THERE’S a need to establish a national laboratory to test all imported building materials before they are used, says Construction Industry Council president Gordon Jenkins.
He said if such an institution was in place it would prevent damages in buildings in the long term and other future problems.
However, Mr Jenkins said such an institution should have qualified technical expertise in order to fully execute its role in making sure the building materials were safe to use.
He said establishing such mechanisms would be an expensive exercise, but it was important because most of the building materials in Fiji were imported.
“All imported building materials should meet the standards because majority of our building products are imported. With the lab we will get to know whether we should use the building materials or reject them if they aren’t up to standards, we should ensure they are viable,” Mr Jenkins said during a workshop on the national building code at the Novotel Suva Lami Bay yesterday.
Australian consultant and workshop facilitator Rhys Gwilliam said the objective of the workshop was to get feedback from the construction practitioners and Government about the current building situation in Fiji.
He said the national building code was outdated and needed to be revised.
