Engineers from a Nairobi-based construction firm on Sunday, July 2, warned Kenyans to brace for hiked prices of construction materials after the Energy and Regulations Authority (EPRA) reviewed fuel prices on July 1.
Speaking to the media, Joseph Muturi, the Managing Director of Precise Civil Engineering, lamented that the real estate sector was hugely affected after fuel prices skyrocketed to Ksh195.53 for a litre of Petrol from Ksh182.04.
The change was occasioned by President William Ruto enacting the Finance Act 2023, which doubled the Value Added Tax (VAT) on petroleum products from eight to sixteen per cent.
The only solution, he noted, would be for the government to offer incentives that would cushion developers.
“Kenya's construction industry is facing challenges because the cost of construction materials has gone up. My plea to the government is to create more incentives in the construction industry by reducing the taxes,” he stated.
The ripple effect, he warned, may necessitate developers to resort to using cheaper counterfeit materials and seeking sup-bar services from contractors.
Ultimately, such a trajectory may lead to an influx in the number of collapsing buildings, posing a threat to tenants and the economy.
“Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) should follow up on testing of construction materials so that we have buildings that are stable and ensure that the construction industry has confidence in the materials,” he added, warning that increasing fuel by Ksh13 may, in the end, be retrogressive.
On April 2022, KEBS unveiled a certification scheme that required manufacturers of structural steel, cement, and roofing tiles to establish quality control measures within their manufacturing establishment to reduce the use of substandard materials in construction.
KEBS's statement came in the wake of the country being marred with cases of collapsing buildings, with the latest incident recorded on June 19. In the tragic incident, several people were trapped under a three-storey building under construction in the Sagana area in Murang'a.
While confirming the incident, Muranga County Governor Irungu Kang'ata stated that the construction of the building was approved in 2021. However, he noted that the approval process was flawed as the building was built on riparian land.
In a separate incident on May 23, a Ruiru building under construction collapsed, burying two construction workers.
Deputy County Commissioner Margaret Mbugua revealed that the contractor lacked the necessary documents confirming he was given the green light to proceed with the project.
