As a staff of this service, what is the role of the Technical Standardization Unit of your Department in the Ministry?

This Department is been headed by Dr. Tang Ahanda Barnabé which is made up of three units: Studies and Planning Unit, the Civil Engineering Contracting and Consulting Firms Observatory Unit and the Technical Standardization Unit. We carryout studies and experiment on building materials, technical procedures in construction, as well as the nomenclature of roads in collabration with the administration concerned. We contribute to the elaboration of technical norms in the domain of building and public works, in collaboration with the administration and professional organization concerned. We also contribute to the approval of building materials and equipment in collaboration with the administrations and professional organizations concerned.

Since you people work in collaboration with LABOGENIE and MATGENIE, how important are these institutions in the technical standards and in the ministry?

These are public institutions (parastatals) which have signed conventions with the Ministry of Public Works, to carryout geotechnical supervision on work sites, for LABOGENIE (National Civil Engineering Laboratory), as well as the technical supervision of the civil engineering equipment by MATGENIE (National Civil Engineering Equipment Pool). These institutions are at the centre of certain actions that can enable us to propose new and innovating ways of executing some projects. They are thus very important in the technical standardization as far as civil engineering is concerned. For example, LABOGENIE helps us verify things like the various test s carried out on the soil, the dosage of materials to be use for some constructions, the strength of the reinforcement bars (rods) used etc. Supervisors are expected to send to us their monthly report for appropriate measures to be taken to bring defaulting contractors to order.

As a Civil Engineer, after a thorough supervision, why do some buildings, roads and bridges collapse within a short time?

First, if there is thorough supervision that is the respect of building standards, we may not have that question of collapse. For instance, in the construction of buildings, roads and bridges, there are some feasibility studies that are to be carried out on the supporting soil and on the materials to be used. Equally, there is a particular methodology in the construction of each of these structures to guarantee resistant and durable structures. Causes of collapse

• Very low prices proposed by contractors to win the contract, which at times is insufficient for the task, hence, contractors tend to do bad work

• The non respect of the building norms by contractors

• Lack of adequate feasibility studies before carrying out some of these construction projects

• Use of unqualified personnel in the construction of important structures

• Use of inappropriate materials

• Inadequate supervision during the execution of works

What are some of the problems encountered, what efforts are you people making to solve these problems?

As of now, there is no legal document specifying the attribution of responsibilities to the various parties involved in Civil Construction (designers and constructors) in the country. The problems are enormous such as; lack of collaboration of some contractors on the work sites during supervision, lack of legal documents to ensure the security of Civil Engineers to carry out impromptu supervision of all public and private construction sites. To solve these problems, we do carry out sensitization within the Ministry and in the 10 regions, to let the contractors know the importance of respecting building standards. Presently, we have initiated some studies that would permit the Ministry to be able to attribute responsibilities to the parties concerned in all civil constructions.

Hannah Monjoew Likoke