𝑪𝑷𝑴 𝑴𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒊

As an architect, I believe these collapses are symptoms, not accidents: the outcome of a built-environment ecosystem whose structural flaws run far deeper than any single site. 🧵 I have attempted to ventilate on the issues I feel need to be addressed urgently along with possible solutions for evaluation. 1. Our zoning regulations are clear on paper, yet divorced from the ground. Relentless land fragmentation yields plots too small to honour setbacks, building lines and coverage limits. (On a 50x100, compliance may leave a quarter of a premium plot buildable.) Meanwhile, the street has already drawn its own building line, beacon to beacon. Out of this dissonance, the industry has normalised two parallel realities: a compliant set of drawings for approval, another for the site. Or no approval at all; build now and regularize later. Neither option survives without the inspectorate's knowledge. Their vigilance is formidable. (Try replacing the tiles in your own bathroom and see how swiftly they appear.) To cast the architect as the culprit is to credit us with a power over sites we simply do not hold. 2. I dare propose that just as licensed doctors treat without seeking permission per patient, let registered architects, engineers and contractors self-certify, bearing full legal liability for code compliance, while counties register projects for record and revenue as does the NCA. This will help to cure protracted delays which erode financial models and tempt developers toward self-help. I do not think counties can afford the technical depth to interrogate submissions sufficiently. In any case, they disclaim responsibility for the very designs they approve through signing of mandatory indemnity forms. 3. Design professionals remain the most undervalued link in the supply chain, undercut by unregulated practitioners and developers who view fees as negotiable. When expertise is paid in peanuts, diligence is the first thing to erode. Building collapses are the sum of a system in which planning, approval and remuneration all reward the shortcut. Until we redesign that system, we will keep mourning lives. #BuildingCollapse #Nairobi #ArchitectureKE