you can purchase land around rural Barbados around $5 per square foot,” he said, adding that at the regular rate, a house and land like the ones at Woodbourne would be close to $200 000.
In terms of building, Lashley said it was the infrastructural work that drove up the cost of construction.
“If we can get the infrastructural costs down, then the cost of building a house will come down.
“Over time we’ve seen the prices of materials actually rise, so that is a challenge you have when you’re building.
“What you have to do is try to conceptualise a design that would use less materials and also utilise the cheaper materials to help keep the cost down.
“But as it is, the cost of materials really is a bit too high,” he said. While Lashley acknowledged that newer technologies like prefabricated slabs was the way to go, he said that concept was not part of Barbadian culture and there was still room for the mason, labourer and others involved in the process.
“In a small economy you have to accommodate those skill sets to generate economic activity and stimulate growth, you still have to use concrete blocks. There is a view that prefab is much faster. . . . There is a part for both to play. Of course with high-rises we have to utilize prefab, because you need to get it up quickly so that you can maximize the land space and get people into the houses,” he said. (YB)
