Set up a body to regulate activities of surveyors – Government urged

The Ghana Institution of Surveyors (GhIS) has made a call to government to establish a regulatory body to direct the activities of surveyors.

According to the President of GhIS, Surveyor Edwin Addo Tawiah, GhIS was the fourth professional body to be recognized in Ghana after independence but it is yet to have a council to regulate its activities after over 50years of existence.

He expressed worry over the increasing rate at which some “quack” quantity Surveyors and non-Ghanaian surveyors who are not members of the institution are practicing.

“Under the professional body, GhIS regulates its members but our disciplinarily powers end with our members, so somebody can say I am a quantity surveyor but may not be our member and so we cannot regulate their activities, so we want government to come up with a council that will regulate the practice of our profession” he noted.

He added that “because there is no governing council or bill, anybody from anywhere can come to Ghana and start practicing and the laws cannot do anything about it but with the advent of the Survey Council Bill and Estate Brokerage Bill the procedure of reciprocity will be clearly stipulated” he said.

Mr. Tawiah said, presently the institution is operating under the professional body degree and there is the need for the Survey Council Bill and Estate Brokerage Bill to be passed as soon as possible.

He was optimistic that, the bills which are now before parliament will be passed soon enough to give the council legal backing to prevent anybody who is not registered or licensed by the institution from practicing.

He said, “surveying is at the heart of every infrastructural project and, thus, there is the need to regulate the operations of surveyors to curb the activities of those without the requisite expertise and qualification,”.

Mr. Tawiah was speaking at the 13th surveyor’s week and the 49th annual general meeting held in Accra on the theme “ Industrialization and wealth creation; the role of the surveyor.