Ghana Standards Authority, Local Government Service partner to enforce standards

The Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) and the Local Government Service (LGS) have agreed to partner to enforce standards as well as the newly-launched Ghana Building Code in the 260 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies across the country.

The two institutions also agreed to focus all efforts on strengthening decentralization and partner in the enforcement of standards, certification and the use of weights and measures in trade.

The decision was reached when the Director-General of the GSA, Prof. Alex Dodoo called on the Head of the LGS Dr. Nana Ato Arthur at his office in Accra, to discuss issues of mutual interest especially to fine-tune plans on how best to enforce the Building Code to promote health and safety standards in the building and construction industry.

Prof. Dodoo presented a copy of the Ghana Building Code to Dr. Arthur and noted that his outfit was seeking the support and collaboration of the LGS to help regulate the activities of the building and construction industry, and to ensure that the environment meets international standards.

He indicated that enforcing the Code would ensure that buildings stood the test of time and guaranteed value-for-money for Ghanaians.

“I believe that looking at the inter-linkages, this is more or less the modernization that we have all been looking for in order to bring services to the door of each and every Ghanaian,” Prof. Dodoo pointed out.

Dr. Arthur, on his part, pledged his commitment to ensuring that the Building Code is fully accepted and utilized by all MMDCEs, directors, members of the LGS Council as well as other stakeholders to ensure quality in the country’s infrastructural development.

The two bodies agreed to put together a programme that will involve personnel from both sides especially from the LGS’s Works Department who are enforcers of the regulation at the local level.

The Ghana Building Code (GS 1207: 2018), is a set of rules that specify the standards for constructed objects such as buildings and non-building structures.

The document was modified from the existing International Building Code and lays down the essential requirements for building and structural conformity.

It was developed by the Ghana Standards Authority in collaboration with stakeholders including the Building and Road Research Institute of CSIR for and on behalf of the Ministry of Works and Housing, with the support of the Swiss Government, through the Ghana Office of the International Finance Corporation/World Bank Group (IFC/WBG).

The GSA, through the sponsorship of Muszer Automatika Ghana Limited, a company operating in the building and construction sector, has begun the distribution of the Building Code to MMDAs.

Present at the meeting were Mr. James Oppong-Mensah, the Chief Director of the LGS, Mr. MacMillan Prentice, a Standards Officer at GSA and Mr. Emmanuel Obeng, a Scientific Officer and Civil Engineer of the GSA.